http://www.howdesign.com

Howdesign.com, HOW magazine’s web extension, describes itself as “The Graphic Design Community’s Trusted Source for Creative Inspiration, Business Advice, and Tools of the Trade” which is, for once, an accurate self-description. This site offers helpful articles, tips, and links that are aimed at everyone from students to employers that come from professionals within the industry.

Howdesign.com offers a dizzying amount of content and links, as some categories from the Navigate drop-down menu also include a sub-menu, but it’s indexed and described in a logical, straight-forward manner. Some of the stand-out categories include:

• Design Tools: Features product picks from each month’s magazine that are creative or inventive like the Pantone Color Cue that allows you to capture and store the color of any real-world item that you find inspiring and then later use it in an electronic application. They also offer links to help assist you in finding paper, fonts, and design organizations.
• Design & Creativity: Articles, quotes, and conferences that will help spin your wheel of creativity.
• Job Bank: Looking for work? Check employer listings that are updated daily or use them as a way to determine what skills you’ll need to succeed in the design field.
• Links: Hands-down the most fun you’ll have on the site as you navigate creative sites that cover branding, design, type, fashion, games, and more.

HOW has done an excellent job of creating a true extension of its magazine, steering away from the easy-out of cannibalizing editorial from its print version. It has kept its site relevant with frequent updates and has created a true community that you’ll want to visit again and again.

Reviewed by Library staff member – Brian Seguin

Eames Design is a retrospective on the life and designs of husband-and-wife team Charles and Ray Eames spanning the years from 1941 to 1978. The prolific output of these two creative individuals is staggering. Included in this book that was almost seven years in the making are drawings, plans, period photographs, models, graphics, and film clips. The book contains 3,504 illustrations, including 2,107 which are in full color. Also included is a supplemental Chronology with photographs of Charles and Ray’s designs in a thirty-seven year span of industrious creativity.

Ray trained as an artist and Charles was an architect. They married in 1941 and became collaborators on their first project developing a molded wood splint for the military in 1941-42, solving the wartime need for light weight and compact splints. Charles collaborated with Eero Saarinen on Case Study House #8 in 1945 which they called the “Bridge House.” The Case Study House program was intended to address the problems with housing in the Los Angeles area after the war. However, the campaign created a lasting impression on architects and designers worldwide. Ray designed many covers for the magazine Arts and Architecture, and Charles submitted many of the drawings and photographs for the layouts. The magazine was owned by their friend John Entenza, who in 1938 revamped its format to reflect contemporary trends in architecture, music, design and the arts.

Charles and Ray Eames are perhaps best known for their molded plywood furniture. In 1949 Herman Miller bought the manufacturing rights for their molded plywood chair with metal legs and has been producing it ever since. Charles joined Herman Miller that same year as a design consultant. The Herman Miller furniture company gained international visibility by producing contemporary designs from Eames, Isamu Noguchi and others.

Eames Design is a timeline of the lives of two very important designers. Their lives becoming entwined and their flow of creativity is an inspiration for artists, designers and architects. The outpouring of design innovation from Charles and Ray Eames is presented by their good friends and authors John and Marilyn Neuhart. This book is a labor of love.

Reviewed by Library staff member - Cynthia Aaron