Launching the Imagination 2D + CC CD-ROM v3.0

Book Description

Designed for courses in Creativity, Two-, Three- or Four-Dimensional Design, Launching the Imagination offers a comprehensive framework on which students, teachers, and administrators can build. The approach in this second edition is refined, distilled, and updated, using over 600 examples drawn from traditional and contemporary sources. Profiles with interviews of artists and designers introduce students to working processes, career choices, and criteria for excellence from a remarkable group of masters.

Launching the Imagination is available in a comprehensive volume treating 2D design, Creativity and Problem-solving, 3D design, and time-based (4D) design; or in split volumes containing either 2D or 3D design, plus the material on Creativity and Problem-solving.

Launching the Imagination’s Core Concepts in Art CD-ROM, version 2.0, which engages students interactively with the elements and principles of art through numerous interactive exercises, has been re-organized and expanded. A copy of this CD-ROM is included free with every copy of the textbook purchased from McGraw-Hill, a student-value of over $30, and is also available individually through your local bookstore.

"I have found the text very clear and concise with fabulous, diversified examples and illustrations."
--Kelly M. Nelson, Longwood University

"It is clear, concise, and visually appealing. My students responded immediately to its visual impact. I also appreciated the artist views for each chapter. They gave the sections more meaning."
--Danielle Harmon, Valdosta State University

"This text is excellent for developing projects that stimulate creativity, challenge students set in convergent thinking to open up, realize the ability to be creative when they are not visual artists."
--Carolynne Whitefeather, Utica College

"Main reason [for adopting LTI]: chapters on narrative and time. Helped to bridge the gap between fine arts and graphic design. Helped/introduced students to these elements/topics and reinforced 2D/3D concepts learned in other classes. Students enjoyed the book. Problem solving chapter is great."
--William Britton Rowe, Ohio Northern University

"Launching the Imagination is both simple and in-depth in its scope. It is thorough without being overwhelming. It is clear and succinct without losing the essence of meaning or concepts. Also the color examples and the accompanying CD is great."
--Rob Tarbell, Piedmont Virginia Community College and James Madison University

"I have not had a really good text for 2-D Design since Roy Behrens' Design in the Visual Arts, which is now out of print. While there is much to like about Launching the Imagination, I was most happy with the sections which talked about critical thinking and strategies for problem solving which can be employed by visual artists."
--Reid Wood, Lorain County Community College

"The engaging writing and variety of visual examples make this design text the most user friendly guide for both students and instructor that I've found yet. The artist profiles give an applied art/life perspective that is unique in foundations texts. I've used the text at two colleges and my students LOVE this text. The thin 2D volume is also a plus. Students do Not want a heavy book to lug around."
--Tracy Doreen Dietzel, Edgewood College

Amazon.com

Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics was published in 1993, just as "Comics Aren't Just for Kids Anymore!" articles were starting to appear and graphic novels were making their way into the mainstream, and it quickly gave the newly respectable medium the theoretical and practical manifesto it needed. With his clear-eyed and approachable analysis--done using the same comics tools he was describing--McCloud quickly gave "sequential art" a language to understand itself. McCloud made the simplest of drawing decisions seem deep with artistic potential.

Thirteen years later, following the Internet evangelizing of Reinventing Comics, McCloud has returned with Making Comics.

Designed as a craftsperson's overview of the drawing and storytelling decisions and possibilities available to comics artists, covering everything from facial expressions and page layout to the choice of tools and story construction, Making Comics, like its predecessors, is also an eye-opening trip behind the scenes of art-making, fascinating for anyone reading comics as well as those making them. Get a sense of the range of his lessons by clicking through to the opening pages of his book, including his (illustrated, of course) table of contents (warning: large file, recommended for high-bandwidth users):

