Visual grammar
by Christian Leborg · first published 2006
6mentions
6recommended by
6HN commenters
2011–2021first – last mentioned
100% recommend
Why HN recommends it
Concise introduction to visual design basics, covering how layout and form-making work and why certain designs succeed; a starting reference for beginners and anyone wanting foundational design knowledge.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…design or make things "look" good, it does not mean it is design. Read a few books like the following to get started: 1)The Design Of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman, Don Norman (basics of design) 2)Visual Grammar by Christian Leborg (basics of visual design) 3)Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works by Erik Spiekermann (typography) 4)Don't Make Me Think!: A Common Sense Approach To Web Usability by Steve…
on “Not a designer? Here’s how to make your web apps look awesome” ↗…similar to my experience, it seems so trivial when you describe it to people, but it's ridiculously useful. Just a recommendation for anyone reading the comments & wants this kind of base level knowledge, Visual Grammar by Christian Leborg is this, basically, it's an excellent book, can normally get it dirt cheap off Amazon or wherever but link from publishers: https://papress.com/collections/design-browse-books/products...
on “Mastering the Basics of Icon Design” ↗This might be helpful too, a very good book on the basics: http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Grammar-Design-Briefs-Christian...
on “Interesting Windows Desktop UI Concept” ↗1. [Visual Grammar](http://books.google.com/books/about/VISUAL_GRAMMAR.html?id=w...) by Christian Leborg 2. [Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0465051359/)…
on “It Is Not Flat Design. It's Just Proper Design” ↗…complete without mentioning Emil Ruder's Typographie, Josef Muller-Brockman's Grid Systems and Armin Hofmann's Graphic Design Manual. That said, a good starter is layout/formmaking Christian Leborg's "Visual Grammar," part of Princeton Architectural Press' Design Briefs series[2] (all of which are good for skimming the next time you find yourself in a bookstore/amazon showroom). Finally, I never realized it until…
on “Ask HN: Independently learning design?” ↗…certain designs work. The way our brains interpret color and how that causes certain colors to work well together. How people process information and how to leverage that to make designs that "make sense." Visual Grammar [3] is a design reference book I refer to. It's like a SQL reference book - won't teach you the language (of design) but explains the options you have and when they could be useful. Things like "these…
on “Ask HN: Is it just me, or is CSS too damn hard?” ↗