The 45 Best Graphic Design Books

Date

May 31, 2024

The best graphic design books can take you on an exciting journey of the imagination, transport you to new creative worlds or teach you something you never knew. Whether you’ve just started studying graphic design or are a seasoned graphic designer, here are 45 essential graphic design books, curated by our Shillington teachers.

The image features the book "Extra Bold: a feminist inclusive anti-racist nonbinary field guide for graphic designers." The cover has a bold, colorful design with shades of pink, red, orange, and yellow. The authors' names are listed towards the bottom.

1. Extra Bold: A Feminist, Inclusive, Anti-Racist, Nonbinary Field Guide for Graphic Designers

Potentially the most important book for graphic designers ever. Written by seven designers, Extra Bold is a design career guide for everyone, covering theory, history, work and interviews.

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An open book displays a double-page spread showing skincare products from Etude House. The products, including jars and tubes, feature playful cartoon faces and arms raised, and are labeled "PUT YOUR HANDS UP." The background is white with product descrip

2. The Package Design Book

This is any packaging designer’s bible: over 650 pages of the finest packaging that the world has to offer across food and beverages, luxury and everywhere else.

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A book spread showing Part 2. The left page features text and several images, including a colorful 'Performance Factory' cover and a 'SAID' book. The right page includes more text, a large pink number 2, and several smaller images, including a grid patter

3. Graphic Design School: The Principles and Practice of Graphic Design

Graphic Design School introduces visual design for modern media and breaks it down in a way that’s easy to follow for students. It explains the fundamentals of design in theory and then offers practical, modern examples.

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Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design
Logo Modernism (Design)

4. Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design

Mismatch investigates how inclusive methods can build elegant solutions that work for everyone. Kat Holmes demonstrates how certain design practices can create exclusion, whilst advocating how design can foster inclusion.

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5. Logo Modernism (Design)

Jens Müller brings together approximately 6,000 modernist trademarks, from 1940–1980, to examine how modernist attitudes and imperatives gave birth to corporate identity.

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An orange book titled "Typographic Systems" by Kimberly Elam features a bold, black and white angular design with fragmented large text across the cover. The book lists several systems: Axial, Radial, Dilational, Random, Grid, Modular, Transitional, and B

6. Typographic Systems of Design

Typography is a complex beast, tasking designers to balance many competing factors. In this book, Kim Elam explores eight major structural frameworks beyond the grid.

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A book titled "How to" by Michael Bierut. The cover features bold black and red text that extends across the front and spine. The book is positioned at an angle, showing both the cover and the spine which emphasizes its title and author's name.

7. How to…

In this must-read graphic design book, Pentagram partner Michael Bierut presents 35 projects that illustrate what graphic design encompasses today, his goal being to demonstrate not a single ideology, but the eclectic approach that marks his career.

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An open book titled "The History of Graphic Design 1890-1959" by Taschen is shown. The pages contain various colorful graphic design samples surrounding the book's title, which is prominently displayed in large black text.

8. The History of Graphic Design Vol 1 & 2

Jens Müller’s History of Graphic Design covers 1890 to today—131 years of the finest graphic design. Year-by-year spreads are combined with in-depth features on landmark projects, profiles of industry leaders and visual timelines of each decade.

Buy the books: Vol.1 and Vol. 2
The image shows the cover of the book "100 Ideas That Changed Graphic Design" by Steven Heller and Véronique Vienne. The cover is bright orange and features various design-related terms in white uppercase letters, creating a visually engaging and text-hea

9. 100 Ideas That Changed Graphic Design

This fascinating graphic design book chronicles the most influential ideas that have shaped industrial and product design—from the craft movements of the 19th/early 20th centuries and the changes brought about by mass production.

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Big Type
Design is Storytelling

10. Big Type

Big Type is a celebration of typography-led design and identity work. Featuring interviews with top agencies such as PORTO ROCHA and detailed descriptions of many of the projects, Big Type is a go-to for type inspiration.

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11. Design is Storytelling

Ellen Lupton’s book links design and storytelling and shows how, through both, you can bring ideas to life. Set out from a narrative point of view, it guides designers on how to harness their work’s narrative power and how to use design to stir emotions, build empathy, articulate values and convey action.