Book Description

Scott McCloud tore down the wall between high and low culture in 1993 with Understanding Comics, a massive comic book about comics, linking the medium to such diverse fields as media theory, movie criticism, and web design. In Reinventing Comics, McCloud took this to the next level, charting twelve different revolutions in how comics are generated, read, and perceived today. Now, in Making Comics, McCloud focuses his analysis on the art form itself, exploring the creation of comics, from the broadest principles to the sharpest details (like how to accentuate a character's facial muscles in order to form the emotion of disgust rather than the emotion of surprise.) And he does all of it in his inimitable voice and through his cartoon stand–in narrator, mixing dry humor and legitimate instruction. McCloud shows his reader how to master the human condition through word and image in a brilliantly minimalistic way. Comic book devotees as well as the most uninitiated will marvel at this journey into a once–underappreciated art form.

Customer Reviews:

Fun to read and very informative.......2007-08-25

I read Understanding Comics and liked it so much I decided to check this book out as well, and found it to be even more enjoyable. McCloud's artwork is very fun and whimsical, his writing is humorous and he puts many concepts about the writing and drawing of comics in very easy-to-understand language. I never thought about making comics before, but this volume was so inspiring I'm convinced it might be fun to try!

A Great Learning Tool.......2007-08-15

If you've ever wondered about the finer points of crafting a comic this is the book for you. This is not a how to draw book and if thats what you are looking for than this isn't for you. It IS a very intelligent and thought provoking insight into the story telling aspects of the creation of comics. This is a MUST HAVE for anyone serious about comics.

Scott McCloud is the Alton Brown of Comics.......2007-08-07

Alton Brown is not a world-class chef but 'Good Eats' is indispensible educational television. It's the same thing with Scott McCloud, reviewers who say he hasn't produced anything earth shaking in the comics medium are missing the point. Making Comics is a wide-ranging, free-wheeling and passionate examination of what makes comics (and much visual art) tick, and provides a toolbox we can use to create our own stories. This is the best thing since Understanding Comics and goes more into the details of visual storytelling, the chapter on facial expressions alone is worth the price of admission. I want to send this book to Edward Tufte. Anyone interested in visual communication needs to read this book, and that goes double for aspiring comics creators.

Must-Have for Aspiring Artists.......2007-07-05

You need to own Understanding Comics to accompany this one. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
Making Comics is a complete book that refers to many of the topics that Understanding Comics expands upon. It is a great starting point for aspiring artists to look at approaching their own comic. McCloud explains the mutlitude of styles involved and how each of them works to engage the reader. He is truly a master of his craft.
He strips away the layers of superhero masculine fantasy to reveal comics as a storytelling vehicle. Not your typical how-to-draw book.

Review of book.......2007-05-28

Excellent book - very well presented and detailed. Well worth the price. Our kids (9 and 7) are using it to create better comics

Customer Reviews:

gut-wrenchingly funny.......2001-11-05

This book is almost as funny as the original. And the illustrations are so funny they make me cry. I still hear "Those dirty witch clothes even fit me" on the radio all the time.

Proof that our species is insane.......2000-11-17

Have you ever heard a song where one of the lines just didn't seem to fit? This book chronicles the loony mishearings of various songs, from Frank Sinatra to Tori Amos, that various people have sent in!

Real Line: See the thorn twist in your side. Misheard Line: See the phone twist in your side.

Real Line: We're never going to survive unless we get a little crazy. Misheard Line: We're never going to survive homelessness, we get a little crazy.

This is a riot of a humor book, revealing to me that I am not alone after the many, many... lyrics that I have mangled over the years. For proof that this is done by many, many people....

Pitiful.......2000-09-12

I am wondering just how long it took the author to create these 'misheard' lyrics. Most have no similarity to the lyrics. This is a sophomoric attempt at being funny, and it fails miserably.

