Logo design, logo designer | What’s your favourite graphic design book?

30 spot-on reader comments to “What’s your favourite graphic design book?”

1. Nate S, on July 25th, 2007 said:

   “The Elements of Typographic Style” by Robert Bringhurst. This book is great if for no other reason than it builds a love for type.

2. davidthedesigner, on July 25th, 2007 said:

   Thanks for the recommend David, but I can’t help thinking that it might be more appropriate if I were a ‘font’ of knowledge.

3. David Airey :: Graphic Designer, on July 25th, 2007 said:
   Excellent choice, Nate. For those unfamiliar you can take a brief snapshot inside Nate’s choice here.

   What font would you prefer, David? You could be the font of all knowledge in the Univers.

4. Mirko, on July 25th, 2007 said:

   “Typo”, published by Könneman. A huge book with tons of example of 20th century graphic design, mostly focused on typography and poster.

   I think I’ll be buying Bob Gill’s book soon, thanks for the recommandation.

5. Santosh P, on July 25th, 2007 said:

   Surely will look for this book.. Now a days I have started a new way to gain knowedge… I travel in bus some 30kms to a place where there are only bookshops, most of them attached with a coffee house (with wifi) where you can read ur book along with coffee.

   as graphic design books are costly to buy, and beyond my budget to buy 20 different books, I travel everyday..read them… Gulp the knowledge and in the evening i digest them pratically :D

6. Sera, on July 25th, 2007 said:

   It is tough to pick just one, but I’d have to say Graphically Speaking is my favorite. I wrote an ode to it here: http://www.serastrawbridge.com/?p=353 =)

   Right now I’m particularly seeking to become more skilled at doing logos, do you have any suggestions for what to read concerning that topic?

7. LaurenMarie, on July 25th, 2007 said:

   I always go back to Great Design Using Non-Traditional Materials by Sheree Clark and Wendy Lyons, and my typography book, A Typographic Workbook by Kate Clair.

   I’ve added the Bob Gill book to my wish list. It looks like another resource I would go back to again and again. Those are the types of books I like to collect. Thanks David!

8. Dajo, on July 25th, 2007 said:

   YAAAY!!!!! I GUESS IM GETTING IT TODAY DAVID! Thanks for posting this one its a major help!

9. links for 2007-07-25 | The Marketing Technology Blog, on July 25th, 2007 said:

   [...] David Airey :: Graphic Designer » What’s your favourite graphic design book? David shares some favorite books on Graphic Design (tags: graphics design books reading) [...]

10. Mike, on July 25th, 2007 said:

    My favorite design book would have to be Thinking With Type. I find it to be very inspirational, interesting and useful.

    http://www.papress.com/thinkingwithtype/

    Thanks for the article David!
    - Mike W
    Logo Tree Designs

11. karl escritt, on July 25th, 2007 said:

    Hi,
    Just came across your blog from David the designers.
    Been looking through your past articles and found some excellent stuff, very informative.
    On todays topic;
    Art of looking sideways
    Cheers
    Karl

12. David Airey :: Graphic Designer, on July 26th, 2007 said:
    Hi Mirko,

    I’ll have a look for Typo. Thanks.

    Santosh,

    For sure it’s an expense to build a collection. I think of it as paying for my training. That’s a fair distance you travel to read. Nice dedication.

    Sera,

    For help with logo designs I prefer to read books about thinking, rather than looking through catalogues of examples. There are so many logo collections published and I find myself wondering how a lot of the examples were chosen.

    Have you read any Ed de Bono books? I love his writing in ‘Lateral Thinking’.

    I read your article and that seems like a great book for sure.

    Lauren,

    Thanks very much for those two recommendations. I’ll check them out now.

    Dajo,

    Let me know what you think of the book when it arrives. It didn’t take me long to read it first time around.

    I agree, Mike. Thinking with Type is a superb piece of work. Thanks for the visit.

    Karl,

    Good of you to let me know where you arrived from. I’ve been reading David the designer’s blog ever since I started my own. I’ll take a look at the Art of Looking Sideways and thanks for the recommendation.

13. Nonimage, on July 26th, 2007 said:

    Neither of these books are specifically about teaching design, but I have 2 books (amongst many) that have been a great inspiration to me.

    ‘Designed by Peter Saville’ as it was he who got my attention about design in the first place, and the work is exquisite.

    ‘Experimental Formats’ by Roger Fawcett-Tang is a very inspiring book if you love the parts of design you can really touch and feel - books, packaging, prints etc.

    I have been a ‘lurker’ on your blog for a while now, thought I would comment. Keep up the good work.

    Andy

14. David Airey :: Graphic Designer, on July 27th, 2007 said:
    Thanks very much for your recommendations, Andy.

    Good of you to come out from the lurks and comment.

15. lee newham, on July 27th, 2007 said:

    • Forget all the rules you ever knew about design ‘including the ones in this book’ Bob Gill (he got me in to design too).
    • A smile in the mind by David Stuart (it’s all in here)
    • The world of Minale Tattersfield (great ideas) by the late great Marcello Minale
    • Alas Smith and Milton (not for the work, but for what it’s about…if you want to run your won company, look in here!)
    D&AD annuals
    Bill Bernbach
    Graphis annuals
    The Art of Looking Sideways by the late great Alan Fletcher
    There are so many!