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An open book displaying a page with yellow background and text on the left. The right page shows a poster with "La Bâtie" text, dates "01-16 09.17," and an image of a man partially obscured by his hand, embracing a large cat. The book appears to be about

12. How Design Makes Us Think

This graphic design book delves in further than just the aesthetics of design. Adams picks apart how design can convince us of a certain way of thinking, both overtly and covertly. He illustrates how design can inspire, provoke, amuse, anger or reassure us and the reasons why.

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A blue book cover with bold black text at the top spelling "STITT" with two eyes forming the 'i's and a curved line forming a smile. Below, in smaller, colorful text, it reads "Autobiographics." At the top right, it says, "30 years of the people's design

Stitt Autobiographics is a record of the 50-year professional life of Alex Stitt, who has been behind much of Australia’s culture since the 1950s. This book covers everything, including 1,800 illustrations, comic strips, storyboards and film titles.

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An open book displaying a spread with text and color photographs. The left page includes two yellow signs from the Saint Louis Assembly, while the right page features more photos, including scenic views and architectural images. Both pages have paragraphs

14. Upstart!

Upstart! is a guide to visual identities for start-ups and new businesses. Perfect for both designers and entrepreneurs, Upstart! takes a dive into branding work from across the world, with detailed descriptions and photos.

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A close-up of a printed page showcasing a variety of letter "A" designs in different fonts and styles. Each design is contained within a small, square box, displaying diverse typography styles ranging from geometric to Victorian, Art Deco, and others.

15. Why Fonts Matter

Fonts can create trust, mistrust, give you confidence, make things seem easier or even taste better. This book by Sarah Hyndman opens up the science and art behind how fonts influence you and why they can evoke particular associations.

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A book cover titled "New Perspectives in Typography" in a bold green and white design. The green design elements include large numerals and shapes, providing a modern, abstract look. Author and contributor names are listed in black text across the cover.

16. Type: New Perspectives in Typography

This selection of typographic design, edited by leading typographers A2/SW/HK, showcases more than 100 carefully selected contemporary designers, including the best examples of their current work, and also features an introduction by Rick Poynor.

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An open book showing two pages with text and images. The left page features two images: one with a falcon, and another abstract image. The right page includes text and a circular image with symbols. The content appears to be in Italian, discussing art and

17. What Images Really Tell Us

How do images hold and convey meaning? This graphic design book by Massimo Mariani examines the metaphors, metonymies, hyperboles and other concepts that inform our visual language and the power of its meaning.

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A book titled "Branding: In Five and a Half Steps" by Michael Johnson, published by Thames & Hudson. The cover is orange with white and black text.

18. Branding In Five and a Half Steps

In this book, iconic brand designer Michael Johnson strips down brands to their basic components to show why we choose brands. Through case studies and over 1000 illustrations, Johnson shows how to create compelling brands in five and a half easy steps.

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Look Both Ways
Paula Scher: Works

19. Look Both Ways

Born out of Debbie Millman’s podcast Design Matters and her 25 year career, Look Both Ways is a series of illustrated essays on the intersection of everyday life and design, it covers life, art, love, design, brands, poetry, shame and physics.

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20. Paula Scher: Works

This monograph covers iconic graphic designer Paula Scher’s early days in the music industry as an art director with CBS and Atlantic records; the launch of her first studio, Koppel & Scher; and her 25-year engagement with Pentagram.

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A bright green book cover titled, "Can Graphic Design Save Your Life?" features a white geometric cross at the center. The editors' names are listed at the bottom: "Edited by Lucienne Roberts, Rebecca Wright, and Sarah Schrauwen," along with the logo "GDE

21. Can Graphic Design Save Your Life?

Lucienne Roberts’ ambitious graphic design book examines the relationship between graphic design and health, focusing on work that demonstrates how communication strategies and visual languages are employed to persuade, inform, prevent and protect.

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22. CAPS LOCK: How Capitalism Took Hold of Graphic Design, and How to Escape From It

CAPS LOCK unpicks how graphic design and capitalism are inextricably linked. Through case studies, it shows how designed objects relate to capitalism and explores radical design initiatives which oppose capitalise thought.

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Three graphic design books are displayed side by side. The left book features modular alphabet design, the center book, titled "Grid systems," has a bright red cover, and the right book shows various grid layouts. The background is a plain, neutral gray.

