Osamu Sato is a talented polymath artist from Japan, known for his psychedelic video game scores and his pioneering work on computer graphics.
In 1993, he published the (now highly collectible) book, "Art of Computer Designing: A Black and White Approach," which opens with this amazing incantation: "The computer is a magic box. Many graphic images are hidden inside it."
Sato's book builds from the simplest of concepts, step by step, toward a set of absolutely striking and gorgeous black-and-white early computer images. Flipping through the scanned edition at the Internet Archive was a trancelike experience of being drawn deeper and deeper into Sato's remarkable aesthetic, and the final pages, in which he pulls it all together, are a visual crescendo.
The computer is a magic box. Many graphic images are hidden inside it. This book is a beginner's introduction to calling forth these images as author Sato shows how to create figures with basic shapes - i.e., lines, arcs, squares and circles - and does so simply, clearly, and above all very logically. This is an everyday guide to computer illustrating, a collection of design ideas and a compendium of Mr. Sato's own computer art works. All the shapes in this book are black and white, but it is a black and white world full of potential. Just looking at the myriad manifestations of form is a joy, but for those who will use it to begin creating their own shapes this book offers far, far greater pleasure.
The Art Of Computer Designing: A Black and White Approach [Osamu Sato/Internet Archive]
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