Gail Anderson’s Book List
Online design research is helpful and I do love my audio books when I’m driving, but regular old hardcovers and paperbacks will always rule. Books have memories attached to them, the occasional forgotten slips of paper, and sometimes even an earnest childhood signature. My list is comprised of design books I can’t function without, titles that have had lasting meaning for me, and some that overlap both categories.
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I first saw this beautiful brick of a book when I was a young designer at Rolling Stone. A friend had a tattered copy—typesetters and designers often cut letters and dingbats out as needed—and I knew that I had to acquire my own. Of course, this was back in the dark ages before the Internet, so finding one meant scouring book fairs and flea markets. If you can score a 1923 ATF, do not hesitate to make the purchase. It will teach you everything you need to know about classic typography and good design.
One of the smartest and most interesting volumes I’ve ever listened to on audiobook. It pretty much proves the notion that success doesn’t just happen by chance. I enjoy Malcolm Gladwell’s voice, too, so this one’s gotten lots of car time. (And I’ve seen him around my neighborhood and have almost said hi, since I feel like we’re old friends after so many listens.)
Completely digestible bits of graphic design history in one manageable book. I find myself referring to it more than any other design book I own, and I’ve got shelves full.
The definitive title on Alvin Lustig.
In the Groove serves as a wonderfully concise introduction to Alex Steinweiss, Jim Flora, and Erik Nitsche—and who can resist a Desi Arnaz album cover?
I have read and reread Bird by Bird in a quest to enforce my commitment to writing regularly, but I think my attraction to this book is really Anne Lamott’s personal journey. This is one of those titles that people always recommend, and I can’t believe I waited so long to get on board.
If you can dig up a used copy, it’s worth the investment. There are lots of books about wood type, Victorian design, and printing techniques, but the reissue of Lewis’s 1962 Printed Ephemera sets the standard.
The first of many oversized softcovers on album cover design (and still the best).
Harriet the Spy, It’s Like This, Cat, and later, all of the S. E. Hinton books, were childhood favorites that still resonate to this day. Perhaps it’s the city kid side of me that identified with the adventurous loners I met through their stories.
A 400-plus-page book that’s a steal and essential for any graphic designer’s bookshelf (along with In the Groove and Blue Note).
Any Curious George or Madeline book makes my list of favorites. I even have the anthologies. I wish I had the originals my sister and I shared as kids, but a girl can dream…
Design doesn’t get any more smarty-pants than Paula Scher. And you might as well pick up her map book while you’re at it. I actually read Make It Bigger—meaning I didn’t just look at the pretty pictures, and scan the captions. That’s how smarty-pants it is.
Everyone’s got a copy of this from a high school or college class, right? I still refer to it when writing, and of course, had to buy the illustrated Maira Kalman version, too.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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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