23. Grid Systems in Graphic Design

Josef Müller-Brockmann’s classic book is a guide to graphic design and layout technique. This graphic design book addresses all of the major problems that can be encountered in the design of grid-based systems and offers precise directions in how to overcome them.

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An open book showing two pages. The left page features a colorful square pattern with text, while the right page displays abstract, colorful shapes, including red, pink, and yellow forms, and a small figure. Both pages contain descriptive text at the bott

24. Women Design

From architects and product designers to textile artists and digital innovators, Women Design profiles a selection of the most dynamic female designers from the modern era, showcasing their finest work and celebrating their enduring influence.

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A book with a black cover featuring a large, abstract red shape on the center. The shape is overlaid with white grid lines. Some small white text is present below the red shape, but it is not readable in detail. The background is gray.

25. Analog Algorithm

Analog Algorithm offers the reader techniques to develop new forms, fonts, logos and patterns dealing with every designer’s best friend—the grid. The fluidity of the book, as both workbook and inspiration, allows designers to find analog forms—with an infinite number of possibilities.

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Start Me Up
DESIGN(H)ERS

26. Start Me Up!: New Branding for Businesses

Corporate branding works as an extension of a business by visually expressing its concept. Start Me Up! presents a wide range of original examples for inspiration and is a comprehensive compendium of innovative corporate design.

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27. DESIGN(H)ERS

This essential graphic design book features the work of 30 talented women, including Jessica Walsh, Verònica Fuerte, Yah-Leng Yu and Hattie Stewart. It features insightful interviews that bring to light the thoughts and stories behind their careers.

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The book cover of "Articulating Design Decisions" by Tom Greever, published by O'Reilly, features a detailed illustration of a green parrot on a purple and white background. The subtitle reads: "Communicate with Stakeholders, Keep Your Sanity, and Deliver

28. Articulating Design Decisions

Tom Greever’s book is a practical guide of how to communicate your work to clients and other non-designers, including principles, tactics and actionable methods. It also teaches you how to teach your clients how to work with designers.

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The book "Women in Graphic Design: 1890-2012" edited by Gerda Breuer and Julia Meer has a minimalist white cover with bold black text. It features both English and German titles and is published by Jovis.

29. Women in Graphic Design 1890-2012

This top graphic design book features numerous contributions from design historians, programmatic texts and a comprehensive collection of biographies, alongside interviews with internationally recognised female designers.

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An open book on a red surface, featuring two pages of text with large, bold letters "G," "H," "I," "J," and "K" in the margins. The book entries discuss typography, including historical and technical details, with small images and diagrams accompanying th

30. Moholy-Nagy and the New Typography: A-Z

Bauhaus professor László Moholy-Nagy has been largely forgotten in the world of typography. Featuring previously unpublished materials, this book explains how Moholy-Nagy and his contemporaries smuggled their avant-garde sensibilities into commercial advertising.

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The image shows the cover of "The Graphic Design Reference + Specification Book" by Poppy Evans and Aaris Sherin. The cover is yellow with black and white text, featuring a large, metallic letter "A" at the bottom center.

31. The Graphic Design Reference & Specification Book

This important graphic design book presents practical knowledge that designers need to know when they’re working—how much space to leave in the gutter when designing barrel folds, what proofreaders’ symbols mean and so much more.

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A book with a bright purple cover titled "logotype" in bold, white lowercase letters. The book is positioned against a plain, light-colored background.

32. Logotype

Logotype is the definitive modern collection of logotypes, monograms and other text-based corporate marks. Featuring more than 1,300 international typographic identities, this book provides a valuable resource to draw on.

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A book titled "Mid-Century Modern Graphic Design" by Theo Inglis is placed against a bright yellow background. The cover features a geometric pattern with triangular shapes in blue, orange, black, and white.

33. Mid-Century Modern Graphic Design

Theo Inglis’ book covers designs from around the world which showcase the experimentation and energy of the mid-century period. Inglis covers everything from the film posters of Saul Bass to Miroslav Šašek’s children’s books.

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A hardcover book titled "The Visual History of Type" lies on a flat surface with its cover visible. The title is written in white and large black letters, positioned vertically and upside-down. The book has a grayish cover and appears to be thick.

