The art of looking sideways by Alan Fletcher
As books go, The art of looking sideways is a pretty big one. At 1066 pages, Alan Fletcher’s “primer in visual intelligence” is not something you can take with you to work or quickly use as a reference. It is, however, an interesting compilation of ideas which is well worth a look at.
Arranged in 72 chapters, The art of looking sideways is more a collection of anecdotes, quotations, odd facts and random material than a guide to design. There are no rules or guidelines, but instead numerous snippets of knowledge. In a way, it is about everything and nothing, a compendium of thoughts gathered through years of experience.
You can use it in a few ways. First of all, you could read it in a linear fashion, soaking up information chapter by chapter. You could also open a few pages a day at random and be inspired. Because of its massive size, you get the impression that every time you read it, you’ll find something new and that you’ll never exhaust it. Either way, you could use it for design ideas, since there is no visual consistency and every page has its own individual style.
The art of looking sideways is one of those coffee table books which might come across as overpriced and pretentious, but given a chance, it delivers on its promise to entertain and inspire.
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