Without a doubt I’m a sucker for a good design book. With my current collection nearing 60 design-focused, inspirational or business/freelancing graphic design books, I’m always on the hunt for more.
Recently I’ve been receiving questions via email or Twitter on good design book recommendations. While it’s hard for me to pick just one, I will say my two favorite books I currently own are The 28th Annual of the Type Directors Club for beautiful design and typography inspiration and the Graphic Artists Guild’s Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines for all your business and freelancing answers and needs.
“Designing Design” by Kenya Hara.
“Never Sleep” by Dress Code
“Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far” by Stefan Sagmeister.
The Non-designer’s Design Book by Robyn Williams. Fantastic for anyone interested in getting started in design.
I don’t know about just one favorite, but I am still a big fan of David Carson’s The End of Print. I also really like Sagmeister’s Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far…
Im a big fan of making and breaking the grid: http://www.amazon.com/Making-Breaking-Grid-Graphic-Workshop/dp/1564968936
lots of designs shown with the grud structure behind them!
I just finished reading Logo Savvy:
http://www.amazon.com/Logo-Savvy-Design-Identity-Strategies/dp/1592535070/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247069667&sr=8-1
Excellent information on the branding process with many of the examples showing the progression from ideas to sketches to final pieces.
I love the logo lounge series of logos. Its really nice how the subcatergorize the logos so its easier to look up specific types of logo that you might find inspiration in or a way to help you stylize.
http://www.logolounge.com/
Tough to pick just 1 fave.
Big long-time fan of logo lounge series.
Also enjoy 401 design meditations/quotes by Catharine Fishel.
Book by Why not Associates (design droll)
And last but not least, Marks of Excellence by Per Mollerup/Phaidon
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“Design Basics Index” helps master the 3 ‘C’s of design by Jim Krause has been very helpful to me.
One more vote for “Design Basics Index”. I searched for about a year for a textbook for the Graphic Design class I teach before deciding on this one.
Los Logos (4) – http://tinyurl.com/nymode
»This compendium provides an authoritative overview of current
developments and advances in logo design, one of the most prestigious of creative disciplines which represent the essential visual identity of brands, companies and their philosophies.«
Like most of the others, I can’t say I have one absolute favorite design book, but The Anatomy of Design by Steven Heller and Mirko Ilic is up there. The way they break down a design into a history of design that came before it and elements that influenced it is really fascinating! I love when the origins can be traced back hundreds of years.
I don’t really have an all time favourite book. Currently my favorite design book is Grid Systems in Graphic Design by Josef Müller-Brockmann, because I have been studying layout grids lately because I wanted to introduce a fast and easy way to make them in Illustrator.
@Niki: If you are interested you can find my grid talk on my site http://font.is
nice!!
I love logo and typography design. I got plenty to read, but my favorite is Design Matters: LOGOS 01. I love its brief explanation on logo creation as you’ll get many study cases of logo designs that work, also it is fascinating to view some of selected unique logos in the gallery section. Simply enjoyable to explore!
Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton! This book got me into typography when Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst and Type and Typography by Phil Baines/Andrew Haslam was still a bit too complex to read!
Really Good Logos, Explained by Rian Hughes, Alex White, Margo Chase and Ron Miriello is the best logo book I’ve read.
For style and inspiration, I too love the los logo series. They are massive and encompass all kinds of logo design. I’ve enjoyed seeing every one that comes out, and love comparing the work in one volume to another.
For pure design and typographic knowledge, nothing beats Bringhurst’s The Elements of Typographic Style. It’s well laid out, and very thorough. I actually just wrote a post on his a few other, what I consider, essential design books. Making and Breaking the Grid made my list as well!
Editing by Design http://tr.im/rpxc Great book for explaining theory on everything regarding printed publications…
Bob Gill’s “Graphic Design as a Second Language”.
It’s not my absolute favourite, as I couldn’t choose one, but it’s a keeper alright.
I use these two more than any others these days:
Pantone guide to communicating with color
Web Design Index
AttikNoise, whenever I am stuck for inspiration just having a flick through this series of books gives me inspiration.
http://noise.attik.com/
I have followed this company since university and there books never disappoint. NoiseFive has over 40 print finishes, very experimental :)
The art of looking sideways” by Alan Fletcher. Simply amazing.
I’ll second the “Never Sleep” recommendation by Dress Code. Especially for a design student to get through some of the typical struggles of the education world. It was AWESOME to know that I’m not the only one that feels that way..
“Art Directors Handbook of Professional magazine Design” by Horst Moser.
A jewel! Very illustrated, big book. Not too much text but essential is there. Love it. use it everyday at work.
Graphic Artists Guild’s Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines – The best in my opinion !