David Airey

The Art of Looking Sideways

—

by

David Airey
in

At more than 1,000 pages it’s not exactly one for the bus, but it’s beyond compare as an inspiring design catalogue to open at any page.

In the words of Alan Fletcher, “It’s a cross between a collage and a box of goodies.”

The Art of Looking Sideways

The Art of Looking Sideways

The Art of Looking Sideways

The Art of Looking Sideways

The Art of Looking Sideways

“This book attempts to open windows to glimpse views rather than dissect the pictures on wall. To look at things from unlikely angles. References to sources are occasionally provided to keep you going. The book has no thesis, is neither a whodunnit nor a how to do it, has no beginning, middle or end.”

The Art of Looking Sideways

The Art of Looking Sideways

The Art of Looking Sideways

The Art of Looking Sideways

Here’s an interview where Alan talks about the book launch.

Available on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and direct from Phaidon.

Comments

39 responses to “The Art of Looking Sideways”

  1. Neil Martin Avatar
    Neil Martin

    I always flick through this book in the library because as you say, any page has inspiration on it. An excellent book.

    Reply
  2. George - LogoDesign.org Avatar
    George – LogoDesign.org

    Very interesting looking, I’ll have to check it out. I’ve heard of Alan Fletcher before although I can’t see I’ve heard about this book (maybe in passing, if so it didn’t stick).

    1000 pages, wow, definitely looks like one for the coffee table (or the bathroom, LOL)!

    Reply
  3. Michael Surtees Avatar
    Michael Surtees

    Great book to bring up, I haven’t opened my copy for some time. Maybe I should take a look at it again. Something that’s taken for granted w/ that book is the price. Considering how many pages are there and the potential to really get something out of the book it’s insanely cheap for comparable books. S M L XL which is comparable in scale though not in ideas is double if not triple the cost of Looking Sideways.

    Reply
  4. Dainis Graveris Avatar
    Dainis Graveris

    Nice recommendation..looks great for inspiration, 1,000 pages – like a design bible..:)

    Reply
  5. Newall Avatar
    Newall

    Crazy, I got this book not so long ago – havent got round to looking at it yet though.
    Im always overwhelmed when I see it on the shelf because of its thickness 😛

    Cheers for the reminder.

    Ash

    Reply
  6. firebubble - logo design Avatar
    firebubble – logo design

    This is a really good book and as design books go this has got to be one of the biggest. I have not read the book for a little while now but maybe it’s time I took another look. Thank you for the post.

    Reply
  7. Neil Martin Avatar
    Neil Martin

    By the way, some other great books that are just as inspirational:

    “Area”, also by Phaidon – A huge book of artwork from 100 graphic designers from all over the world.
    ” A Smile in the Mind” – Beryl McAlhone, David Stuart – A great book on how to create ads that have impact and make the viewer think more.
    “Creative Advertising” – Mario Pricken – The same kind of thing.

    And my favourite, “1000 Graphic Elements” – Wilson Harvey, London – Tons of inspiration for anyone who enjoys the production side of things. Bindings, emobossing, lamination, gold/silver leaf, hole punches…everything. I love this book and only wish that I had the clients and the budget to use them all!

    Reply
  8. Steve Avatar
    Steve

    Thanks David, we have made the purchase on you recommendation, our current inspiration catalogue is
    New Vintage Type by Steven Heller and Gail Anderson
    We are not in the know about design, but we like this book a lot. Already looking forward to reading The Art of Looking Sideways.

    Reply
  9. Kendra Avatar
    Kendra

    I’ve looked for a book that I could recommend to clients on logo design for most of the last five years. As it turns out I was looking by title, this is exactly what I was looking for. I did glance through New Vintage Type a few weeks back, nice as well.

    Reply
  10. Szabi Avatar
    Szabi

    Hey David,

    OMG this book looks awesome. Thank you very much for bringing it to my attention.
    I think this is going to be the next one to buy.

    Thanks,

    Szabi

    Reply
  11. Lilian Avatar
    Lilian

    I’ve been contemplating getting this, but it’s always difficult to decide since books based on visual culture tend to become outdated very quickly (that and I’m a poor student). Based on your review I’d say that isn’t the case with this particular publication. Thank you 🙂

    Reply
  12. johno Avatar
    johno

    Have been thinking about buying this one. Now I’m off to Amazon. Looks fantastic. Thanks for the thumbs-up, David.

    Reply
  13. Richard Avatar
    Richard

    David, That’s Ben recommending it not me. Although, of course, I would.

    Reply
  14. David Airey Avatar
    David Airey

    Michael, it really is a bargain. I hope you enjoy revisiting.

    Neil, thanks for your recommendations, too. You’ll not be surprised one or two of them will make an appearance here in the near future.

    Steve, Johno, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. It’s a book you can come back to over and over.

    Richard, thanks for that.

    To you and everyone else, enjoy your week!

    Reply
  15. Peter Sullivan Avatar
    Peter Sullivan

    This is a great book. I bought it the same day I bought “A Smile in the Mind”. If you haven’t seen this one it is a must read.

    Reply
  16. Tanner Christensen Avatar
    Tanner Christensen

    Wow. What a book, and for only $26? This is a deal! Thanks for the find David.

    Reply
  17. Steve O Avatar
    Steve O

    I was bought this book as a present last Christmas. As you say, great for randomly flipping through for inspiration!

    Reply
  18. Jordan Joseph Avatar
    Jordan Joseph

    Looks like an interesting book. I don’t have any books on design, and am wondering what you would suggest as your top 2-3 graphic design books of all time.

    Thanks!

    Reply
  19. umberto micheli Avatar
    umberto micheli

    Great Book David! Thanks for shedding light on this one!
    I’m going to go shop for this one.

