D.I.Y. Design It Yourself
Ellen Lupton

Not satisfied with the new T-shirts on sale at the local mall? Maybe you'd like a wedding invitation that expresses your own vision, not your party planner's? How about some personalized stationery? An upgrade to your website? A business card? A poster for your political campaign? A CD package for your band? Sound good? Then get up off your couch and Design It Yourself! Avoid graphic identity theft: build your own. Ellen Lupton, bestselling author of Thinking with Type will show you how.

DIY: Design It Yourself, provides you with all the tools you'll need to create your own projects, from conception through production. Here you will find:


simple ideas on how you can "think like a designer"

clear and coherent explanations of design technologies, from silk-screening to web development
what materials you'll need to get your job done

where to find and buy them

how much time and experience your project demands

diagrams that show how to handle complex tasks

basic typographic dos and don'ts

the history and theory of the DIY design movement

hundreds of innovative and beautiful projects for inspirationNo more excuses. With this book, virtually any design task is within your grasp. Just do it (yourself)!


Also in the Design Brief Series:

Geometry of Design
Elements of Design
Grid Systems
Thinking with Type



Architectural Press's all-time bestselling author. Her titles include Thinking with Type, Skin, Design Culture Now, Inside Design Now, and more. This book isproduced with her students at the Maryland Institute College of Art, in Baltimore, where she is chairman of the Department of Design.
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Editorial Reviews

Dispense with designers, she says - create it yourself, The Philadelphia Inquirer:
"D.I.Y.: Design It Yourself is probably the only home-crafts book out there that shows you how to apply a screen print to a throw pillow on one page and extensively quotes the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci on another." — Jeff Turrentine (March, 006)

Putting your stamp on everyday items, San Mateo County Times:
"(D.I.Y.) aims to show readers who long to put their personal imprints on everyday items and products how to do just that." (March 11, 2006)

Indianapolis Star:
"What separates D.I.Y. from other craft books is that Lupton is hoping the projects inspired by it will not just end up on somebody's bedroom shelf. She and her students want the objects to go out into the world, as tangible emissaries of individual creativity. Inspiration begets inspiration." (June 17, 2006)

Communication Arts:
"With technological advances, everyone can be a graphic designer if only to create a personal Web presence, video, CD label, photo book, personal papers, newsletter, T-shirt, greeting card." — DK Holland (October, 2006)

Your Design Here, Print :
"Todays D.I.Y. ethic emphasizes customization over craft. The point is not to perfect an underlying skill, but to produce something thats yours alone." (March/April, 2007)

Baltimore Magazine :
"This book is more than a handbook--it's an empowerment tool. There's something here to bring out the designer in everyone . . . So if you're getting tired of ubiquitous corporate brands, pick up this book and get started on a more personal and meaningful alternative." (May 2006)

The Midwest Book Review:
"(D.I.Y.) fills the gap between a designers knowledge and an average persons vision, showing how to create everything from web blogs and business cards to unique gifts, eye-catching flyers and newsletters, stickers, t-shirts and more." — James A. Cox

Baltimore Sun:
"If Martha Stewart transmogrified into a passel of inventive 20- and 30-somethings, she might have come up with this design handbook about everyday art, which has chapters on everything from books and blogs to invitations, newsletters, posters, stationary, fliers, press packets and t-shirts." (February 2006)

URB Magazine:
"Whether youre truely artistically inclined or just aspire to be, thi sbook will make you feel like Michelangelo sculpting away at the David.Corporate America should be worried..." — Joanna Munoz (October 1, 2007)

The No Logo Movement, UbaniteBaltimore.com:
"...Its not so much no brand as just be your own brand" — Jason Tinney (February, 2006)

Change your everyday world into a reflection of yourself, Staten Island Advance:
"Ellen Lupton believes that you - yes, you - are a brilliant designer.It doesnt matter if you are colorblind, or if you cant draw., or if you have never been sure whether shagreen is someting wallets are made of or something thhat goes in salads at fancy resturaunts. " — Jeff Turrentine (March, 2006)

