Our latest book, “Principles of Design” by William H. Varnum, offers a systematic method to design furniture, plus a series of rules that guide you in the process. Perhaps even more important, “Principles of Design” shows you how to interpret other people’s design. Or how to fix your own designs.
Instead of saying something looks “unbalanced” or “awkward,” Varnum’s rules allow you to voice what you like (or don’t like) about a piece of furniture. “The dominant mass of this piece is placed too high in the composition, so the piece is top-heavy.” Or “The brackets offer little life or variety to the piece because of their too-obvious curve.”
I find most design books to be too idiosyncratic or tied to a particular furniture style (Shaker, Bauhaus, Arts & Crafts etc.). “Principles of Design” (and the books of Jim Tolpin and George Walker) instead offer you systems that work with any style of furniture. Plus ways of understanding the built world.
After reading Varnum’s “Principles of Design” a few times, I wanted a cheat sheet that could quickly guide me to each of Varnum’s rules and the explanation he offers for them. So I made one. And you can download it here:
Cheat Sheet for “Principles of Design”
So if I’m working on designing a border around a panel, my cheat sheet reads:
Rule 6d. Bands and borders should have a consistent lateral, that is, onward movement. (page 105)
I can then quickly turn to page 105 to see both good and bad examples of borders. (One of the best parts of Varnum is that he offers you just as many examples of poor design as good design. It really helps you sharpen your eye.)
Books on design are a hard sell – it’s like pushing water uphill. And re-printing “Principles of Design” to the high level of the original 1916 volume was expensive. Plus we are strapped for space in our warehouse. As a result, we think we can do only one press run of this book (3,000 copies). We’ve sold about 750 so far.
This is just fair warning that this book probably won’t be offered permanently.
“Principles of Design” is $41 and is made entirely in the USA.
— Christopher Schwarz
Thanks for the cheat sheet. If I may ask about 6e, does this imply the author is against something like a mirrored ivy pattern that meet in the center at the front of a chest (with or without additional ornamentation, such as a flower)? That instead, the ivy should always only continue in one direction, such as plan view clockwise, around the chest?
I’m just waiting for Lee Valley Canada to get them in stock, and I’ll be ordering.
Me too!
LAP’ers: at ETA on Lee Valley having them?
It is in Lee Valley’s hands. They have the book in hand, but they have not yet placed an order. So I can’t say.
Lee Valley tries to carry most of our titles, so I suspect they will carry this one.
I am SO happy to have this book. Varnum touches upon so many principles of perception and design that are universal across so many different disciplines that have nothing to do with each other, that I began to chuckle after each page. Possibly a quarter of my past income and teaching material before I retired was based on these principles. One day, I have to take you all out to dinner, and have a chat about it. Again, thank you for printing this book, and I would be remiss not to mention Jim Tolpin and George Walkers books as well. They have really brought me joy.
So glad to hear it. We love this book.
Does the book come with the foreshortening triangle that was included with the original printing?
I believe that was in his follow-up book.
Thanks Chris. This cheat sheet is wonderful. I was going to wait till Christmas to get the book but this blog made me order early. Hmmm, now what do I ask for at Christmas ….
I just bought my copy! Any chance we could get a PDF? I know there’s a free version scanned by the internet archive (or maybe Google books?) but the font there is really hard to read.
This is really a good book and a nice complement to Tolpin and Walker. I appreciate the cheat sheet especially since I had the same thought but probably would not have followed through.
I am loving my copy! Thank you for printing this!
Very nice; thank you! I waited to order my copy until I could include it with my Exeter hammer, which is now on the way ( I missed the hammer stamp though…darn.).
Now, this reminded me of something I thought would be a great project – maybe something several readers could collaborate on – that would be an index for the Hayward books, Vol’s I-IV. LAP could provide a template maybe and some guidance and a place for a shared document. I’d be glad to do a few chapters! Or better yet – maybe someone has already done it and would be willing to share!?
Years ago, we assembled a 30-page searchable compilation of the Tables of Contents for the books. You can download it here:
https://blog.lostartpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/woodworker_toc.pdf
While not an index, it is very helpful in finding what you want.
My impression is this means that for a section of a band all of the motion should be seen going in the same direction. For example if you have vines and foliage, it would be best for them to be pointed in the same direction rather than have some of the leaves pointed backwards. This does not mean the motion goes on forever like a circle. The motion leads your eye to a ‘point of concentration’ like the center or a corner.
Definitely helps! Thank you!
Youtube smartly put Chris’s elevator pitch for this book in my for-you page, and I don’t think I’ve ever gone to buy something faster. Maybe just as much as the principles I’m interested in the process – I’m pretty haphazard, and learning a process feels like something that would really benefit me.
I really appreciate the care you all put into these books.
Will any of the European sellers carry the book?
I have a question on Plate 6 and associated text (pages 20-23) and Rules 1a & 1b. I’m trying to follow the Rules 1a and 1b as explained but am confused about something. Plate 6, figures A and B, and the associated paragraphs, give the height as 20″ (1′-8″) and the width as 38″ (3′-2″). That makes the height to width ratio 20:38 which reduces to 5:9.5 not 5:8.5 as shown in Figure B and in the text. Am I missing something in applying the rules or is this a misprint carried over from the original?