Ganz𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗮 𝟬𝟯𝟳𝟳
The best art book I read this year wasn’t new. It wasn’t hyped. It wasn’t written for VFX artists.
And yet, it is one of the most important books I read last year.
Alan Fletcher’s 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 isn’t a book you sit down and read cover to cover. It doesn’t follow a structure, it doesn’t build to a conclusion, and it certainly doesn’t hold your hand. It is a book you 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗯, one that forces you to wander through it, discovering connections between seemingly unrelated ideas.
Most books explain things. They define terms, break down concepts, and leave you with a clear answer. This book does the opposite. It challenges assumptions, introduces contradictions, and asks questions without resolving them. It isn’t trying to be useful in the conventional sense. There is no direct application. It just 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸.
Fletcher was a designer, but this book isn’t about design. It is about 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱. He explores typography, color, symbols, illusions, and language, not by teaching, but by throwing ideas at you and letting them linger. Some pages feel like riddles. Others feel like someone ripped out a thought mid-sentence and left you to finish it. It is playful, but not in a forced way. It is the kind of book that 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝘀.
There is a difference between 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 and 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 Most books teach. They give you frameworks, rules, and methodologies. They give you conclusions. But the things that stick with me the longest aren’t conclusions, they are moments of realization. When an idea suddenly clicks, not because someone explained it perfectly, but because it hit at the right angle at the right time.
Some pages are just 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲. Others contain paragraphs broken apart in strange ways. Some ideas repeat themselves in different forms, while others contradict things said a few pages earlier. It is a book that forces you to slow down, not because it is dense, but because it refuses to be read passively.
I don’t read just to gather knowledge. I read to 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴. I read to see how different minds approach the world, how they process information, how they make sense of things that I never thought to question. Fletcher’s book is special because it doesn’t demand to be understood. It just 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆.
Books like this don’t tell you what you need. They make you find it for yourself.