Its Your Bag: BauhausLab at MoMA, Design Arts Daily:
"Lupton, a designer/writer/curator/educator who has written the book on D.I.Y. (D.I.Y. Design It Yourself, from Princeton Architectural Press) has had a lot to do with bringing a variety of design disciplines to public consciousness. Click HERE to read the entire review on ai-ap.com" — Peggy Roalf (December 16, 2009)

Computer Arts:
"Whatever your aim, you'll find clever ideas, intriguing examples and inspirational starting points." (April 2006)

Changing Courses, Print:
"...she wasnt saying, Lets teach everybody to do what we do, but rather, Let them do what we used to do - create ephemeral artifacts. Well learn to use our talents for a higher purpose, to make significant ideas public." — Ellen Shapiro (December, 2006)

Utne:
"A fun-filled, project-based primer in visual literacy that encourages the aesthetically inclined to get intimate with the design process and become a DIY digital cowboy." (March 2006)

Book encourages Average Joe to create own designer items, Courier:
"Her goals are revolutionary, and her manifesto goes something like this: Each one of us has a unique way of looking at, and dealing with, the everyday world. So why shouldnt the basic units of that world - coffee cups, envelopes, business cards, tote bags - bear our individual stamp? Multinational corporations put their brand on everything they make. Why cant you and I have our own brands too?" (March, 2006)

Gwinnett Daily Post:
"I love the aesthetic of the book. It has a really young, contemporary feel, rather than that grandmotherly style found in a lot of craft books. I'm looking forward to spending a lot more time with D.I.Y." (June 18, 2006)

Radiant:
"Design ideas and tips for anyone who enjoys publishing and photography and design on paper, T-shirts or the web."

House & Garden:
"Lupton is determined to bring basic design skills to the masses." (Feb 2006)

Make: Technology on Your Time:
"Finally - good design for the masses! This fabulously designed (of course) book was produced collaboratively by the self-described bastard children of the fine arts: MICA graphic design students and faculty....Each page is an open invitation to reinvent your world, as well as yourself." — Goli Mohammadi (May, 2006)

Pensacola Independent News:
"A crash course in promotion and visual design, D.I.Y. - Design It Yourselfis the perfect book for anyone looking to pimp their brand, their band, their blog or just their Christmas card list. " (11/29/07)

Design-It-Yourself Revolution, Coral Gables Living:
"Design is a way of thinking and creating that is accessible to everyone. " (November, 2007)

Washington Post:
"What separates DIY from other craft books is that Lupton is hoping the projects inspired by it will not just end up on somebody's bedroom shelf. She and her students want the objects to go out into the world, as tangible emissaries of individual creativity. Inspiration begets inspiration." (April 2006)

Home Scooled, Baltimore City Paper:
"a newbies look at the world of graphic design that should appeal to even the most jaded Quark jockey. Perhaps more importantly, the book is a document of our modern world, where blogging, customized clothing, and handmade posters are the norm." — J. Bowers (March 1, 2006)

Bust:
"Blending just the right amount of theory and technique, this book offers constructive and elegant projects that are easy to understand for a range of abilities." (Feb/Mar)

ReadyMade:
"On the offing are inspired suggestions for how to customize business cards, clothing, press kits, and zines. If you've got creative juice, D.I.Y. will get it flowing." (Feb 2006)

Skirt!:
"It's a book. No, it's a web site. Wait! It's both. The book shows you how to create business cards, flyers, invitations . . . and lots more, all packaged in a sophisticated design for non-designers. If you visit the web site, you can pick a project and find design guides to download and a list of fabulous resources to take you farther." (April 2006)

Book inspires to Design it Yourself, Carrol County Times:
"a hip head-on dive into the world of creative arts...The book offers practical tips on everything from bogging and web site design to how to make a more personal statement with business cards and party invitations." — Jordan Bartel (February 23, 2006)

Reader Comments

Just Do It... Yourself (rating 5 out of 5):

Simple ideas and concepts are repackaged into sophisticated design solutions for all lifestyles. This book beautifully shows that there are creative uses for anything, from bags, to stagionary, T-shirts, coasters, logos,.. you name it. You Can Do It Too :)

- Elke Gasselseder from Baltimore (01/24/2006)

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