From time to time, I hope you’ll indulge my self-aggrandizing about (or at least self-promotion of) products and services now available that were created or co-created by me. I promise I won’t mention winning third place in the men’s freestyle or the $35 Publisher’s Clearance House check (especially since they have yet to transpire). But currently, I have two books out:
Design School Confidential, by Lita Talarico and me, is a compendium of 53 superb design-program class projects from around the world, as far away as Cyprus and as near as Hawaii (depending on where you live). Rockport is the publisher, and the book covers undergraduate and graduate projects–some of them wonderfully unconventional.
Art Direction Explained at Last, by Véronique Vienne and me, is–as the title suggests–the first time the enigmatic field of art direction is, well, explained in book form (at last!). We’ve included case studies, interviews, quizzes, and a fable by Brian Collins. The core of the book–beautifully designed by Rick Landers, who also designed Confidential–is a dozen 10-page visual essays on art direction by an international array of designers, art directors, and illustrators.
If you will indulge me, I also want to plug a new MFA Designer as Author (Paul Rand Lecture Series) podcast on type, called Typology (based on the book of the same name by Louise Fili and me). It was a class given to honors students at the School of Visual Arts’ Visual and Critical Studies undergrad department, and frankly, it was an honor.
About Steven Heller
Steven Heller is the co-chair of the SVA MFA Designer /Designer as Author + Entrepreneur program, writes frequently for Wired and Design Observer. He is also the author of over 170 books on design and visual culture. He received the 1999 AIGA Medal and is the 2011 recipient of the Smithsonian National Design Award.View all posts by Steven Heller →