Chosen Books

Invited designers and commentators have chosen these as the books that inspire them and that have shaped their worldview or their ideas about design.

author a–z

Nonfiction, Graphic Design

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202 books

The Visible Word: Experimental Typography and Modern Art, 1909-1923 Johanna Drucker On Warren Lehrer’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Art Nouveau and Art Deco Bookbinding Alastair Duncan et al. On Lisa Jenks’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Ornament Stuart Durant On Lisa Jenks’s Book List Add to My Reading List	A Grammar of Chinese Lattice Daniel Sheets Dye On Ed Ng’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Rodchenko and the Arts of Revolutionary Russia David Elliott On Carin Goldberg’s Book List Add to My Reading List	The World of M. C. Escher M. C. Escher et al. On Kit Hinrichs’s Book List Add to My Reading List	The Stamp of Fantasy Ute Eskildsen et al. On Seymour Chwast’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Pictures on a Page Harold Evans On Rick Poynor’s Book List Add to My Reading List
Identity Kits Germano Facetti et al. On Kit Hinrichs’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Word and Image: Posters from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art Alan M. Fern On Paula Scher’s Book List Add to My Reading List	French Modern Louise Fili On list of Books by Steven Heller On list of Books by Louise Fili Add to My Reading List	Max Bill: Typography, Advertising, Book Design Gerd Fleischmann et al. On Carin Goldberg’s Book List Add to My Reading List	The Art of Looking Sideways Alan Fletcher On Jennifer Morla’s Book List On Tom Geismar’s Book List On Bob Gill’s Book List On Wendell Castle’s Book List On Coralie Bickford-Smith’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Beware Wet Paint Alan Fletcher On Kit Hinrichs’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Graphic Design in America Mildred Friedman et al. On Rick Poynor’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Graphic Design Leon Friend et al. On Tom Geismar’s Book List Add to My Reading List
Rudo Spemann (1905-1947) Friends of the Klingspor-Museum On Alice Koeth’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Signs and Symbols Adrian Frutiger On Mark Fox’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Adrian Frutiger—Typefaces: The Complete Works Adrian Frutiger et al. On Erik Spiekermann’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Aim for a Job in Graphic Design/Art S. Neil Fujita On Michael Bierut’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Graphic Design as a Second Language Bob Gill On Kit Hinrichs’s Book List On list of Books by Bob Gill Add to My Reading List	Forget All the Rules You Ever Learned About Graphic Design, Including the Ones in This Book Bob Gill On Jules Fisher’s Book List On list of Books by Bob Gill Add to My Reading List	Unspecial Effects for Graphic Designers Bob Gill On Erik Spiekermann’s Book List On list of Books by Bob Gill Add to My Reading List	An Essay on Typography Eric Gill On Chris Bangle’s Book List Add to My Reading List
Milton Glaser: Graphic Design Milton Glaser On Michael Bierut’s Book List On Kit Hinrichs’s Book List On Rick Poynor’s Book List On list of Books by Milton Glaser On Rudy VanderLans’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Theory of Colours Johann Wolfgang von Goethe On Shashi Caan’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Graphic Texts GRAPHIC team, eds. et al. Add to My Reading List	Pomona Houses Marcia Hafif On Prem Krishnamurthy’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Elements of Design Gail Greet Hannah On Tucker Viemeister’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Haptic Kenya Hara On Aldo Bakker’s Book List Add to My Reading List	You Are Here Katherine Harmon On Kit Hinrichs’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Merz to Emigre and Beyond Steven Heller On Rick Poynor’s Book List On list of Books by Steven Heller Add to My Reading List
Innovators of American Illustration Steven Heller On Kit Hinrichs’s Book List On list of Books by Steven Heller Add to My Reading List	Graphic Style Steven Heller et al. On Gail Anderson’s Book List On list of Books by Steven Heller On list of Books by Seymour Chwast Add to My Reading List	Born Modern Steven Heller et al. On Gail Anderson’s Book List On list of Books by Steven Heller On Louise Fili’s Current Reading list Add to My Reading List	AGI Annals F.H.K. Henrion On Rick Poynor’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Toothpicks and Logos John Heskett On Jeffrey Bernett’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Dorfsman & CBS Dick Hess et al. On Kit Hinrichs’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Hirschfeld: Art and Recollections from Eight Decades Al Hirschfeld On Kit Hinrichs’s Book List Add to My Reading List	Graphic Design Manual Armin Hofmann On Michael Bierut’s Book List On Angus Hyland’s Book List Add to My Reading List

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Announcements

Now is Better by Stefan Sagmeister

Now is Better

By Stefan Sagmeister
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: October 2023

Combining art, design, history, and quantitative analysis, transforms data sets into stunning artworks that underscore his positive view of human progress, inspiring us to think about the future with much-needed hope.

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Design Emergency: Building a Better Future by Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli

Design Emergency: Building a Better Future

By Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: May 2022

Rawsthorn and Antonelli tell the stories of the remarkable designers, architects, engineers, artists, scientists, and activists who are at the forefront of positive change worldwide. Focusing on four themes—Technology, Society, Communication, and Ecology—the authors present a unique portrait of how our great creative minds are developing new design solutions to the major challenges of our time, while helping us to benefit from advances in science and technology.

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Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People by Debbie Millman

Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World's Most Creative People

By Debbie Millman
Publisher: Harper Design
Published: February 22, 2022

Debbie Millman—author, educator, brand consultant, and host of the widely successful and award-winning podcast “Design Matters”—showcases dozens of her most exciting interviews, bringing together insights and reflections from today’s leading creative minds from across diverse fields.

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Milton Glaser: POP by Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber

Milton Glaser: POP

By Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: March 2023

This collection of work from graphci design legend Milton Glaser’s Pop period features hundreds of examples of the designer’s work that have not been seen since their original publication, demonstrating the graphic revolution that transformed design and popular culture.

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Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange

Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall

By Alexandra Lange
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: June 2022

Chronicles postwar architects’ and merchants’ invention of the shopping mall, revealing how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in their cultural ascent. Publishers Weekly writes, “Contending that malls answer ‘the basic human need’ of bringing people together, influential design critic Lange advocates for retrofitting abandoned shopping centers into college campuses, senior housing, and ‘ethnocentric marketplaces’ catering to immigrant communities. Lucid and well researched, this is an insightful study of an overlooked and undervalued architectural form.”

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Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition) by Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller

Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition)

By Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Publisher: Letterform Archives Books
Published: October 2023

This facsimile edition of Die Fläche, recreates every page of the formative design periodical in full color and at original size, accompanied by essays that contextualize the work, highlighting contributions by pathbreaking women, innovative lettering artists, and key practitioners of the new “surface art,” including Rudolf von Larisch, Alfred Roller, and Wiener Werkstätte founders Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann.

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