Typesetting Resources & Links
RGB vs. CMYK
Explains the difference between the two and how to avoid surprises on press or with electronic media
Pantone Color System
A standard benchmark for specifying spot, process and other color systems
QuarkXpress web site
Updates, support and training
Adobe web site
Photoshop & Acrobat updates and support
The work of Edward Tufte
Edward Tufte, a professor emeritus of statistics, information design, interface design, and political economy at Yale University, has been described by The New York Times as "the Leonardo da Vinci of Data". I attended his Envisioning Information seminar in 1999, then brought a friend to another in 2002. His books are not cheap, but they are works of art in themselves, while the ideas they present are incredibly useful for both print & web designers faced with the task of presenting large amounts of complex data in concise, highly understandable form. His discussion of how poorly designed charts and graphs 'lie' to the viewer, causing them to erroneously interpret data, and how bad information design led, in part, to the Challenger disaster, is thought provoking to say the least.
The classic book on statistical graphics, charts, tables. Theory and practice in the design of data graphics, 250 illustrations of the best (and a few of the worst) statistical graphics, with detailed analysis of how to display data for precise, effective, quick analysis. Detection of graphical deception: design variation vs. data variation. Sources of deception. Aesthetics and data graphical displays.
This is the second edition of The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Recently published, this new edition provides excellent color reproductions of the many graphics of William Playfair, adds color to other images, and includes all the changes and corrections accumulated during 17 printings of the first edition.
This book celebrates escapes from the flatlands of both paper and computer screen, showing superb displays of high-dimensional complex data. The most design-oriented of Edward Tufte's books, Envisioning Information shows maps, charts, scientific presentations, diagrams, computer interfaces, statistical graphics and tables, stereo photographs, guidebooks, courtroom exhibits, timetables, use of color, a pop-up, and many other wonderful displays of information.
The book provides practical advice about how to explain complex material by visual means, with extraordinary examples to illustrate the fundamental principles of information displays. Winner of 17 awards for design and content.
Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative is about pictures of verbs, the representation of mechanism and motion, process and dynamics, causes and effects, explanation and narrative. Practical applications and examples include statistical graphics, charts for making important decisions in engineering and medicine, technical manuals, diagrams, design of computer interfaces and websites and on-line manuals, animations and scientific visualizations, techniques for talks, and design strategies for enhancing the rate of information transfer in print, presentations, and computer screens.