With all the challenges we face, says Josh Chen of Chen Design Associates in intro to his newest book, Fingerprint No. 2, "the need to prove that a real human being, one with integrity and a clear conscience, stands behind a particular design has become more and more essential." A nice idea to put behind any gift you intend for friends and loved ones this holiday ...

It has been said that 90% of what we need to know most about life was learned at our grandmother’s knee. It just takes most another 30 years to apply her lessons. Chicagoland author, designer, speaker Justin Ahrens reminds us in this new book that it’s never too late to start applying good lessons in order to lead a more fulfilling life. “You may be closer ...

Re-released! Talented-Level-Headed-Type-Master Jessica Hische talkd with Herr Bucher about creativity, voice and keeping it real in this latest installment of "Wait... What Was The Question?" on A-the-G. Be informed. Be amused. Gain insight.

The Way They Were: In her latest book, Debbie Millman sets out to prove that someone can cut through the mindless brand babble and reveal something new about this shopworn subject. She does this by deploying her special gift of making interesting friends in interesting places say interesting things as though Millman were their one friend left on earth. They know ...

"The time I take to answer this question I'll never get back," says Christopher Simmons, "...Everything we do — create, love, mourn, worry, work, play, and so on — draws from a pool of nanoseconds into which no tributary flows. We can give away our time however we choose — just remember that you're not going to get any of it back." For the next 12 weeks ...

344 Questions: The Creative Person's Do-It-Yourself-Guide to Insight, Survival, and Artistic Fulfillment. Move over Rhonda Byrne and your silly little secrets! StefanBucher has closed the book on the Self Improvement Canon with this spot-on send-up of creative self help guides. This eponymous tract is packed real wisdom that will keep you laughing. It will transport ...

How Now Monster Maker? HOW Design LIVE in Chicago offers a smorgasboard of high calorie information. Among them, Turning Brainstorming Into Brainsqualling by Wendy Oldfied and Stefan Mumaw, the author of the latest smart book, Chasing the Monster Idea. In this book Stefan demonstrates how one may determine whether or not they have an explosive idea — or fizzling ...

You know the type: Type Nerd. Jason Tselentis is and he proselytizes: “I tell students that it’s okay to be a type nerd. Love type. Love words. Fondle them. Massage them. By the time they graduate, I hope my students not only have a foundation in type design and application, but a hopeless obsessive-compulsive addiction to letterforms,” he says. "You ...

Stefan Bucher's hilarious new book , You Deserve a Medal: Honors of the Path to True Love, was published a few weeks ago. It got a tad lost in the news of Doyald Young's passing. Doyald and Stefan were good friends and shared a similar, wickedly funny sense of humor. Need a laugh? Go get this book.

Book editor Emily Potts writes, "Richard Poulin is co-founder and design director of Poulin + Morris Inc., in New York City with his life and business partner, Doug Morris. He is charming and affable. I first met Poulin in person last fall at his studio. He had just finished writing and designing his first book for Rockport, titled The Language of Graphic Design. ...