Description
Book SynopsisNatalia Ilyin is Professor of Design at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, USA, where she teaches design history and criticism, design for social activism, and transition design. In 2012- and again in 2015 - she earned Cornish's
Award for Teaching Excellence. Natalia is also Founding Faculty for the MFA in Graphic Design at Vermont College of Fine Arts, has taught at Rhode Island School of Design, Yale University, The Cooper Union and the University of Washington, and has acted as Critic for the MFA in Graphic Design at Yale University and at Rhode Island School of Design.
Trade ReviewEvery designer will have to write in her career. Some will find it more painful than others. Funny, direct, wise and clear, design educator Natalia Ilyin has come to the rescue. * Communication Arts Magazine *
I would make this book required reading for any writing intensive course within an Art & Design department. * Gary Rozanc, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA *
A hugely engaging and inspiring read - the tone is perfect for students. * Neil Leonard, University of the West of England, UK and author of Becoming A Successful Graphic Designer *
[M]any tutors out there ... would enjoy reading this book as much as I did, densely packed as it is with excellent counsel, communicated in an engagingly informal, second-person mode of address and peppered with personal anecdotes and often laugh-out-loud humorous asides. Readers might feel as though they are one of Ilyin’s fortunate students, sitting with her in her office for a tutorial. * Design Issues *
Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements Introduction 1: Sitting Down to Write Beware the Journaling Roommate Ten Things About Writing
How to Begin 2: The Writer’s Matériel Making Marks Marks into Signs Signs into Sign Bundles Bundling Bundles Alphabets Are Systems Letters into Type Coding and Decoding 3: Words Denotation and Connotation Focusing In
Exercise 1—Seven Beautiful Words 4: Phrase to Clause to Sentence First, Phrases Now, Clauses
Exercise 2—Seven Beautiful Clauses Finally, Sentences Stop the Wandering Three Sentence Writers
Exercise 3—Seven Beautiful Sentences 5: A Dash Through Punctuation Altering Meaning with Dots and Lines The Art of the Pause: Paragraphing
Exercise 4—Building a Paragraph Brush Up on Your Use of Articles 6: Thinking in Diagrams A Third Way of Communicating Imitate the Way Your Brain Thinks: Nodal Mapping
Exercise 5—Trying Out Mapping 7: Writing Is Argument What “Expository” Means If You Missed Learning How to Write a Five-Paragraph Essay The Rooted Tree A Five-Paragraph Essay, Line by Line
Exercise 6—Master the Five-Paragraph Essay How to Move Past Five Paragraphs
Exercise 7—Flip the Tree On to the Semilattice Deploying the Semilattice: Rooms Make the House
Exercise 8—Eight Paragraphs of House A Tiny House Caravan
Exercise 9—Structure the Caravan Essay Exercise 10—Write the Caravan Essay A Note On Conclusions 8: Convincing
Ethos: Convincing by Inspiring Trust
Pathos: Convincing by Appealing to Emotion
Logos: Convincing by Appealing to Logic 9: Tone & Voice Tone The Differences Between Formal and Informal Writing A Personal Tone
Exercise 11—Tone Warm-Up A Professional Tone
Exercise 12—A Short Professional Piece The Traditional Academic Voice Voice 10: Academic Writing What is an Academic Critique?
Exercise 13—An Eight-Page Academic Critique Structuring the Complex Think Piece Various and Oppositional Arguments
Exercise 14—Balancing Opposing Arguments What Academic Research Is and Is Not How to Begin Your Research A Note on Research Databases The Rules of Fair Use Plagiarism What Design Research Is and Is Not Structuring Design Research Documentation What is the Peer Review Process? 11: Writing Long
Bibliographies, Research Papers, BFA Documents, Master’s Theses Invisible Argument: The Art of the Annotated Bibliography If You’ve Just Been Assigned an Annotated Bibliography
Exercise 15—Build an Annotated Bibliography In Defense of the Term Paper Structuring and Writing Research Papers
Exercise 16—Create a “Process Machine” The Design Master’s Thesis: I Hear a Symphony
Exercise 17—Three Basic Questions Exercise 18—Getting to a Thesis Statement 12: Writing to People In Admiration
Exercise 19—Write a Note Because You Want Something—Like a Job
Exercise 20—Write a Convincing Email Because You Don’t Want Something—Like a Client
exercise 21—Write a Client-Firing Email Letters on Paper 13: Business Proposals & Reports A Word on Business-Speak A Simple Proposal for Getting New Business
Exercise 22—Map, Diagram, & Write a Simple Proposal Responding to the RFP
Exercise 23—Map, Diagram, & Write a Response to an RFP 14: Copywriting What Kind of Copy Is It? First, Targets Brush Off Your Poetry Hat Be Wise About Copy Okays Write Alone
Exercise 24—Exercise Your Inner Colette 15: Writing for Social Media Writing for Websites Is Its Own Thing Creating a Cohesive Identity Online Keep the Music Playing
Exercise 25—Create a Social Media Plan Writing Tips Eleven Errors of Death How to Get It All Read Last Thoughts Illustration Notes
