Robin Williams Design Workshop

Robin Williams

Design Workshop

Robin Williams and John Tollett. 2001. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press. [ISBN 0-201-70088-3. 280 pages, including index. $39.99 USD (softcover)].

Fans of Robin Williams' clean design style and breezy, irreverent writing style can rest easy. Robin Williams design workshop continues her two traditions, and then some. This book, however, marches away from the basics of Williams' The nondesigner's design book and her other beginners' texts into more sophisticated territory. Robin Williams design workshop is similar in approach to the fourth edition of Roger C. Parker's Looking good in print (reviewed in the February 2000 issue of Technical communication), but with a lighter touch, a friendlier tone, and 100% use of color.

Robin Williams design workshop will appeal to confirmed fans of Williams and Tollett, to those who design from inclination or necessity, and to project managers seeking a more engaging look for their documents. Even indexers will find a chapter devoted to the way that index design can affect readers' comprehension and use of that crucial segment of many technical documents. Teachers and students will find stimulation in the many makeovers.

Throughout, there are plenty of lush illustrations, plus explanations of why they do or don't work. Equally helpful are the discussions of the software and hardware that helped the authors create this book and its enticing demonstrations of design excellence and design duds. The first five chapters open with modest notes regarding the typefaces used in them. Two chapters close with generous lists of the sources of the graphic material discussed in the chapters. Eleven chapters close with "Designer Exercises"-assignments that help readers expand their visual sense by noticing...