Good Eye by Lost Art Press
Good Eye -Â By Jim Tolpin and George Walker
Lost Art Press
Good Eye is the fifth title in Jim Tolpin and George Walker’s acclaimed artisan geometry series, exploring furniture design through proportion, structure and visual harmony. This volume takes a deeper and more practical look at how simple geometric systems underpin successful furniture across styles, periods and cultures.
Rather than focusing on surface aesthetics, the authors reveal the proportional frameworks that give furniture its lasting visual strength. By analysing iconic historical pieces, they demonstrate how a small set of geometric relationships can be used not only to understand existing designs, but to generate entirely new ones that feel balanced and intentional.
The book begins by teaching readers how to identify the simple shapes within a piece of furniture, then extract the underlying module that governs its proportions. That module can then be used to scale rails, stiles, drawers, mouldings and negative space in a consistent and coherent way.
Instruction is delivered through clear examples rather than theory alone. A 17th-century chest is used to introduce the core system, with detailed line drawings explaining how proportions govern its overall form and individual components. The same system is then applied to designing a contemporary hi-fi cabinet, demonstrating how traditional geometry adapts naturally to modern furniture.
As the book progresses, readers explore asymmetry through Asian furniture, secondary modules through a Shaker sewing table, and refinement as a method for improving existing designs. Later chapters address ornamentation and curves, showing how geometry informs even the most organic elements.
Throughout, complex ideas are supported by hundreds of clear black-and-white line drawings that make each concept accessible to both experienced designers and those new to furniture design.
Book Details
- Hardcover
- 120 pages
- Size: 8.5" x 11"
- Black and white interior with hundreds of line drawings
- Printed on #60 natural paper
- Sewn signatures with reinforced binding
- Cloth-bound hardcover with foil-stamped cover
- Printed and bound in the USA
Contents
Section I
1. Things We Can’t Unsee
2. Form, Define, Refine
Section II
3. Hidden in Plain Sight
4. To Stand or Recline
5. Different But the Same
6. Modules Upon Modules
Section III
7. Refine the Refinements
8. Organic Growth
9. Origins of Ornamentation
10. Playing with Curve
Built to the same high production standards as all Lost Art Press titles, Good Eye is designed for long-term use in the workshop or studio and will reward repeated reading over a lifetime of furniture making.
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Description
Good Eye -Â By Jim Tolpin and George Walker
Lost Art Press
Good Eye is the fifth title in Jim Tolpin and George Walker’s acclaimed artisan geometry series, exploring furniture design through proportion, structure and visual harmony. This volume takes a deeper and more practical look at how simple geometric systems underpin successful furniture across styles, periods and cultures.
Rather than focusing on surface aesthetics, the authors reveal the proportional frameworks that give furniture its lasting visual strength. By analysing iconic historical pieces, they demonstrate how a small set of geometric relationships can be used not only to understand existing designs, but to generate entirely new ones that feel balanced and intentional.
The book begins by teaching readers how to identify the simple shapes within a piece of furniture, then extract the underlying module that governs its proportions. That module can then be used to scale rails, stiles, drawers, mouldings and negative space in a consistent and coherent way.
Instruction is delivered through clear examples rather than theory alone. A 17th-century chest is used to introduce the core system, with detailed line drawings explaining how proportions govern its overall form and individual components. The same system is then applied to designing a contemporary hi-fi cabinet, demonstrating how traditional geometry adapts naturally to modern furniture.
As the book progresses, readers explore asymmetry through Asian furniture, secondary modules through a Shaker sewing table, and refinement as a method for improving existing designs. Later chapters address ornamentation and curves, showing how geometry informs even the most organic elements.
Throughout, complex ideas are supported by hundreds of clear black-and-white line drawings that make each concept accessible to both experienced designers and those new to furniture design.
Book Details
- Hardcover
- 120 pages
- Size: 8.5" x 11"
- Black and white interior with hundreds of line drawings
- Printed on #60 natural paper
- Sewn signatures with reinforced binding
- Cloth-bound hardcover with foil-stamped cover
- Printed and bound in the USA
Contents
Section I
1. Things We Can’t Unsee
2. Form, Define, Refine
Section II
3. Hidden in Plain Sight
4. To Stand or Recline
5. Different But the Same
6. Modules Upon Modules
Section III
7. Refine the Refinements
8. Organic Growth
9. Origins of Ornamentation
10. Playing with Curve
Built to the same high production standards as all Lost Art Press titles, Good Eye is designed for long-term use in the workshop or studio and will reward repeated reading over a lifetime of furniture making.
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