This introductory survey at magazine editorial direction and design layout is divided into five sections to give a brief discussion on magazines in various categories: Art, architecture and design; news and business; lifestyle; science and technology; and culture. Each survey on a particular magazine is only given a two- page overview with just a few words and some irrelevant pictures chosen from the mag. Though some points are insightful, further elaborations are lacking.

I was disappointed for two reasons: this is not a textbook of "packages that sell"--it's an exhibit of interesting and edgy packaging that may or may not "sell". My biggest problem with the book was that the text was VERY hard to read because there was no punctuation! It's amazing what commas can do, and I finally gave up trying to read and reread passages that had no punctuation except a period now and then. And I guess I was expecting to learn some of the basic and almost subliminal techniques of packaging that break through the clutter and sell a product. I pretty much flipped through the book in less than 1/2 hour and haven't picked it up since.