Looking for books on Graphic Design
December 17, 2023 5:44 AM Subscribe
Can you recommend me some books on graphic design? Any area/focus. I am a beginner. I find several lists of books online but sometimes it feels like the same lists are regurgitated again and again.
Edward Tufte's books are classics
posted by hydropsyche at 6:09 AM on December 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by hydropsyche at 6:09 AM on December 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
Grid Systems in Graphic Design, Josef Müller-Brockmann
This book will teach you how to systematize layout. It’s not the flashy stuff, but it’s extremely helpful, especially in forming layout templates.
posted by Headfullofair at 6:19 AM on December 17, 2023
This book will teach you how to systematize layout. It’s not the flashy stuff, but it’s extremely helpful, especially in forming layout templates.
posted by Headfullofair at 6:19 AM on December 17, 2023
The Non-Designer's Design Book by Robin Williams.
Highly recommend for any type of page layout projects. Apparently the new edition also has a chapter on typography. Lots of before and after mock-ups.
posted by nanook at 7:26 AM on December 17, 2023 [6 favorites]
Highly recommend for any type of page layout projects. Apparently the new edition also has a chapter on typography. Lots of before and after mock-ups.
posted by nanook at 7:26 AM on December 17, 2023 [6 favorites]
As it happens, just this week I realized I needed to have some real knowledge of graphic design as a discipline.
So I did what I usually do for new topics, which is to start with a copy of The Complete Idiots Guide To Graphic Design.
It took about three hours to do some detailed reading, a lot of skimming, and in the back third a lot of skipping of specialty chapters.
And now I feel ready to evaluate the book suggestions people are making. I know the breadth and depth of my ignorance, I have a good idea of what activities are considered part of graphic design, and I know which ones I want to read more about.
YMMV of course.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:43 AM on December 17, 2023
So I did what I usually do for new topics, which is to start with a copy of The Complete Idiots Guide To Graphic Design.
It took about three hours to do some detailed reading, a lot of skimming, and in the back third a lot of skipping of specialty chapters.
And now I feel ready to evaluate the book suggestions people are making. I know the breadth and depth of my ignorance, I have a good idea of what activities are considered part of graphic design, and I know which ones I want to read more about.
YMMV of course.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:43 AM on December 17, 2023
Design teacher here -- Graphic Design: The New Basics and Thinking With Type are good to start, Extra Bold: A Feminist, Inclusive, Anti-racist, Nonbinary Field Guide for Graphic Designers is also important. Almost too many of some topics and also not enough books of very important certain topics, really, but these are some very essential things...
posted by yueliang at 12:22 PM on December 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by yueliang at 12:22 PM on December 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
Detail in Typography by Jost Hochuli is a classic, and the shop (Katherine Small Gallery) that the book links to is specifically for books about Graphic Design. Another good shop that specializes in Graphic Design books is Draw Down.
posted by momochan at 1:04 PM on December 17, 2023
posted by momochan at 1:04 PM on December 17, 2023
The two books I've referenced the most are Kit Hinrichs, Typewise and, oddly enough, a slim, hand-lettered, almost zine-like book called "Notes on Graphic Design and Visual Communication" by Greg Berryman. Maybe appears a little dated to the 'modern' reader, but a remarkable cheat sheet for the whole process of graphic design. Highly recommended, and available as a download from the Internet Archive.)
posted by Bron at 8:56 AM on December 18, 2023
posted by Bron at 8:56 AM on December 18, 2023
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posted by MetaFilter World Peace at 5:56 AM on December 17, 2023 [1 favorite]