Books

The Elements of Typographic Style

Robert Bringhurst

Amazon Price: $19.77 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Hartley and Marks Publishers Amazon Marketplace: 42 new & used starting at $17.85

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Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Design & Decorative Arts -> Graphic Design -> Typography

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 83 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

This lovely, well-written book is concerned foremost with creating beautiful typography and is essential for professionals who regularly work with typographic designs. Author Robert Bringhurst writes about designing with the correct typeface; striving for rhythm, proportion, and harmony; choosing and combining type; designing pages; using section heads, subheads, footnotes, and tables; applying kerning and other type adjustments to improve legibility; and adding special characters, including punctuation and diacritical marks. The Elements of Typographic Style teaches the history of and the artistic and practical perspectives on a variety of type families that are available in Europe and America today.

The last section of the book classifies and displays many type families, offers a glossary of typography terms, and lists type designers and type foundries. The book briefly mentions digital typography, but otherwise ignores it, focusing instead on general typography and page- and type-design issues. Its examples include text in a variety of languages--including English, Russian, German, and Greek--which is particularly helpful if your work has a multinational focus.

Graphic Design: A New History

Stephen J. Eskilson

Amazon Price: $36.87 List Price: $65.00 By: Yale University Press Amazon Marketplace: 19 new & used starting at $36.87

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

This exciting new history of graphic design explores its evolution from the late 19th century to the present day. Organized chronologically, the book illuminates the dynamic relationship between design and manufacturing as well as the roles of technology, social change, and commercial forces on the course of design history. The layout of each chapter reflects the unique style of the period it describes, and some 450 illustrations throughout the volume provide a visual record of more than one hundred years of creative achievement in the field.
Under the influence of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement in the late 19th century, a new era began for design arts. Fueled by popular Art Nouveau advertising, the work of graphic designers became central in the growing consumer goods economy. This book traces the emergence of varied modernist design styles in the early 20th century and then examines the wartime politicization of regional styles through American government patronage and revolutionary Soviet ideas. Richly contextualized chapters chronicle the history of the Bauhaus and the rise of the International Style, followed by the postmodern movement of the 1970s and '80s. After highlighting recent developments in graphic design around the globe, the author discusses the impact of inexpensive, powerful design software and the challenges facing designers now.

The Non-Designer's Design Book

Robin Williams

Amazon Price: $19.79 List Price: $29.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Peachpit Press Amazon Marketplace: 130 new & used starting at $2.34

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Graphic Design -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 212 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great Delivery 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I was very satisfied with my recent purchase for this text book that I needed for my college class. It was delivered on time, and in great condition.

Editorial Review:

So you have a great concept and all the fancy digital tools you could possibly require¿what¿s stopping you from creating beautiful pages? Namely the training to pull all of these elements together into a cohesive design that effectively communicates your message. Not to worry: This book is the one place you can turn to find quick, non-intimidating, excellent design help.

In The Non-Designerk, 2nd Edition, best-selling author Robin Williams turns her attention to the basic principles of good design and typography. All you have to do is follow her clearly explained concepts, and youducing more sophisticated, professional, and interesting pages immediately. Humor-infused, jargon-free prose interspersed with design exercises, quizzes, illustrations, and dozens of examples make learning a snap¿which is just what audiences have come to expect from this best-selling author.

79 Short Essays on Design

Michael Bierut

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Princeton Architectural Press Amazon Marketplace: 37 new & used starting at $13.49

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

this is some guy's blog 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 19 people found this review helpful.

These are basically posts from this guy's blog. It's fairly interesting, but I had a hard time reading it straight through.

Editorial Review:

79 Short Essays on Design brings together the best of designer Michael Bierut’s critical writing—serious or humorous, flattering or biting, but always on the mark. Beirut is widely considered the finest observer on design writing today. Covering topics as diverse as Twyla Tharp and ITC Garamond, Bierut’s intelligent and accessible texts pull design culture into crisp focus. He touches on classics, like Massimo Vignelli and the cover of The Catcher in the Rye, as well as newcomers, like McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern and color-coded terrorism alert levels. Along the way Nabakov’s Pale Fire; Eero Saarinen; the paper clip; Celebration, Florida; the planet Saturn; the ClearRx pill bottle; and paper architecture all fall under his pen. His experience as a design practitioner informs his writing and gives it its truth. In 79 Short Essays on Design, designers and non-designers alike can share and revel in his insights.

Layout Index: Brochure, Web Design, Poster, Flyer, Advertising, Page Layout, Newsletter, Stationery Index

Jim Krause

Amazon Price: $15.63 List Price: $22.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: North Light Books Amazon Marketplace: 40 new & used starting at $5.73

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 27 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Idea Index kick-started a revolution in graphic design books, unique in size, feel--and most important--wealth of ideas. Layout Index is the next step, a compendium of layout idea-generators that will help designers explore multiple possibilities for visual treatments each time they turn the page. The visual and textual suggestions are divided into eight major areas, including newsletters, flyers, posters, brochures, advertising, stationery, page layout, and Web pages.

Each of these examples are designed to inspire effective solutions in the viewer's mind, rather than simply give specific answers to design problems. The tone and temperament of the design problems, as well as their solutions, vary from traditional to cutting-edge, from corporate to crazy. Designers will learn to solve their design problems, produce fantastic work and become better, more creative thinkers.