16. dave, on July 29th, 2007 said:

    I have to second lee newham. “FORGET ALL THE RULES ABOUT GRAPHIC DESIGN: including the ones in this book”!!! It changed the way I think about visual communication! He says to communicate like no one has ever heard of what you are talking about. It’s GREAT for logos, Sera. What a treat! And it’s so simple, it encourages you to think that “YOU CAN DO IT!” Thank you Bob Gill! Pick “FORGET ALL THE RULES…” over “logo mania”(I believe his latest).

17. David Airey :: Graphic Designer, on July 29th, 2007 said:
    Lee,

    Excellent recommendations. I’d expect nothing less.

    Dave,

    Thanks for backing that one up.

18. Web Entrepreneur, on July 30th, 2007 said:

    So I am new to Graphic Design, very new, and I have wanted to get a book for a while now. What one book should I get? Graphic Design as a Second Language looks good, but is it right for me?

    Let me know, Thanks!

19. David Airey :: Graphic Designer, on July 30th, 2007 said:
    Your question depends on what you want to learn. Why do you want to know more about graphic design?

    You mention on your own blog that you’re poor and cheap ;) so before placing all your eggs in the proverbial basket with one book, I recommend learning about graphic design through websites.

    The HOW Design forum is a great place pick up more advice. Have you checked it out? That reminds me, I’ve been meaning to create a resource for third party graphic design resources. I’ll draft one now so I don’t forget.

20. Martin Laritz, on July 31st, 2007 said:

    I really want to start by learning all the principles of graphic design. I want to start at the beginning and learn the basics then move on from there.

    Thanks for the suggestion on the HOW Design forum, I just registered and am about to check it out.

21. Jeri Dansky, on August 5th, 2007 said:

    As someone who is not a graphic designer (and has hired graphic designers as needed) who wanted to learn the basics, I am fond of The Non-Designer’s Design Book and The Non-Designer’s Web Book, both by Robin Williams.

22. David Airey :: Graphic Designer, on August 6th, 2007 said:
    Martin,

    How did you find the HOW Design forum?

    Jeri,

    Thanks for your recommendations. Great to get some ideas from a non-designer’s perspective.

23. Catherine, on August 24th, 2007 said:

    David,

    Jeff Fisher has been a long time poster on graphic design forums. One of his classic posts was in response to the often asked question - what are your fav design books?

    Later he wrote an article for Creative Latitude that soon became a classic - Design by the Books.

    Not only is Jeff an avid reader, but his second book Identity Crisis is due out soon.

    Personal plug - I’m in his first book - The Savvy Designer’s Guide To Success: Ideas and Tactics for a Killer Career

    I missed being in his second due to a client snafu / crisis. Maybe Jeff’s next book will cover the logos that never were …

    My favourite design book? I don’t really have one fav. I have a library filled with great books. A great deal I purchased on Jeff’s advice over the years.

    Typography, simple design, brochure / logo / poster / book design, history … ok, if it’s history, then hands down I’ll go with Meggs. Definitely.

    Meggs’ History of Graphic Design

    He’s no longer with us, but he certainly left a legacy.

24. David Airey :: Graphic Designer, on August 24th, 2007 said:
    Thanks for the message, Cat.

    Jeff certainly knows what he’s talking about. I was hoping I could help him out of a fix with a logo case study, but in the end my clients took priority.

    Great to get a few of your recommendations, and I’m off to check them out now.

25. James, on October 2nd, 2007 said:

    The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher

    It’s not specifically about design, but it is without a doubt a designer’s book.

26. David Airey :: Graphic Designer, on October 2nd, 2007 said:
    I’ve seen that one recommended quite a few times, James. It’s about time I had a read.
27. Mario, on October 8th, 2007 said:

    Universal Principles of Design is a great book too.

28. Globulart Diseño, on April 16th, 2008 said:

    I had a terrific time reading “tellmewhy”, by karlssonwilker inc.

    It’s not a book about the principles and theory of design, it’s the story of two designers that become friends while working in NY and decided to start their own design studio. A great read, full of jokes, fun, ideas, the GREAT design work by these two guys, and personal stories of good and hard times that you will relate to if you’re self-employed.
    I came across it in a specialized design & arts bookstore in Madrid while looking for something else, but the cover of “tellmewhy” caught my eye… What a find!

    And, you have to see it for yourself, it has the weirdest effects in the pages that contain text… a magenta gradient soooo subtle that leaves you wondering if the pages are dirty or the paper has been affected by the sunlight… nice visual trick.

    Highly recommended.

    Globulart Diseño’s last blog post..Corporate identity project: COFFEEHOUSE

29. David Airey, on April 18th, 2008 said:
    Mario, Angel,

    Thanks very much for your recommendations. I appreciate that.

30. Hannah McCann, on August 6th, 2008 said:

    Hey, enjoyed the conversation. Had a great talk myself with Mr. Gill last week. He’s a candid guy. Check out the audio file from my blog: http://www.architectmagazine.com/post.asp?BlogId=refwdblog&postid=148621&sectionID=1041

    Hannah McCann’s last blog post…1st Circuit Appeals Court Salvages Boston Firm’s Copyright Infringement Suit

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