BOOKS - vintage
besides the latest design books another thing you can do is utilize vintage books. im sure many of you do this already, but for those just starting out, scour charity shops, car boot sales, or secondhand bookstores for illustrated reference books. for example i have lots of flower books as clients always ask for floral designs and you need to know what types there are and how they look. my old art teacher used to say to us all the time "you are only as good as your reference", and this is so true. surround yourself with great reference books and it will really help your designs. many old plants/gardening titles from the 60's and 70's can be picked up for just pence. other popular subjects to look out for are animals, birds, butterflys, seashore & shells, fruits, leaves, and trees.
besides the latest design books another thing you can do is utilize vintage books. im sure many of you do this already, but for those just starting out, scour charity shops, car boot sales, or secondhand bookstores for illustrated reference books. for example i have lots of flower books as clients always ask for floral designs and you need to know what types there are and how they look. my old art teacher used to say to us all the time "you are only as good as your reference", and this is so true. surround yourself with great reference books and it will really help your designs. many old plants/gardening titles from the 60's and 70's can be picked up for just pence. other popular subjects to look out for are animals, birds, butterflys, seashore & shells, fruits, leaves, and trees.
That's a really good tip! Besides the factual reference they provide, the style of illustration on vintage books can be really inspiring too - I love the seaweed on 'The British Seashore' in your post. al
ReplyDeletei adore vintage books, i have several vintage bontanical reference books i use as a reference...they look good on a shelf too :)
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