The Art of Looking Sideways: 0000 Hardcover – 17 July 2001

This is simply an astonishing book that is a joy to own.This is a large book with over 500 large format pages. It is described by its author Alan Fletcher as the work of a visual Jackdaw to produce an exploration of the workings of the eye, the hand, the brain and the imagination.As he describes it 'The book attempts to open windows to glimpse views rather than dissect the pictures on the wall. To look at things from unlikely angles.... The book has no thesis, is neither a whodunit or a how-to-do-it, has no beginning middle or end. It's a journey without a destination.... It is unlike most books, those that are concerned with the mechanics rather than the thoughts, with the match rather than the fire.'The result is not a book to sit down and read sequentially from cover to cover, rather an environment of ideas and stimuli through which to journey, an exploration in which to become immersed.Reading the other reviews, many seem to come from graphic designers, indeed the author is a renown graphic designer himself. The result is a book that is a delight to hold. The different paper types and textures, intriguing layouts and inviting formats mean that every page turned leads to new discoveries even before their content is examined. Its merits as an exemplar of the art of design are clear, but this is much more than a role model for designers.It is a book that in infinite ways serves as a catalyst for thinking. It has a multifaceted ability to present aspects of the world in new ways, that defy you ever again seeing them the way you always have in the past.Through the imaginative use of images and text, quotations, snippets of information, and a host of other approaches, this is a feast for the mind as well as the eye.It's not simply a book that I can't stop dipping into, I can't stop smiling at the fact that Alan Fletcher took the time, care and attention to detail to share it with me. It is quite simply a pleasure to hold and a feast to read.

Having been interested in graphic design for a couple of years this was the first book I bought to do with the subject, there's no one like Alan Fletcher for one of your first design books.The amount of "stuff" in the book is astounding, you can really see how much time, energy and thought Fletcher has put into this, it is basically a catalogue of thoughts, wit, ideas and work by Fletcher. From a quote about how good it feels to write on a rubber with a biro to a diagram of every breed of dog! There are some really interesting sketches and diagrams that let you feel what he was feeling or think how he was at the time, so his personality comes through a lot.It's definately not a book designed to be read cover to cover because there simply is no need, it goes along at it's own pace, amazing and intriguing you along the way. It features great Fletcher hand drawn typoraphy, interesting page textures and amazing colour, so it's a piece of design itself.So just pick it up, have a flick through whenever you want, because it's definately going to please you if you are at all interested in graphics.

Probably one of the best books there is on the subject of ''everything''.The sort of book that one can never get to the end of! Just read random pages and in my opinion, anyone with the slightest bit of imagination or curiosity would find this book amazing. I would never ever loan it to anybody, in case it wasn't returned to me. It's that good!

We're all told to do it at design college (and usually dont) then we end up doing it through our creative careers.. and that's find things that inspire us, amuse us, or that we just plain and simply like. why? so we can use them on days when we have no inspiration. This book is one mans fascinating collection of explorations - an intelligent way to really look at things. Come on - open the book, I bet you'll find something in there you like. I bet you.

Inside like new. Some damage on the hardcover as to be expected. Great purchase.

Alan Fletcher was one of the creative powerhouses of design from the 1960s on, and this book puts together some of his musings on life, the Universe and everything. The book is designed to spark ideas and thought, so even the paper used changes from page to page.In typically quirky fashion, only the left hand pages are given a number so if you buy this book you actually get over a thousand pages of inspiring graphics, calligraphy, typography and photographs collected over the course of a long and illustrious career: he founded Pentagram; he designed logos for Reuters and the Victoria and Albert museum. The book gives a glimpse of the thought processes that went in to that work. For the money it's an astonishing bargain.

A must-have for any creative in my opinion. It's colourful, playful and full of inspiration and wit. The attention to detail in this cinder-block-of-a-book is impeccable and each turn of the page is exciting when you don't know if what you see on the overleaf will be bonkers, profound or both. It truly is an experience and worth every penny.

Brilliant book to have, especially if your interested or studying Graphic Design, really good to dip in and out to. Excellent for looking at the history of graphic design and if your just looking for ideas really, filled with lots of interesting facts, quotes and images etc. Really good quality in terms of the book itself, really sturdy and good quality paper.