34. The Visual History of Type

This book contains a comprehensive survey of the major typefaces since the advent of printing. Arranged chronologically, more than 320 typefaces are displayed in their original form, supported by a brief history and their key characteristics.

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The image shows the cover of the book "Designing Brand Identity" by Alina Wheeler, fourth edition. The cover features colorful horizontal stripes in various shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, with the title and author's name in white

35. Designing Brand Identity

This best-selling graphic design book outlines a universal five-stage process for brand development and implementation. From research and analysis through launch and governance, it provides in-depth guidance on all aspects of the process.

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An open book displaying two minimalist logos on a white background. The left page shows a blue circle with a stylized white fish, and the right page has a green shield composed of several geometric shapes.

36. Identity: Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv

Identity: Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv showcases a body of work spanning 60 years from the seminal design firm founded in 1957. It explores the firm has shaped the way corporate identity programs influence culture.

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A pink book with a geometric pattern on the top half of the cover and a blurred, abstract text design on the bottom half. The book is stacked on top of two identical copies against a dark blue background. .

37. Indie Type

Indie Type is an exploration of innovative and adaptable typefaces that have been used in a scope of different languages. This graphic design book also features interviews with 5 typeface designers who delve into the processes behind designing a typeface.

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A Dictionary of Colour
Know Your Onions

38. A Dictionary of Colour Combinations

A Dictionary of Color Combinations was originally published in the 1930s by Sanzo Wada, a Japanese artist, teacher, costume and kimono designer. Wada’s work blended traditional and Western colour combinations, laying the way for contemporary colour research.

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39. Know Your Onions

The focus of this book is on practical tips and pointers to help you be a better designer. The next best thing to having a graphic design mentor, it will guide you through the processes of generating ideas, developing concepts and putting them into practice.

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The image shows the book "The User Experience Team of One" by Leah Buley on a wooden surface. The book cover features a colorful abstract design with wavy lines in shades of red, pink, green, purple, and white. The author's name is at the bottom.

40. The User Experience Team of One

Written by Leah Buley, a veteran of the experience design industry, this book is a survival guide for anyone working in UX. Buley’s guide reveals and demonstrates some techniques for creating big impact with less time and fewer resources.

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A book titled "Museum für Gestaltung Zürich: 100 Years of Swiss Graphic Design" with a blue and red cover. The front features a large, abstract design comprising of overlapping red, white, and blue shapes resembling the letter "a". The book rests on a whi

41. 100 Years of Swiss Graphic Design

Taking a fresh look at the Swiss Style of design over the past century, this book features a series of enlightening essays by experts in the field, each beautifully illustrated with stunning visuals.

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An open book showing a paint chart from "Cabot Tower Ready Mixed Paints." It displays various colored circles representing different paint shades, labeled with names like Light Green, Leaf Green, and Olive Green. There are also rectangles with different w

42. The Anatomy of Colour

Drawing on a specialist archive, historian Patrick Baty traces the evolution of pigments and paint colours, together with colour systems and standards, and examines their impact on the colour palettes used in interiors from 1650 to 1960.

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Copy This Book
Graphic Fest

43. Copy This Book: An Artist’s Guide to Copyright

This book answers all your questions about copyright—making often complex concepts easy to understand and follow. Both practical and critical, it will guide you through the concepts underlying copyright and how they apply in your practice.

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44. Graphic Fest

Graphic Fest takes a deep dive into the design of festival and fairs around the world. Itexplores how festivals, from the Afrique Culture Festival to Geneva’s La Bâtie festival, use branding, whether it be creating a fresh but recognisable annual theme or something that lasts forever.

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A book cover titled "Basics Design: Format, 2nd Edition" by Gavin Ambrose and Paul Harris. The cover features a black and yellow color scheme, an abstract red book-like graphic, and a yellow circular "2nd edition" sticker. The background is light gray.

45. Basic Designs 01 & 02

In these books, Ambrose and Harris aim to impart a comprehensive understanding of two of essential aspects of graphic design: typography and layout. Each book also examines how both typography and layout can and do inform other aspects of creative design.

Buy the books: 01 and 02.

Have these graphic design books got you feel inspired to design? With Shillington’s graphic design course you can become a graphic designer in just three months full-time or nine months part-time from anywhere in the world online — no experience required.