"In the age of computers, many designers have lost sight of how important typography is within a design. This book, The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst, is such a great reference book. It has taught me so much about the history and proper use of typography. I keep this on my work desk and often reference it. Just the other day I looked up the proper usage of asterisks and daggers, and then spend another 10 minutes learning the history of a dagger and other ways you can use it in typography. Every time I open this book up to learn one thing, I walk away with another tidbit of typographic knowledge. This keeps me growing as a designer and continuously being aware of all the little details."
"My senior year of high school, I took a class where, among other things, we had the complete freedom to choose how and what we wanted to write about the things we read. One of the books that we read was “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien. It’s a compilation of stories about Vietnam that is based upon the author’s own experiences. What struck me most about this book was the way that it played with narrative and personal “truth,” challenging my own conceptions of historical narrative and the truth in fiction writing. It taught me to trust my own interpretations of literature as being valid, and allowed me to start on a path of continually pushing myself to think and write critically about the things I read."
I've always been interested in urban life, why people live where they do, why do they live in houses or in high rises. I didn't know anything about Urban Planning or Architecture as a kid but I use to study maps and ride the bus and train from end to end around Chicago. I originally wanted to be a sportscaster and I worked at a couple radio stations but then I picked up "There's Goes the Neighborhood" between shifts at a library near my job. My mind was blown!, it gave proper words for so many experiences I had growing up in the city and seeing neighborhoods change, people move out and in. Within months from reading this book I had changed careers and colleges, now I work with people and their housing issues every day. In the last 7 years I've read so many books, articles, and blogs on the issue of gentrification, redevelopment, and city life but I will always remember reading "There's Goes the Neighborhood" by Wilson and Taub.
