Problem Solved is the only book that teaches students and professionals how to recognize the recurring problems common to all areas of communication and explains how to solve them.
Each chapter explores a different problem and concludes with a case study exploring a particular solution in detail. Themes include- producing innovative work, avoiding repetition, standing out in the market place, reinventing a tired brand, keeping a brand young and trendy, using shock tactics, and word-based advertising in a world over-run with images and sound-bites.
This new edition is brought up-to-date with new images and updated text throughout as well as a new chapter, examining the contemporary phenomenon of flexible identity schemes.
Examples of companies featured include Saks Fifth Avenue, Google, Aol, The Natural History Museum, the BBC 2 and Channel 4 Idents and The Tate. The book provides an unparalleled overview of the design industry, including over 1000 images from throughout the 20th Century to today and bringing together for the first time discussions and case studies that reveal the working methods of major advertising and graphic design firms.
Featured agencies and designers include- Saatchi and Saatchi, Paul Rand, Saul Bass, Bob Gill, Milton Glaser, Wolff Olins, Pentagram and George Lois, as well as examples from the johnson banks archive. An entertaining and thorough primer, Problem Solved is essential reading for students and professionals in all areas of the design and communication industries.
The first edition was included on many university and college reading lists and this new edition should prove equally popular.
Industry Reviews
Praise for the first edition: 'Students and professionals alike will enjoy this primer for its engaging text and the wealth of imagery used to illustrate points.' (Artichoke, Australia) 'For once we have a graphics book that isn't just a parade of stunning imagery - impressive though its visual content is. A challenging theory underpins each wittily titled chapter, promoting brave and contentious ideas. It also pushes the importance of words in communication - a rare treat from a serious graphics tome.' (Design Week) 'A real tour de force. It covers an amazing amount of projects (and problems) and Johnson tackles them in an unpretentious and erudite way.' 'filled with excellent examples and presented in an attractive and thoughtful way' (Grafik) 'In these days of graphics gurus and superstar admen, Michael Johnson provides a welcome reminder that the lifeblood of design and advertising remains solving some else's communication problem, and doing so elegantly and effectively. An entertaining and through primer which should find favour with students and established practitioners alike. (Creative Review) 'For once we have a graphics book that isn't just a parade of stunning imagery - impressive though its visual content is. A challenging theory underpins each wittily titled chapter, promoting brave and contentious ideas. It also pushes the importance of words in communication - a rare treat from a serious graphics tome.' (Design Week) 'Not just an important textbook, but an ode to creative intelligence.' (Magma) 'Problem Solved articulates 18 design problems, many of which communicators typically will encounter of the course of their careers. In each category, visual examples demonstrate how some of the greatest graphic designers and advertising art directors of the 20th century addressed them...As a survey of outstanding 20th-century communications, this book is very successful.' (Azure) 'Problem Solved is 288 pages of visual history and erudite commentary that, for working designers and visual aesthetes alike, will be an enlightening exploration of design's central quandaries...Johnson examines his examples in a manner that is fresh and illuminating. He does a lovely job of tying together design, history, and aesthetic concerns into one neat bundle.' (Print)
