I highly recommend reading 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School, by Matthew Frederick (MIT Press, Sept 2007). Inside the book are 101 "mini-lessons" in design, drawing, history, and the creative process. While it is written for beginning architecture students, any artist or designer will find it thought-provoking.
One of the lessons Matt shares is "Frame a view, don't merely exhibit it." This can be easily translated to any design medium. In fact, I discuss something similar in my book The Uncommon Quilter. In my "Getting Started" chapter, there is a section about using a template to decide angles and placement when creating small art quilts. To quote from my book, "A template is a guide, or pattern, that helps you play with the size and design of your quilt......"
Many congrats to my friend Matthew Frederick, for creating such a beautiful and intelligent book!
