Professional Design Techniques with Adobe Creative Suite 3: Develop Expert Design Skills Through Hands-On Projects Using Indesign, Photoshop, and Illu

by Scott Citron

Learn to use the tools in Adobe Creative Suite 3 from a design perspective with inspiring real-world projects throughout. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0321495691
• ISBN13: 9780321495693
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Adobe Press
• Length: 306 Pages
• Weight: 1.49 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Defining Product

From Adobe Press, this soft cover format book defines it's self in one of those areas between a great design magazine and a handy educational tool. The book itself breaks chapters out by project work rather than product. This is more inline with what I require as a digital based graphics designer. I am not about to use an illustrator project book, but rather one that targets a project like what I am involved with to use as a resource. The chapters are the ubiquitous "Getting Started" (great info on what and how Bridge should be used, as well as info on preferences and organization. This is actually more important a chapter than at first glance. I am supprised by the amount of designers now in CS3 who still hang on to old habits (die hard) with bad or non existing preferences and layouts tailored to themselves. Bridge too is so important to great workflow, yet not enough designers out there are taking advantage of it. THe remaining chapters in the book are broken out by projects on typography, corp identity, newsletters and forms, magazines, books, annual reports and interactive PDF. The book closes off with a chapter on workflow that covers a CD label. This I would say is a miss. CD - um yeah that format that no one buys. Why is it not something more interesting such as a DVD jacket and label for a movie or better yet, an actual game on the market. THough it shows good workflow, the example is dated and not relevant and makes the chapter a bit of let down. Another point missed out in this book is the inclusion of digital media. Is it an aim for the book to be knowingly exclusive of any form of non print media other than an interactive pdf? The book does feel, though using the latest CS3 project, that it is from a pre web period when there was the promise of interactive CD's and an interactive PDF world. This is a shame as a professional designer who thinks that all outside of print is irrelevant is, in theselves in danger of being irrelevant. Overall the book reads well, has great examples and excellent tips scattered throughout. The examples are for the most part relevant only to print based designers, so one can look at this as more of an upgrade read through to garner more from CS3 than from any hands on learning in a start to finish setting.

Excellent book...great concept!

This book is a nice blend of design principles and software tips...and well-written to boot. This book is not a tutorial on how to use InDesign. Instead, it provides first-rate guidance on how to use the Creative Suite components together, with advice on which tool is best for which job. Also, it is a rare opportunity to "peek inside the head" of a talented designer and see what processes he goes through to arrive at the end result. Overall, an excellent book. I'll be recommending this to people in my InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop and Acrobat training seminars.

Highly Recommended

Finally, a book that clearly teaches professional design techniques and how to achieve them. Scott Citron has created a great reference tool for students, teachers, and seasoned designers. "Professional Design Techniques with Adobe Creative Suite 3" would make an excellent book in any design school's curriculum. This comprehensive tutorial eliminates the need for any other book on the subject - it is truly the definitive Creative Suite learning tool.

Very helpful for Creative Suite users

I've been teaching publishing tools such as InDesign, QuarkXPress, and Photsohop for 20 years, but I'm a production person, not a designer. Therefore, it's great to find a book like this that can lucidly explain design techniques while also relating it to the tools in the Adobe Creative Suite. Citron's book is a must for every design and production studio.

Best design book in half a century

Not since artist Ben Shahn's "The Shape of Content," a brilliant book published in 1957 and appreciated by a vast creative community ever since, has there been a text written on the subject of design that's been as accessible as this one. I would recommend this new book, without qualification, to anyone with a serious interest in the subject. Mr. Citron's talent as a graphic designer is obvious. But of greater significance is his unique ability to communicate his thoughts in a way that's at once informative, and also accessible. There is no doubt that the author/teacher cares deeply about the nature of design. It's equally apparent that he genuinely cares about his readers.