* Both creativity books and layout books are extremely popular
* As proven by Idea Index, the format of this book is a proven winner with designers

Massive Change

Bruce Mau, Jennifer Leonard, Institute Without Boundaries

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Massive Change is a modern illustrated primer on the new inventions, technologies, and events that are affecting the human race worldwide. The book is a part of a broader research project by Bruce Mau Design intended to provoke debate and discussion about the future of design culture, broadly defined as the "familiar objects and techniques that are transforming our lives."In essays, interviews, and provocative imagery aimed at a broad audience, Massive Change explores the changing force of design in the contemporary world, and in doing so expands the definition of design to include the built environment, transportation technologies, revolutionary materials, energy and information systems, and living organisms. The book is divided into 11 heavily illustrated sections covering major areas of change in contemporary society #151; such as urbanism and architecture, the military, health and living, and wealth and politics. Each section intersperses intriguing documentary images with a general introductory essay, extended captions, and interviews with leading thinkers, including engineers, designers, philosophers, scientists, architects, artists, and writers. Concluding the book is a graphic timeline of significant inventions and world events from 10,000 B.C. to the present.

Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color

Leatrice Eisemann

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 55 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Designers Necessity 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 11 people found this review helpful.

Let's start by saying that I've been a Graphic and Multimedia Designer for over 10 years now. Like all beginners I used to think that design was all about what ever you liked best.
Well thats worth a good chuckle these days. As an experienced designer will tell you there's a lot more to good design than personal preference.
Matter of fact it's more like a science than anything else. Once you start diving into color theory and color association you begin to realize that there's quite a lot of information to retain and that there's a right and a wrong color for everything.

Well here's your reference guide!

This book has sat on my desk for the 4+ years that I've owned it and has definitely seen better days. The pages are falling out, the cover is beat ta heck and page 63 in particular has been scanned so that I could fold it up and put it in my pocket more times then I can count.

Leatrice keeps her explanations simple and direct and reinforces them with stellar designs of well known products from top notch agencies.
She adds a large section of color palettes in the middle but they've become a bit dated since the release of this book. Some of them are still nice and will at least inspire you to play with some similar colors.

As an added bonus the back of the book has the CMYK values for all of the pantones if you're one of the cave dwellers that dont have a Pantone booklet (shame on you!).

This is not the definitive color theory hand book!
You wont become a master after reading this and there are quite a few design fundamentals that are not included.
But it is a terrific and beautiful reference that you'll find yourself digging through constantly for information and inspiration.

It belongs on your bookshelf.

Nuff said.

Great Book of Celtic Patterns: The Ultimate Design Sourcebook for Artists and Crafters

Lora S. Irish

Amazon Price: $15.61 List Price: $22.95 In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served. By: Fox Chapel Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 15 new & used starting at $15.61

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The defintative sourcebook!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 8 people found this review helpful.

Superbly written. Stunning array of patterns and descriptions. A must have for your craft source library.

Celtic knotting 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Interesting and informative book from the beginnings of the creation of the Celtic knot, to applying in artistic venues. Only thing that could have been offered, more ideas on uses for the patterns, not just pencil renditions. Beading, embroidery, stained glass, tole painting.

Editorial Review:

Calling on geometric forms found in Celtic monuments and manuscripts, this crafter’s companion presents basic design principles and step-by-step instructions for plotting out and drawing lines, twists, braids, and knots in the ancient Irish tradition. With lessons that can be applied to a multitude of arts and crafts—from needlework and woodworking to decorative painting—this instructional guide unravels the secrets to creating intricate Celtic knot work. Offering increasingly intricate designs with the addition of lines and new textures, artisans of any skill level will revel in the endless archive of original patterns provided in this sourcebook.

The Newspaper Designer's Handbook

Tim Harrower

Amazon Price: $64.76 Usually ships in 24 hours By: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $56.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 34 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Practical and useful for the professional 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I am an editor these days.
I came on this book quite a few years ago when I was a sub. It was recommended to me by an old hand in the newspaper game.
Without doubt, it is the single best aquisition I have made in terms of newspaper design.
In the places I have worked, I have been regarded extremely highly for my layout skills.
This book, with a little creativity, is the basis of almost everything I do in terms of layout.
If you are serious about the newspaper game, get it, study it and then apply what you learn. It will help our career enormously.

Editorial Review:

The Newspaper Designer’s Handbook is a step by step guide to every aspect of newspaper design, from basic page layout to complex infographics. The new edition features dozens of new page-design examples, as well as an expanded section on web design and increased emphasis on digital photography.

This textbook is for journalism students and professionals alike. It is loaded with examples, advice, design ideas, and exercises that teach students how to manipulate the basic elements of design (photos, headlines, and text); create charts, maps, and diagrams; design attractive photo spreads; add effective, appealing sidebars to complex stories; create lively, engaging feature page designs; work with color; and redesign a newspaper.

Designer's Color Manual: The Complete Guide to Color Theory and Application

Tom Fraser, Adam Banks

Amazon Price: $19.77 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Chronicle Books Amazon Marketplace: 18 new & used starting at $15.50

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The eye, the camera's lens, and the computer screen all treat color differently. This important addition to the designer's reference library helps resolve the differences among the numerous media that contemporary designers work with every day. Comprehensive in scope, it brings together key elements of color theory, practice, and application, addressing a wide range of issues specific to graphic design in both print and digital media. Beyond step-by-step techniques for managing color in modern graphic design practice, Designer's Color Manual also addresses topics which help designers understand color in a variety of disciplines, looking at historical color systems, color in art, and the psychology of color, among dozens of other topics. Author and designer Tom Fraser also takes other graphics-related practices into account -- interior design, digital rendering, packaging and merchandise design -- aiding the designer in mastering the far-reaching effects of color in almost any project. Heavily illustrated with over 1,000 color images, Designer's Color Manual addresses an area that's been gray for too long in the full-color world of contemporary design.