Designing with Type: The Essential Guide to Typography


James Craig - 1971
    New information and new images make this perennial best-seller an even more valuable tool for anyone interested in learning about typography. The fifth edition has been integrated with a convenient website, www.designingwithtype.com, where students and teachers can examine hundreds of design solutions and explore a world of typographic information. First published more than thirty-five years ago, Designing with Type has sold more than 250,000 copies—and this fully updated edition, with its new online resource, will educate and inspire a new generation of designers.

Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques


Michael Michalko - 1991
    But how can you be the person who comes up with those ideas? In this revised and expanded edition of his groundbreaking Thinkertoys, creativity expert Michael Michalko reveals life-changing tools that will help you think like a genius. From the linear to the intuitive, this comprehensive handbook details ingenious creative-thinking techniques for approaching problems in unconventional ways. Through fun and thought-provoking exercises, you’ll learn how to create original ideas that will improve your personal life and your business life. Michalko’s techniques show you how to look at the same information as everyone else and see something different.  With hundreds of hints, tricks, tips, tales, and puzzles, Thinkertoys will open your mind to a world of innovative solutions to everyday and not-so-everyday problems.

Talent Is Not Enough: Business Secrets for Designers


Shel Perkins - 2005
    This work helps you learn things such as: How to get on the right career path; How to market your services successfully; How to avoid common legal pitfalls; How to structure projects for success; The secrets of successful teams; and, more.

The Good Creative: 18 ways to make better art


Paul Jarvis - 2014
    You dream and plan and make stuff – all the time. And whether that “stuff” is a book, a startup, or abstract crayon art on the bathroom wall, you have a nagging feeling that you could take your work further. Do it better. Become more successful. In The Good Creative, I outline the 18 habits of the world’s most respected artists. It’s a concise, invigorating manifesto for creative pursuits of every kind. Unlike the get-rich-while-you-meditate programs and e-courses that seem to multiply by the day, there offers no guarantees here. None. These 18 principles might not fund your early retirement, but when applied consistently with a healthy dose of hard work, they will help you to make better, more meaningful art. Now that’s a promise you can take to the bank (or at least to Twitter). You’ll learn how to: Promote yourself without feeling like a used car salesman Hug your critics, embrace failure and reinvent your work Launch small and build a larger, more engaged audience Share your process and break the rules You will NOT learn how to: Take over the world from your bathtub Win the Sundance Grand Jury prize Earn six figures, yesterday Make an age-defying green smoothie (but you might learn how to attract more fans and readers for your recipe books)

New Masters of Poster Design: Poster Design for the Next Century


John Foster - 2006
    The poster has now become a postcard and e-mail blast, leaving many to long for the lost age when posters were not only major promotional vehicles, but also artwork worthy of framing.Some of the world's best designers just could not stand idle while the poster fell by the wayside. They turned to the poster for personal expression and as an outlet from more restrictive mediums.This book showcases their breathtaking artwork, which has proven that the poster can still serve as a worthy communications tool. In doing so, they've brought the poster back to prominence. In this book, the author has compiled the world's finest new work at the height of this rebirth. There is currently no book on the market that can claim it features a "definitive" poster collection.

A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative


Roger Von Oech - 1973
    The book has been stimulating creativity in millions of readers, translated into eleven languages, and used in seminars around the world.Now Roger von Oech's fully illustrated and updated volume is filled with even more provocative puzzles, anecdotes, exercises, metaphors, cartoons, questions, quotations, stories, and tips designed to systematically break through your mental blocks and unlock your mind for creative thinking. This new edition will attract an entire new generation of readers with updated and mind-stretching material.

Layout Workbook: A Real-World Guide to Building Pages in Graphic Design


Kristen Cullen - 2007
    In this edition, author Kristin Cullen tackles the often perplexing job of nailing down a layout that works.More than a collection of great examples of layout, this book is an invaluable resource for students, designers, and creative professionals who seek design understanding and inspiration. The book illuminates the broad category of layout, communicating specifically what it takes to design with excellence. It also addresses the heart of design-the how and why of the creative process.Cullen approaches layout with a series of step-by-step fundamental chapters (a "how-to" of layout) addressing topics such as The Function of Design, Inspiration, The Design Process, Intuition, Structure and Organization, The Interaction of Visual Elements, Typography, and Design Analysis. The book offers inspirational quotations and a unique, progressive design that truly reflects its content.

Graphic Design, Referenced: A Visual Guide to the Language, Applications, and History of Graphic Design


Armin Vit - 2009
    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; “representatives" gathers the designers who over the years have proven the most prominent or have steered the course of graphic design in one way or another; and “practice" highlights some of the most iconic work produced that not only serve as examples of best practices, but also illustrate its potential lasting legacy. Graphic Design, Referenced serves as a comprehensive source of information and inspiration by documenting and chronicling the scope of contemporary graphic design, stemming from the middle of the twentieth century to today.

A Dictionary of Color Combinations


Sanzo Wada - 2011
    Wada was ahead of his time in developing traditional and Western influenced colour combinations, helping to lay the foundations for contemporary colour research. Based on his original 6-volume work from the 1930s, this book offers 348 color combinations, as attractive and sensuous as the books own design.

Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation


E.H. Gombrich - 1960
    It seeks to answer a simple question: why is there such a thing as style? The question may be simple but there is no easy answer, and Professor Gombrich's brilliant and wide-ranging exploration of the history and psychology of pictorial representation leads him into countless crucial areas. Gombrich examines, questions and re-evaluates old and new ideas on such matters as the imitation of nature, the function of tradition, the problem of abstraction, the validity of perspective and the interpretation of expression: all of which reveal that pictorial representation is far from being a straightforward matter. First published more than 40 years ago, Art and Illusion has lost none of its vitality and importance. In applying the findings of experimental science to a nuanced understanding of art and in tackling complex ideas and theoretical issues, Gombrich is rigorous.Yet he always retains a sense of wonder at the inexhaustible capacity of the human brain, and at the subtlety of the relationships involved in seeing the world and in making and seeing art. With profound knowledge and his exceptional gift for clear exposition, he advances each argument as an hypothesis to be tested. The problems of representation are forever fundamental to the history of art: Art and Illusion remains an essential text for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of art. For the sixth edition Professor Gombrich has written an entirely new 12-page preface, in which he makes use of the distinction between an image and a sign, so as to clarify his intentions in writing the book in the first place.

Color Design Workbook: A Real-World Guide to Using Color in Graphic Design


Noreen Morioka - 2006
    From the meanings behind colors to working with color in presentations, this book provides readers with the vital information needed to apply color creatively and effectively to their design work. Readers also receive guidance on talking with clients about color and selling color ideas. The science behind color theory is also explained in easily understood language, and case studies are included to show the effects some color choices had on both their clients and consumers.

The End of Print: The Graphic Design of David Carson


Lewis Blackwell - 1995
    His tortured typography prompted a vocal camp of critics to accuse him of being flippant and of destroying the communicative basis of design. But now the techniques of David Carson (and those of his countless imitators) dominate advertising, design, the Web, and even motion pictures. With 35,000 copies of the original sold, this revised edition of The End of Print includes a striking new cover and first chapter that puts Carson's work in context. The rest is vintage Carson—cutting edge and explosive. The End of Print tracks his career from skateboard and surf magazines, to the landmark Beach Culture magazine and his groundbreaking grid-breaking work for Ray Gun, and finally to handling major corporate identity accounts. The End of Print marks a turning point in design that ushered in the look of today.

A Designer's Research Manual: Succeed in Design by Knowing Your Clients and What They Really Need


Jenn Visocky O'Grady - 2006
    Most experienced designers would quantify this "legwork" with the term research. By engaging in competitive intelligence, customer profiling, color and trend forecasting, etc., designers are able to bring something to the table that reflects a commercial value for the client beyond a well-crafted logo or brochure. Although scientific and analytical in nature, research is the basis of all good design work. This book provides a comprehensive manual for designers on what design research is, why it is necessary, how to do research, and how to apply it to design work. As designers embrace research methodologies, they share a common vernacular with their clients, and establish respect as idea people. In an increasingly crowded marketplace, embracing research practices will ensure a continued viable role for designers in business. No other books address this issue for student and professional graphic designers. Books on how to do research are usually aimed at writers, business marketers, and scientists. The ability to execute effective research methods is as important to a career in graphic design as the ability to build a grid or layout a page. Understanding the needs of the client and the client's market are essential components of creating value.

Typography Essentials: 100 Design Principles for Working with Type


Ina Saltz - 2009
    This comprehensive guide is intended to advance the progress of designers seeking to deepen their typographic expertise. Typography Essentials is a practical, hands-on resource to distill, organize, and compartmentalize—but not to oversimplify—the many complex issues surrounding the effective use of typography. It is for designers of every medium in which type plays a major role, and is organized and designed to make the process enjoyable and entertaining, as well as instructional.This book is divided into four easy-to-use sections: The Letter, The Word, The Paragraph, and The Page. Each of the 100 principles has an explanation and examples representing the principle in action.

Do Design: Why beauty is key to everything (Do Books Book 13)


Alan Moore - 2016
    We multi-task, switch between screens, work faster. When was the last time you paused to consider a beautifully made object or stunning natural landscape? Yet this is when our spirits lift, our soul is restored. Designer Alan Moore invites us to rethink not only what we produce – whether it’s a website, a handmade chair, or a business – but how and why. With examples including Pixar, Apple, Yeo Valley and Blitz Motorcycles, we are encouraged to ask: Is it useful and considered. Is it a thing of beauty? Do Design will inspire you to: • Improve your creative process • Raise the quality and craft of your work • Consider the experience as much as the product • Adopt simplicity, utility and honesty as guiding principles We are creative beings. We love to make things. This book will inspire you to create better things for better reasons. Things that people will love – for a long time to come. Some say beauty is a luxury. But what if it is key to creating a better world for us all? Alan Moore has designed and created everything from books to businesses. He has a unique grasp on the forces that are reshaping our world and how to creatively respond to them. Working on six continents, Alan has shared his knowledge in the form of board and advisory positions at companies such as Hewlett Packard, Microsoft and Coca Cola, workshops and speaking as well as teaching in institutions as wide ranging as MIT and Reading University’s Typography Department, Sloan School of Management and INSEAD. He is the author of four books on creativity, marketing and business transformation including No Straight Lines: Making sense of our nonlinear world (2011). He still works as an artist. He tries everyday to lead a life as beautifully as he possibly can.