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I'm proud to announce an upcoming Second Edition of my introductory theatrical design textbook, The Art of Theatrical Design: Elements of Visual Composition, Methods and Practice, initially published on October 3, 2014 by Focal Press, coming in the fall of 2021.
Reviews - [The Art of Theatrical Design]… is one of the best, most comprehensive looks at theatrical design that I have come across. It is a perfect book for a beginning designer; chock full of new terms, information, exercises, examples, and illustrations.

-Craig Choma, Associate Professor of Theatre, Knox College



The Art of Theatrical Design: Elements of Visual Composition, Methods, and Practice addresses the core principles that develop the student designer into a true artist, providing a foundation that ensures success with each production design.This text concentrates on the skills necessary to create effective, evocative, and engaging theatrical designs that support the play contextually, thematically, and visually. It gives students the grounding in core design principles they need to approach design challenges and make design decisions in both assigned class projects and realized productions. This book features:

  • In-depth discussions of design elements and principles for costume, set, lighting, sound, and projection designs
  • Coverage of key concepts such as content, context, genre, style, play structure and format, and the demands and limitations of various theatrical spaces
  • Essential principles, including collaboration, inspiration, conceptualization, script analysis, conducting effective research, building a visual library, developing an individual design process, and the role of the critique in collaboration
  • Information on recent digital drawing tool technology, such as the Wacom® Inkling pen, Wacom® Intuos digitizing tablets and digital sketching, and rendering programs such as Autodesk® Sketchbook Pro and Adobe® Photoshop®
  • Chapter exercises and key terms designed to provide an engaging experience with the material and to facilitate student understanding
Copies may be purchased directly from Focal Press, or on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com.