Average customer rating:
Hollywood's New Radicalism: War, Globalisation and the Movies from Reagan to George W. Bush (Cinema and Society)
Ben Dickenson
Manufacturer: I. B. Tauris
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1845111036

Book Description

Mixing political and film analysis with exclusive interviews with Hollywood movers and shakers, Ben Dickenson dissects the social context of the last twenty-five years, from Reagan's Presidency to George W. Bush. He uncovers significant political realignments in the movie industry, in its aesthetic values and in the make-up of Hollywood talent and traces how successive presidents and globalization have opened the way for the anti-globalization movement in Hollywood, which in turn has led to changes in film output. The book brings the story of Hollywood radicalism up to and through the 2004 Presidential election.

Book Description

The demand for math and science skills in our technology-driven world is at a premium, and yet U.S. students continue to lag behind many other industrialized countries in these areas. This book, based on studies conducted on 8000 elementary school-aged children, proposes that not only is there a relationship between music and math comprehension, but that music can be utilized to heighten higher brain function and improve math skills. The enclosed CD-Rom includes (1) a recording of Allegro con spirito from Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major (K. 448), by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by Murray Perahia and Radu Lupu, courtesy of Sony ClassicalTM, and (2) a descriptive interactive version of S.T.A.R.TM (Spatial-Temporal Animation Reasoning) software program. While this book's discussion of the breakthroughs in understanding of spatial-temporal reasoning abilities will be of particular interest to neuroscientists and cognitive researchers, the book is also accessible to parents and educators.

* Presents the theory that music exercises higher brain function and can enhance math comprehension
* Details how music training coupled with special-temporal reasoning (thinking in pictures) can dramatically impact a child's ability to understand and master math
* Includes an interactive CD-ROM with math games

Customer Reviews:

This will change education as we know it.......2000-11-13

Far from being the meandering report the Orange county reader called it, this book relates very carefully what has been going on in brain research for the last 20 years, plus it details what has been learned about the brain's own private language. Apparently, Mozart was intuitively expressing pure thought! (this is my conclusion). Shaw's research has demonstrated a clear and uncontradictable connection between music learning and math understanding. His approach, if implemented in schools, will change the way math is taught forever, and bring music back to the core curriculum where it belongs, as a rudimentary human language. Underprivileged kids who learn math and music together in a sequential curriculum experience an evening-out of the playing field which enables them to achieve as high scores on standardized tests as the rich white kids in wealthy districts! THAT'S GOING TO CHANGE THE WORLD! Hurray for Shaw. If this book is hard to read, keep trying and keep trying. Our kids' future may be at stake.

Now I am confused.......2000-10-15

Other than the CD rom, I found nothing practical or inspiring in this book. There was no Mozart on the CD and the book showed me nothing practical for me or my children. Over priced. I have a master's degree in music and could not really see what the book was about, other than endless, meandering research. It had little to do with music or Mozart.

Keeping Mozart in Mind is a "STAR".......2000-02-29

Keeping Mozart in Mind is intellectually sophisticated, yet fun and interesting. I really enjoyed the way Shaw wove personal stories and anecdotes in with the science. It gave the book a novel-like flair, even though he was discussing some very improtant scientific and educational topics.

I am not a kid, but I love the STAR software that came with the book! I got hooked! If nothing else, you should try this program, it is amazing! I can see how those children improved their math scores so much; it is unlike any educational software I have ever seen.

I would reccommend this book and software to anyone.

Mozart and the Mind? Very interesting book here........1999-09-30

This was a surprisingly easy read. I have heard a lot in the news about the issue of music and children's learning, so I wanted to take a look at this book. With the CD-ROM that comes with the book, I was able to get a good grasp on this process and the extent of the relations between music and learning, and how it might affect my children.

It does get somewhat "text-bookie" at times, but I think that is helpful for those who want that more technical information.

Average customer rating:
Keeping Mozart in Mind, Second Edition
Gordon L. Shaw Gordon Shaw
Manufacturer: Academic Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OHIUMY

Customer Reviews:

Do Not Buy This One.......2002-04-12

Not only is this book awful for it's smarmy tone, it also contains misinformation in certain areas. Get John May's book instead (ISBN: 0818406046).

