Five Great Books About Graphic Design

I really enjoy learning and reading great books about graphic design.

Here are my top 5

Color Works, Best Practices for Graphic Designers

Eddie Opara and John Cantwell

This is a great book to understand the importance of color in our work Color is an inherent component of graphic design. It represents character, mood, ability, and resonance. Whether we like it or not, most graphic designers need a better understanding of how to observe, use, and speak about color for ourselves and with our clients. Our introduction to color starts at
an early age. As children we have color preconceptions before we are taught to objectify how things work.

John Berger, the author of The Art of Seeing, notes, “The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe.” What we are affected by at different stages in our lives counts a great deal, and color is no different. Color will skew our perceptions and permeate our psyche.

We all have our hang-ups and favorite colors, but how does that affect our working style? How do we communicate with color?

Interpretation of color widens every waking minute with a vast range of mediums and devices to choose from. The calibration of color spanning across technologies is a complex balance of skill and luck. Color is a language that we desperately need to master, but we need easier methods for it to become more relevant to today’s designers’ needs.

100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People
Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D

What motivates them to click or purchase or whatever it is you want them to do?

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

Since color is such a important part of graphic design, designers need the most up to date as well as the most fundamental, information on the subject to have the tools needed to use color effectively. 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.

Basics Design 08: Design Thinking

Gavin Ambrose Paul Harris

Basics Design: Design Thinking is an introduction to the process of generating creative ideas and concepts used by designers in order to start the process that leads to a finished piece of work. This focus on ideas and methods favours a useable approach to design as a problem-solving activity. This is supported by practical work examples and case studies from leading contemporary design studios, accompanied by concise descriptions, technical expansions and diagrammatic visualisations. Basics Design: Design Thinking teaches the generation of ideas as a practical skill, vital to the creation of successful design

Graphic Design: The New Basics: 

Second Edition, Revised and Expanded Ellen Lupton

The New Basics, bestselling author Ellen Lupton (Thinking with Type, Type on Screen) and design educator Jennifer Cole Phillips explain the key concepts of visual language that inform any work of design, from logo or letterhead to a complex website. Through visual demonstrations and concise commentary, students and professionals explore the formal elements of twodimensional design, such as point, line, plane, scale, hierarchy, layers, and transparency.

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