A full-color graphic guide to the foundational vocabulary needed to discuss art and design at the undergraduate, graduate, and commercial levels.

Design students today are more visually literate than ever before, and their learning style naturally favors the visual over the textual. So why should they learn art and design theory from a traditional textbook? The only guide of its kind, Line Color Form offers a thorough introduction to design theory and terminology in a visually appealing and accessible format. With hundreds of illustrations and minimal text, this primer was created with visual learners in mind, making it ideal for art students as well as those for whom English is a second language.

Each chapter focuses on a single aspect of visual composition, such as line, color, or material. After an illustrated discussion of fundamental vocabulary, the chapters move on to applications of the concepts covered. These applications are again demonstrated through images, including photographs, color wheels, significant works of art, and other visual aids. Each image is accompanied by a descriptive paragraph offering an example of how the vocabulary can be applied in visual analysis. The book culminates with a section on formal analysis, aimed at teaching readers how to express their observations in formal writing and critical discourse.

With its emphasis on the visual, this unique guide is a highly effective learning tool, allowing readers to gain an ownership and mastery of terms that will benefit them academically and professionally. Whether you are a design educator, student, or professional, native or non-native English speaker, this bright and concise reference is a must.

Jesse Day teaches art and design history and theory at Parsons the New School for Design, where he has been a lecturer since 2006. Prior to this appointment he taught English as a Second Language at the New School University and at the American Language Institute at New York University. Day holds a double Bachelor’s Degree in modern literature and European history from the University of Santa Cruz, CA, and was ESL certified by the Language House, Prague, CZ. He is the recipient of two Innovations In Education grants from the New School, the first of which funded the development of Line Color Form. He lives in New York City.