If you haven't had a chance to play with the cover of Decoding Design, a recent HOW book about symbols in design, read this ensthusiatic review on DT&G.

Check out this Awesome book cover at your nearest book dealer! That was my first thought on seeing this book. First perceptions, right? I just wanted to play with that cover thingie! (The cover has an embedded wheel -- when you turn the orange wheel to the right - symbols are deconstructed in the circles!)

You'll also find an interview with author Maggie McNab on HOWdesign.com.

Decoding Design looks at the essential processes underlying shapes and patterns, and how integrating this information in a relevant way creates usable visual communication. It provides a reliable structure from which to begin the creative process. Logo design is particularly difficult because you are tasked with refining sometimes very complex information to its most essential bits. How do you know what that is? As we are part of the universe we follow the same laws of nature–and we are good at intuiting them to survive. Being able to connect the dots is important to the discovery process. When you understand how shape and pattern work, you can integrate relative visual content specific to your client for communication that is universal and unique at the same time.

Posted by Megan