How to See: Visual Adventures in a World God Never Made

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George Nelson

Little, Brown, Boston, 1977, English

Design, General

ISBN: 9780316603119

More than a guide to visual appreciation, this is a book about how to recognize, evaluate, and understand the objects and landscape of the man-made world. The pursuit of design is not about the way things appear, but rather about the way things give meaning and relevance to the human experience. Reprinted in 1979 with the subtitle A Guide to Reading Our Manmade Environment.

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Stanley Abercrombie

On Stanley Abercrombie’s Book List

Although in his preface Nelson admitted the book’s title might have been “How I See,” this is clearly a plea for all of us—particularly designers—to be more consciously aware of our surroundings.

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