Tagline: A Reference for the Rest of Us!
For the doubters
A very popular all over the world series of educational books, designed exclusively for beginners. The series was originally created for computer users; now covers the most diverse spheres of human activity. Series For Dummies - a classic example of a media franchise, when completely different publishers acquire the rights to publish the same book. In Russia, books under the brand For Dummies" produces a publishing house Dialectics.
All books in this series are published in a bright yellow cover with contrasting black elements. The cover often depicts a recognizable character - a man with large round eyes and a triangular head. This artwork was designed by the University of Graphics and Design in Palo Alto.
The text in the books of the series is simplified as much as possible and, as far as possible, is not overloaded with terms and graphics. The authors try to include as many jokes as possible in it. By 2010, more than 2,000 different books in this series have been published, translated into many languages of the world.
Since the foundation of the series, illustrations for it (usually each chapter begins with them) have been created by artist Rich Tennant. Another characteristic feature of the series is "The Part of Tens" - a list of ten sources of information (books or websites) that are recommended for further learning.
The history of the series began in 1991 with the publication of the book "MS-DOS for Dummies" by Dan Gookin. This man became famous in the USA not only as the author of the first book in this series, but also as the author of more than a hundred educational books on computer topics. The series was originally International Data Group (IDG), later Hungry Minds. However, since 2001 IDG was absorbed John Wiley & Sons Inc., which has now accordingly transferred the rights to the training series.
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| Frequent series For Dummies parodied (sneezing - sneezing) |
The popularity of the series is evidenced by the fact that it is periodically parodied. For example, in the animated series The Simpsons or the comedy Evan Almighty. Often beat a series and cartoonists.
Parallel Series For Dummies a similar series is also published Complete Idiot´s Guides ("For complete idiots"), the rights to which belong to Alpha Books, a member of the American publishing group Penguin Group.