I am a borderline bibliophile, and in the rare cases when I get rid of books (usually because of duplicate copies), I donate them to the local library. This is the only book I have thrown away, because I did not want to be responsible for someone borrowing it from the library and taking it's information as true.

Should be titled "How to Play and Win Less than you Lose".......1999-11-06

John Patrick continues his misleading statements and his misuse of the word Win. This book does not overcome basic mathematics and the player disadvantage built into the game. Save your money and don't buy it; better yet, save even more money and don't play Baccarat.

This book can help you stack chips.......1999-05-15

Let's face it. Casinos are tough to beat. Yet every book makes it sound so easy. They go into some strategy, tell a few stories about episodes at the tables all while giving the reader false confidence that costs real money. These books rarely delve into the most grossly under-represented aspect of gambling: the loss. Not the case when it comes to books written by John Patrick. Patrick addresses losses for what they are: a sad reality. Truth is that losing and losing sessions are one half of the game. How will you handle that loss? The seasoned gambler knows that all of the table games are tough to beat. This tough player knows that the "secret" to winning is catching the streak. How does the veteran do this? How can you do it? Get this book and learn the fundamentals. The rest is up to you.

One of the best.......1999-04-05

I found this book both informative and easy to understand. I have been very successful with his methods.

Just OK.......1998-11-19

John explains the game but just goes on & on repeating himself about elements of his philosophy. He tell the same story in all his other tapes and books. Tell me something new.

Average customer rating:

A Winning Approach Well Worth The Investment

The Wedge is about winning, not selling

Fresh Ideas on Sales

The Best of The Best of Insurance Sales

The Wedge: How to Stop Selling and Start Winning
Randy Schwantz
Manufacturer: Natl Underwriter Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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How to Get Your Competition Fired (Without Saying Anything Bad About Them): Using The Wedge to Increase Your Sales

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ASIN: 0872183718

Customer Reviews:

A Winning Approach Well Worth The Investment.......2007-06-08

The background context is clearly the insurance industry, with the ever present incumbent, but regardless of the product or service the competition is always close by, and the lessons in this book are applicable to all sales. Organized into eleven chapters in three sections, along with an appendix, the author explains the limitations and drawbacks of traditional approaches, how the Wedge approach is much more positive and successful, and the why. It reinforces the requirement that the sales professionals have to do their homework, know and understand the prospect's viewpoint, and ties in very well with consultative selling. With examples and method maps as training aids, easy to read, the lessons in this book are well worth studying and practicing.

The Wedge is about winning, not selling.......2004-11-14

The Wedge process works. It's a proven way to compete and win clients based on proactive services. If you're looking to move your sales force away from the death spiral of price-based competition, read this book.

Fresh Ideas on Sales.......2003-09-05

After reading The Wedge, and applying its principles to my sales presentations, I landed a rather large account that I know a competitor was also avidly pursuing. That alone makes the investment in this book worthwhile.
The Wedge focuses on taking business from your competition, by positioning yourself in a manner that distinguishes your business from your competitior. It is one of the first sales books that I ever read that focuses almost exclusively on the concept of taking business away from your competitors, as opposed to developing sales from independent leads. Given that almost every marketplace is static, with only so many entities available to buy your (or your competition's) product, thinking about and successfully executing methods that get your product before buyers who work with, or may be tempted by a competing product, not only makes sense, but is very wise sales strategy. And I can say - IT WORKS!

The Best of The Best of Insurance Sales.......2002-07-28

Books on sales are a dime a dozen. Some have a focus on a specific market while others are as general as water. If your intention is to break into the broker market or just expand your market share in Insurance, Then This Book Is For You! The book is short, precise and powerful. If you think the price is a little high for a sales book, then you do not deserve this one.
For those with the vision, the intent, and boldness, this book will increase your sales to match your goals. Good Reading.

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