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Subject:Thanks for advice on Horton's Icon book From:"Jessica N. Lange" <jlange -at- OHIOEE -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 5 Jan 1998 07:29:24 -0500
Last week, I asked for advice on Wm Horton's book "The Icon Book : Visual
Symbols for Computer Systems and Documentation".
Thanks to all who responded. For those who'd also like to know, here's a
summary of the comments on the book:
Tom Johnson wrote:
"I enjoyed reading the book and occasionally refer to it when I need to come
up with an icon or a graphic. Even though I don't use it a lot, I figure it
was worth the price. I would buy the book again if only to help me think
about what I
really want to communicate with an icon. "
Robert Zwaska wrote:
"I know we have Horton's Icon Book in our department. I personally have
not used it, but I know that it was of great value to one of my
co-workers who worked on a project which sounds similar to yours.
"This past September, I attended Horton's Visual Literacy seminar in San
Francisco. During the 2-day session, he talked about a project team of
which he (Horton) was a member who were responsible for designing
thousands of icons. He discussed various approaches to coming up with
icons, especially when you get stuck and think you have exhausted all
possibilities. In short, he speaks from experience. My guess is the
book would help you."
Stuart Burnfield wrote:
"it's very good -- I recommend it. It's about principles, not particular
icon-drawing software, so it shouldn't be out-of-date.
...I'm reading 'Illustrating Computer Documentation' right now. It's also
very good."
Thanks also to Bonnie Granat, who recommended I ask Amazon about the
different versions. I did, and they told me there are 3 (!) versions of the
book. Here are excerpts from their email:
"There are three distinct items: the book, the disk, and the book/disk.
The book is a paperback ... List: $29.95 ... ISBN: 047159900X
The disk appears in our catalog as the mysterious "hardback" item ... List:
$15.00 ... ISBN: 047102497X
Finally, the book/disk edition appears in our catalog as ... List: $39.95
... ISBN: 0471599018"
Thanks again for your responses. The word "community" may be overused in the
media, but I do feel part of the TechWriters' community because of this
mailing list. On some days, it's the high-point of my day! <grin>
Jessica N. Lange
Technical Communicator
Ohio Electronic Engravers, Inc. mailto:jlange -at- ohioee -dot- com
