[Review] Book of Ideas – A Journal of Creative Direction and Graphic Design

Touted as a 'a book of stories, musings, thoughts and observations' Book of Ideas is a searingly honest, self-published book by lively and highly experimental Creative Director and Graphic Designer Radim Malinic.

Working under the name of Brand Nu, the multi-disciplined designer’s career  spans typography, digital illustration, music videos and much more.

With an immediately identifiable lavish, bold and vibrant style, it would no doubt have been tempting, and indeed easy, for Radim to create a journal focused strictly upon “showcasing” his portfolio of international work and clientele; but instead he has crafted the telling of an insightful visual story about his career, with a refreshingly incisive, and at times humorous, critique of the modern digital age and our obsession with tech and the assocaited image-led social media platforms.

It’s easy to discover something new, but it is so much harder to make it stay in our lives for long enough to be remembered.

In his own words, “every chapter is a memo from the diary I never had”, each one offering a gem of professional insight, accompanied by sumptuous striking imagery, often embracing a certain sarcasm towards the industry he is clearly embroiled within and passionate about. I personally enjoyed his references to how social media platforms such as Pinterest affects graphic design as an industry, and the frivolity now associated with the creation and relentless accumulation of imagery, and the struggle for something unique and memorable to exist and be found.

…a highly visual, personal and reflective account of an industry that any creative, at any stage of their career, will no doubt find both inspiring and entertaining.

As the book alludes to, the industry of graphic design is indeed “strange and endlessly fascinating”, but if you’re craving depth and detail about the how and the why, then this probably isn’t exactly the right book for you. This is very accurately a journal, in the truest sense of the word, providing a highly visual, personal and reflective account of one persons story and experience of an industry that any creative, at any stage of their career, will no doubt find both inspiring and entertaining.

Discover advice about finding happiness in what you do and how to keep your ideas fresh, the authors opinion about the world he himself is immersed in, and how to take that leap and survive freelance life.

bookofideas.com

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Posted on Mar 22nd, 16 by | Twitter: @lisahassell

Founder & director of Inkygoodness, Lisa is a published writer and arts journalist, focusing on creative business, graphic art and illustration and design education. Her words regularly appear in Computer Arts, Creative Bloq, Digital Arts and IdN.

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