While this book is technically on my Bookshelf it also falls in the SmileFile category. I have been drawn to optical illustions and visual trickery ever since I was a little kid.

This book explains the why, what and how of the “Masters of Deception” like; Guiseppe Arcimboldo, Salvador Dali, Sandro Del-Prete, M.C. Escher, Scott Kim, Shigeo Fukuda, Rob Gonsalves, Ken Knowlton, Octavio Ocampo, Roger Shepard and more.

This book is not only great for design research, but also hours of fun just to look at and enjoy.

After the book was published the author created the web site: http://illusionworks.com/mod/ where he explains: “There are a number of incredible artistic works featured in Masters of Deception, which require movement to appreciate their full impact. Additionally, I had in my possession various interviews with some of the book’s featured artists that I wanted to share with my readership. Unfortunately, the publisher was unwilling to produce a CD to accompany the book. I have created this web site, therefore, to augment and enhance the reader’s experience by presenting those works and interviews that I could not present in book form.”