The Art of Looking Sideways

alan fletcher

The Art of Looking Sideways is a primer in visual intelligence, an exploration of the workings of the eye, the hand, the brain and the imagination. It is an inexhaustible mine of anecdotes, quotations, images, curious facts and useless information, oddities, serious science, jokes and memories, all concerned with the interplay between the verbal and the visual, and the limitless resources of the human mind. Loosely arranged in 72 chapters, all this material is presented in a wonderfully inventive series of pages that are themselves masterly demonstrations of the expressive use of type, space, color and imagery.

This book does not set out to teach lessons, but it is full of wisdom and insight collected from all over the world. Describing himself as a visual jackdaw, master designer Alan Fletcher has distilled a lifetime of experience and reflection into a brilliantly witty and inimitable exploration of such subjects as perception, color, pattern, proportion, paradox, illusion, language, alphabets, words, letters, ideas, creativity, culture, style, aesthetics and value.

The Art of Looking Sideways is the ultimate guide to visual awareness, a magical compilation that will entertain and inspire all those who enjoy the interplay between word and image, and who relish the odd and the unexpected.

Genres designartnonfictionart designreferencephilosophyart historyarchitectureessaysscience

533 pages, Hardcover

First published July 17,2001

This edition

Format: 533 pages, Hardcover
Published: August 20, 2001 by Phaidon Press
ISBN: 9780714834498
ASIN: 0714834491
Language

About the author

alan fletcher

Alan Fletcher was one of the most influential and best loved graphic designers of his time. In 1959, after success in America, he settled in London. He co-founded Fletcher, Forbes, Gill in 1962, which became renowned for sophisticated graphic design and enduring wit. Their branding for Reuters was used for over 30 years. In 1971, Fletcher co-founded Pentagram, then in 1991 set up his own company. He was Designer of the Year in 1993 and became Consultant Art Director at Phaidon. He wrote a number of books including 'The Art of Looking Sideways' (2001). In 2006, a major retrospective of his work was held at London's Design Museum, where his graphic archive is now held.