Each year I like to do a round-up of the design books we’ve reviewed — but this year is different. There have been so few published I’m including several from previous years. While the digital book, ebook and Kindle books have become hugely popular — when it comes to learning graphic design, printed books still have the most power for learning. Buy any (all) of these, and you’ll automatically know more than most other designers in your market.
In this issue, we’re going back to school — well, Design school that is. I’ve read and used these books in my classroom, and I endorse them to provide beginners and intermediates with a solid foundation in graphic design. If you want to gain a solid knowledge of the graphic arts, here’s where to start:
* Graphic Design School: A Foundation Course for Graphic Designers Working in Print, Moving Image and Digital Media
* Graphic Design, Referenced: A Visual Guide to the Language, Applications, and History of Graphic Design
* The New Graphic Design School: A Foundation Course in Principles and Practice
* Design School: Extraordinary Class Projects From International Design Schools
* Burn Your Portfolio: Stuff they don’t teach you in design school, but should
* 100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design
Rock on, baby!
The New Graphic Design School: A Foundation Course in Principles and Practice
Graphic Design School is a foundation course for graphic designers working in print, moving image, and digital media.
Practical advice on all aspects of graphics design-from understanding the basics to devising an original concept and creating successful finished designs. Examples are taken from all media-magazines, books, newspapers, broadcast media, websites, and corporate brand identity. Packed with exercises and tutorials for students, and real-world graphic design briefs. This revised, fourth edition contains specific advice on how to adapt designs to suit different projects, including information on digital imaging techniques, motion graphics, and designing for the web and small-screen applications.
Full story : The New Graphic Design School by David Dabner, Sheena Calvert and Anoki Casey See for screen capture or video
Graphic Design, Referenced: A Visual Guide to the Language, Applications, and History of Graphic Design
Graphic Design, Referenced is a visual and informational guide to the most commonly referenced terms, historical moments, landmark projects, and influential practitioners in the field of graphic design. With more than 2,000 design projects illustrating more than 400 entries, it provides an intense overview of the varied elements that make up the graphic design profession through a unique set of chapters:
“principles” defines the very basic foundation of what constitutes graphic design to establish the language, terms, and concepts that govern what we do and how we do it, covering layout, typography, and printing terms; “knowledge” explores the most influential sources through which we learn about graphic design from the educational institutions we attend to the magazines and books we read . . . and much more Full story : Graphic Design, Referenced, by Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit (Author) See for screen capture or video
Graphic Design School: A Foundation Course for Graphic Designers Working in Print, Moving Image and Digital Media
This fully revised edition of “Graphic Design School” improves upon previous editions by providing a more fully developed introduction to the study of graphic design, firmly locating it within the professional activities it embraces. The book is organized into two main sections, principles and practice. The first section deals with the fundamentals of design, such as composition, hierarchy, layout, typography, grid structure, colour and so on.
The second section puts these basics into practice, and gives information about studio techniques and production issues relevant to a number of different graphic design disciplines. The last part of the second section provides an overview of some of the different career choices open to students entering the graphic design field. Full story : Graphic Design School: A Foundation Course by David Dabner and Sheena Calvert See for screen capture or video
100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design
New in the “100 Ideas that Changed…” series, this book demonstrates how ideas influenced and defined graphic design, and how those ideas have manifested themselves in objects of design. The 100 entries, arranged broadly in chronological order, range from technical (overprinting, rub-on designs, split fountain); to stylistic (swashes on caps, loud typography, and white space); to objects (dust jackets, design handbooks); and methods (paper cut-outs, pixelation).
Steven Heller is the co-chair of the MFA Designer as Author program and co-founder of the MFA in Design Criticism program at SVA, New York. For 33 years he was an art director at the New York Times. He is editor of AIGA VOICE and contributing editor to Print, Eye, Baseline and I.D. magazines. He is the author of more than 120 books on design and popular culture. He is the recipient of the 1999 AIGA Medal for Lifetime Achievement. Véronique Vienne has worked at a number of US magazines as art director, and is the author of The Art of Doing Nothing and The Art of Imperfection. A frequent contributor to Graphis and Metropolis magazines, she lives in Paris. Full story : 100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design by Steven Heller and Veronique Vienne See for screen capture or video
Design School: Extraordinary Class Projects From International Design Schools
Design School is a richly illustrated, unprecedented anthology of over 50 of the most challenging class projects from design schools around the world. The projects range from basic typography to social responsibility. From printed matter to environmental extravaganzas, students are challenged to push the limits of form and content.
How do students learn to solve design problems? How do cultural differences impact the way design is taught? What do design students want from their class assignments? What do design teachers hope to impart? The answers can be found in this impressive compendium of choice projects from the likes of the University of Art and Design, Helsinki, Finland; Fabrica, Bologna Academy of Fine Arts, Italy; Arts Academy of Split, Croatia; School of Visual Arts, New York, United States; Berlin University of the Arts, Germany, and many more. Full story : Design School: Extraordinary Class Projects: by Steven Heller and Lita Talarico See for screen capture or video
Burn Your Portfolio: Stuff they don’t teach you in design school, but should
It takes more than just a design school education and a killer portfolio to succeed in a creative career. Burn Your Portfolio teaches the real-world practices, professional do’s and don’ts, and unwritten rules of business that most designers, photographers, web designers, copy writers, programmers, and architects only learn after putting in years of experience on the job.
Michael Janda, owner of the Utah-based design firm Riser, uses humor to dispense nugget after nugget of hard-won advice collected over the last decade from the personal successes and failures he has faced running his own agency. In this surprisingly funny, but incredibly practical advice guide, Janda’s advice on teamwork and collaboration, relationship building, managing clients, bidding work, production processes, and more will resonate with creative professionals of all stripes. Full story : Burn Your Portfolio: by Michael Janda See for screen capture or video
And, thanks for reading
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