{"product_id":"shape-talking-about-seeing-and-doing-9780262195317","title":"Shape: Talking About Seeing And Doing","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn Shape  George Stiny argues that seeing shapes -- with all their changeability and ambiguity -- is an inexhaustible source of creative ideas. Understanding shapes  he says  is a useful way to understand what is possible in design. Shapes are devices for visual expression just as symbols are devices for verbal expression. Stiny develops a unified scheme that includes both visual expression with shapes and verbal expression with signs. The relationships -- and equivalencies -- between the two kinds of expressive devices make design comparable to other professional practices that rely more on verbal than visual expression. Design uses shapes while business  engineering  law  mathematics  and philosophy turn mainly to symbols  but the difference  says Stiny  isnt categorical. Designing is a way of thinking. Designing  Stiny argues  is calculating with shapes  calculating without equations and numbers but still according to rules. Stiny shows that the mechanical process of calculation is actually a creative process when you calculate with shapes -- when you can reason with your eyes  when you learn to see instead of count. The book takes the idea of design as calculation from mere heuristic or metaphor to a rigorous relationship in which design and calculation each inform and enhance the other. Stiny first demonstrates how seeing and counting differ when you use rules -- that is  what it means to calculate with your eyes -- then shows how to calculate with shapes  providing formal details. He gives practical applications in design with specific visual examples. The book is extraordinarily visual  with many drawings throughout -- drawings punctuated with words. You have to see this book in order to read it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67908437213237,"sku":"ByrdShop_0262195313","price":493.76,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780262195317.jpg?v=1794044527","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/shape-talking-about-seeing-and-doing-9780262195317","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}