This last week Cory and I explored the depths of our city’s oldest and largest library, the Multnomah County Library, (in fact, it’s the oldest library west of the Mississippi River) to do some research for an upcoming post. I checked out a couple of books for myself, both written by Paul Rand.

One of the books I picked up was a collection of his writings, Design, Form, and Chaos. It provides insight into the mind of the designer and the marketer, the current state of technology and education, and trends within art forms. I found this excerpt of the book quite fascinating:

The ability to intuit is not reserved to any special class of individuals, although many painters, writers, designers, dancers, or musicians believe that this ability is something special, something God-given. The intuitive faculty does, however, seem more pervasive in matters of aesthetics than in those of daily routine. Except in a most general sense, one cannot prove the validity of color, contrast, texture, or shape. Compliance with all the laws and systems of form, restraint, texture, and proportion will not provide proof of the soundness of a work of art, nor guarantee its coming to fruition. This is one of the reasons it is so difficult to understand or teach art and why countless books on art are mere inventories rather than meaningful explanations. Even the brilliant exposition of historians such as Roger Fry, André Malraux, or Rudolf Wittkauer, however inspirational, however compelling, cannot directly generate great or even good works.

Without regard to available systems (e.g., the Golden Section, DIN proportions, typographic grids), the designer works intuitively. This is something about which one is often confused. No system of proportion, color, or space articulation can possibly insure exceptional results. Very often a system is used merely as a crutch, a kind of rabbit’s foot or a good luck charm, regardless of need. A system can be applied either intuitively or intentionally, interestingly or tediously. There is always the element of choice, sometimes called good judgement, at others good taste.

Aside from practical considerations, in matters of form the typographer must rely on intuition. How else does one select a typeface, decide on its size, line width, leading, and format? The alternatives are to repeat one’s previous performances, to imitate what others have done, or simply to make arbitrary decisions.

Rand, Paul. Design, Form, and Chaos. New Haven: Yale UP, 1993. Print.

This approach requires that designers ask themselves the reasoning behind every decision within a process. What qualifies the use of this tool or property? Is it relevant to the design, or is it implemented out of lack of originality? It also allows one to relax and not depend primarily on the formal systems, but purely on one’s intuition and intellect.

Alessandro Zuek Simonetti is an Italian-born photographer based in New York. He works primarily with black and white film. His photographic work focuses on subcultures; his subject ranges from punk rockers and skaters to drag queens and underground fetish meetings.

Simonetti’s work has gained him art gallery attention. His photographs from New York were featured in a five-month exhibit at the highly trafficked train station in Rome. Skateboard company Zoo York made skateboard decks with Simonetti’s aerial New York cityscapes.

For hundreds of years the pinnacle of the profession – design, typography – was the printed page. Books, leaflets, pamphlets and fliers communicated thought, moved information. This marked a transition in storytelling, from verbal to written. Those who wanted to say something – tell a story and be heard – wrote.

Designers and typographers are in the business of delivering these stories to an audience. And, when they have something to say – knowledge to pass down – they write. Books serve as the primary design educators because designers and typographers uniquely appreciate the art and craft that goes into making a great book.

The Journal compiled several ‘Best of’ lists of design literature and found the most popular selections. What remains is a list of books that cover a range of design topics. While there are countless other volumes of merit, a comprehensive study of the field may be founded on these selected eight volumes.

Deanne Cheuk is an artist and illustrator from Perth, Australia. She graduated from Curtin University with a degree in graphic design when she was 19 years old.

Cheuk has directed and designed for numerous publications, including a three year stay as art director at Tokion Magazine. Her major clients include Dell, Nike, Levi’s and Target.

Editor’s Note: Yesterday, we announced an upcoming series on Ram’s Ten Principles of Good Design. However, we are still planning content and contacting potential designers and writers. The series will take place over the next few weeks; we apologize if there has been confusion.

We are very excited to be coordinating what we feel will be an important educational exploration on design. Readers may track our progress via our Twitter account.

Jim Tierney is an illustrator and designer studying at University of the Arts in Philadelphia. His Jules Verne book covers, part of a senior thesis project, have been making the rounds on the internet.

“Being equal parts book-nerd and design-nerd, I naturally decided to re-design some classic Jules Verne novels,” Tierney told Faceout Books, a website devoted to book cover design and process.

Faceout Books features sketches with Tierney’s commentary on the entire process.

His concepts are developed with thought and clear intention. Each illustration has conceptual ties to its novel, adding depth to Tierney’s work.

Interactivity is important. Book jackets are more than protective covers: they are a collaboration with the hardback cover. The results are colorful, playful: true to Jules Verne’s classic stories.

All designers strive to produce good work. This is an irrefutable fact. What do artists use to base judgments and criticisms?  Are there absolutes in art? Is it all relative? This fundamental question has fostered entire art movements, fueled arguments and provided a healthy amount of confusion in the artistic community for centuries.

To counter this unsettled dispute, visionaries created manifestos, rules, lists and ideologies. In 1995 (revised in October 2009), Dieter Rams contributed his opinion to the historic examination with his Ten Principles of Good Design:

Have you ever felt your need to share something so diabolically ingenious it makes you sick? Well, today is that day at Inksie. What is it, you ask, that we love so dearly?

The answer is…tape. Yes my friend, tape.