    THKS!

    Reply
  20. David Airey Avatar
    David Airey

    Hi Peter, Steve O, glad you’re both in agreement.

    Tanner, Umberto, my pleasure guys.

    Jordan, what types of design books are you most interested in? Selecting a top two or three from every graphic design book isn’t easy.

    Reply
  21. Jonno Avatar
    Jonno

    Nice one, David!

    This is one of my favourite books. I love nothing better than sitting for half an hour flipping through it. Have enjoyed doing so every so often over the past 3 years, and I’m still not convinced I’ve seen everything there is to see in that book.

    Reply
  22. James Kurtz III Avatar
    James Kurtz III

    Yes! This is my all time favorite book. Wonderful little nuggets on every page. Great idea to showcase it here.

    Reply
  23. Ben Avatar
    Ben

    I have read each and every page of ‘The Art of Looking Sideways’ and could read it from cover to cover 1,000 more times.

    Reply
  24. bude design Avatar
    bude design

    I’d been toying with buying this book for ages, seemed to appear on so many ‘must have’ design book lists… this post made my mind up so cheers david.

    coming from web design but wanting to move more into graphic design, it can be a bit daunting knowing where to look to get into the design ‘headspace’ of a different medium, something recommended reads from clued up designers are really helpful for.

    thanks again 🙂

    Reply
  25. Chaitanya VRK Avatar
    Chaitanya VRK

    Hi david, this book looks great. After reading your post, I went to a nearest store Odyssey, where I can find PHAIDON books.

    Even though I can’t afford this book now, I was Lucky the store allowed to go thru their books sitting at the store….. Its awesome…very very excellent….

    You know daily visiting them on my way to home from work, to have a glimpse of books like this 😀

    Reply
  26. Rachel Goldstein Avatar
    Rachel Goldstein

    I think it would be amazing to look through your Library of books. I bet I could lock myself in your office and not even realize that days have passed because I would be loving your books so much. This one has especially beautiful typography.

    Thanks for sharing.
    Rachel
    AllGraphicDesign.com

    Reply
  27. David Airey Avatar
    David Airey

    Jonno, James, Ben, glad you’re in agreement.

    Chaitanya, great that you can still enjoy at your local store.

    Rachel, you’re more than welcome. Just drop me a line.

    Reply
  28. Amanda Vlahakis Avatar
    Amanda Vlahakis

    Looks very interesting, what looks particularly interesting is the randomness of it all.

    Very ingenius (and enjoyable to create I’m sure) a book that is like a scrapbook of concepts, visuals, thoughts … no purpose other than to inspire.

    I must get myself a nice book case and start collecting cool books like this.

    Reply
  29. David Airey Avatar
    David Airey

    The randomness is oddly appealing, Amanda. The fact that you don’t need to stop and start at a particular point is ideal for inspiration.

    Reply
  30. Jennifer Avatar
    Jennifer

    This is without doubt one of my favourite design books and one I look at quite frequently. I’m trying to get into more illustration work and I find this a huge source of inspiration. A must have for the book shelf.

    Reply
  31. Jennifer Avatar
    Jennifer

    Hi Dave

    Just a quick note on a follow up to this, that your readers might be interested in. I was in town on Saturday and I bought “Beware the Wet Paint” which is by a number of authors, writing essays on Alan Fletchers work. It’s much smaller (in terms of number of pages) than The Art of Looking Sideways, but it still has Alan Fletcher’s designs on every page.

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beware-Wet-Paint-Designs-Fletcher/dp/0714843784

    Reply
  32. David Airey Avatar
    David Airey

    Hi Jennifer,

    Thanks for the recommendation. I’ve not seen that one before, and the description reads great.

    Reply
  33. Lavina Melwani Avatar
    Lavina Melwani

    What Ive always noticed with my copy… is that I always find something new to read in it… even though i feel ive thumbed through the entire book at some point or the other… there is always m*o*r*e that i hadnt noticed before…
    Its a MASTERPIECE….
    Most highly recommended…
    When I first saw it, I just knew I couldn’t go back home without a copy of my own…

    Reply
  34. Tjeerd van Sas Avatar
    Tjeerd van Sas

    David, I’d like to thank you for this recommendation! Shortly after reading this post (some months back) I bought this book, as well as “A Smile in the Mind” as mentioned by Neal Martin earlier in this thread. Both are very inspiring books and great to flip through.

    This post is a bit late, but I stumbled upon it while browsing your site’s history.

    Reply
  35. David Airey Avatar
    David Airey

    You’re very welcome, Tjeerd. The book’s certainly deserving of a feature.

    Reply
  36. laura Avatar
    laura

    I absolutely love this book, I’m forever looking at it for inspiration.

    Reply
  37. Graeme Avatar
    Graeme

    Hello All,

    A copy of this book just arrived today from Amazon, can’t wait to read it. It’s design looks amazing.

    Best wishes
    Graeme

    Reply
  38. Grace Avatar
    Grace

    Hi David,
    I picked this book up the other day at the Library of the college where I am about to start my Dip in Graphic Design … it really called to me, and regardless of it’s weight I just had to get it.
    I love it!! Definitely one I will keep an eye out to purchase for myself. I have heaps of pink Post-it notes tagging pages for future reference!

    I’ve linked to your page on http://www.6malesandme.blogspot.com where I have mentioned the book.
    cheers
    Grace

    Reply
  39. Neha S Avatar
    Neha S

    It’s a visual treat for the eyes and intriguing for the mind. You will lose track of time if you start browsing through this. If you are in any way related to the field of art (painting, photography, design, etc.) just buy the book. You will not regret it. Completely worth the money!

    Reply

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