Information is more accessible than ever before in this digital age. On your smart gadgets, you can get any information you want with a few taps. Many graphic designers have forgotten the joy and excitement of having a real graphic design book in their hands, thanks to the growing collection of references and knowledge available digitally.
Not only are we missing out on this close relationship with our literature, but we’re also missing out on the actual knowledge that may be gleaned from it. So, if you consider yourself a graphic designer or want to become one, you should stock your shelves with these 12 best graphic design books that will undoubtedly aid you in your endeavor!
The books that we have listed in this article can help you gain knowledge of various graphic design concepts effectively. Also, you can read multiple books to strengthen your understanding of how to create graphics that can create a long-lasting impact on viewers.
12 Best Graphic Design Books
Pick up one of these must-read graphic design books to learn and improve your skills.
1. Just My Type
Autor – Simon Garfield
Fonts are an important aspect of graphic design. Garfield’s typography lesson in Just My Type design book urges you to look closely at your favorite typefaces and see their relevance in any design. By hiding in plain sight and speaking to an audience almost instinctively, a good typeface has the power to make (or damage) any work.
A bad typeface, on the other hand, can have a negative impact on your design project. By going through this graphic design book, you will learn how to choose the correct typeface for your projects.
2. Interaction Of Color
Author – Josef Albers
In this book, Albers delves into the foundations of sophisticated color theories to bring out the color strategist in you. With over 50 case studies, this graphic design book is a useful reference for various topics such as temperature, color intensity, color relativity, vibrating and vanishing boundaries, the illusion of transparency, and reversed grounds.
This book serves as a useful resource for painters and artists that use color strategy in their work, rather than just graphic designers.
3. How to
Author – Michael Beirut
Michael Beirut is a disciple of design icon Massimo Vignelli and the recipient of one of the most illustrious graphic design careers in history. He provides us with this book that can be very helpful in learning and polishing various graphic design skills. In fact, every designer should consider reading this book to enhance their knowledge.
In this book, the author shares his opinion on what graphic design is and how to use it to sell things, explain things, make things look better, make people laugh, cry, and – every once and then – change the world, as the cover so beautifully states. This graphic design book is a monograph written by one of the greats, showcasing his work/creative process, interactions with clients, and design difficulties.
4. Graphic Design Visionaries
Author – Caroline Roberts
This graphic design book chronicles the evolution of graphic design over time. It includes full-color reproductions of the 75 most prominent designers’ horizon-expanding work, as well as motivating tales about them.
Additionally, this instructive visual masterpiece introduces you to the key people of the design world, like Stefan Sagmeister, Wim Crouwel, M/M Paris, Studio Dumbar, and many more.
5. Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative
Author – Austin Kleon
In the digital age, creativity is full of exuberant excitement as well as a paralyzing fear of failing to come up with a unique idea. This graphic design book by Kleon, a New York Times bestseller, is an inspiring book that is a must-read for aspiring graphic designers.
The book talks about the importance of creative designs in today’s digital environment. Also, it presents 10 revolutionary concepts to help you discover your inner artist and see things from a creative perspective.
6. Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide For The Whole Branding Team
Author – Alina Wheeler
The fifth version of this book provides a comprehensive guide to branding essentials for both designers and brand teams. The author fascinates the reader with her in-depth instruction of a universal five-stage method for brand development and implementation, making it an excellent resource for understanding branding from start to finish.
This up-to-date graphic design book is a must-have on your shelves as it covers everything from social media synergy to SEO and experience branding.
7. Book For All Typographers And Graphic Designers: Grid Systems In Graphic Design
Author – Josef Müller-Brockmann
The graphic design book by the great Swiss designer, Josef Müller-Brockmann, is still the go-to resource for grasping the fundamentals of grid systems in any piece of graphic design. This visual communication manual is jam-packed with knowledge and examples that will come in handy for any graphic designers, typographers, or 3D designers out there.
8. Logo Modernism
Author – Jens Müller
It’s more difficult than it appears to create a company logo that is both basic and recognizable. If you’re looking for some design inspiration, this graphic design book contains a large collection of clean, crisp logos from the modernist era. This graphic design book acts as a cultural relic depicting the evolution of the company logo.
9. Thinking with Type
Author – Ellen Lupton
This graphic design book is the ultimate guide to employing typography in visual design. While there are other books on typography that cover various aspects of the subject, this is a wonderful all-around introduction for any design student.
10. 100 Ideas That Changed Design
Author – Peter Fiell & Charlotte Fiell
100 Ideas That Changed Design is a terrific book to dig into for any designer or design aficionado. It’s an all-around resource for bite-sized bits of inspiration, with ideas and trends spanning the 19th century to the current day.
11. Type: A Visual History of Typefaces and Graphic Styles
Author – Jan Tholenaar et al.
This book contains a vast and beautifully put-together collection of fonts, which dates back to 1628. Thus, making this book highly desirable among typographers. This graphic design book covers a wide range of typefaces from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries. Also, it talks about various typographic features like borders, initials, and ornaments.
12. Signs and Symbols: Their Design and Meaning
Author – Adrian Frutiger
Adrian Frutiger was a well-known typeface designer who produced Avenir, Linotype Didot, and Frutiger Next, among other fonts. The book digs into the connection between symbols and psychology, offering intriguing suggestions as to why particular forms and patterns have persisted in the human mind throughout history.
This graphic design book is a must-read for every designer who wants to understand simple visual aspects that we take for granted. It’s full of hypotheses on the roots of visual symbols and how they’ve evolved through the history of graphic design.
Conclusion
Any successful professional in every area preaches the need of expanding your reading list whenever you get the opportunity. Through this article, we aimed at helping you to get familiar with the best graphic design books. By reading these books, you will be able to learn and understand various graphic design concepts.
Which book(s) have you chosen to learn graphic designing? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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Hi! I am Shekhar, a professional web & mobile app developer with expertise in MEAN Stack, Next.js, React.js, and React Native. Being interested in working with different IT technologies, I always look forward to learning something new and challenging. Along with JavaScript, I also know several other programming languages, including Python and TypeScript.