Dimensions
250 x 290 x 23mm
This book explores so-called 'witty thinking' - arguably the most entertaining area of graphic design. Witty thinking is playfulness with ideas, words playing against images, and unexpected connections prompting new insights.
In this extensively revised edition, where once it was only logos and letterheads, now it's also product designs and even works of art. The design industry's definition of a 'witty idea' has arguably moved on too – where once there was an accepted divide between 'ideas-led' and 'style-led' design, there is now a more nuanced understanding that the divide isn't always that simple. A style can be an idea, an idea can be a style. Wit is expressing itself in different ways.
As a compendium of more recent work, exploring the places where wit is alive and well, and also a celebration of classic work, A Smile in the Mind is organized to help understand the thinking techniques behind images and learn how to make the case for witty solutions. It analyses the different types of wit, the various items that utilize wit, and the business sectors that best call upon wit to get their message across. Designers can refer to examples for every category of graphics, from direct mail to information graphics, and for a variety of sectors from leisure and the arts to manufacturing and the law. The book ends with a series of over thirty in-depth interviews with the world's top designers who answer the big question: how did they get the idea? They offer a peep into their private working methods, suggesting how to get inspiration as they check out word lists, look at things sideways, or put several jobs on the table at once.
Gathering together the best and most recent examples of graphic wit over the past four decades, A Smile in the Mind still has a lot to teach people today. It's ultimately not about championing any particular school of design, but celebrating great and timeless work – timeless, because styles and trends date, but thinking and ideas never do.
