Some people might think that books do not have much merit today. The thing is there is still a lot you can learn from a book. Now there are more ways than ever to read a book from an audio book, kindle, ebook, or just a good old fashioned physical copy. There might be a lot for a designer to learn on the internet but there is still a lot designers can learn from a book. Here is a list for some of the best books for a graphic designer in 2019.
There is a large selection of what kind of books a graphic designer could use to learn from. There are art of books, art books, educational books, business books, and more.
Here are some of the best types of books for a graphic designer that we will be talking about:
- Art books
- Business Books
- Inspirational books
Best books for a graphic designer in 2019: Art Books
Some of the best books that any designer needs on their shelf are art books. These are like giant picture books for adults. These are great to have so you can have something to look though when you are needing inspiration or are looking for something unique and different. The only issue with art books is some designers will only get art books that are close to their passion. This is great to have but if you have things that are not familiar to you it will actually give you more ideas and think about a problem differently. There are art books for almost everything from logo design, layout design, annual review design, and web design. If you can design it there is probably an art book for it.
Best Art Book for a Graphic Design in 2019: Draplin Design Co.: Pretty Much Everything
Esquire. Ford Motors. Burton Snowboards. The Obama Administration. While all of these brands are vastly different, they share at least one thing in common: a teeny, little bit of Aaron James Draplin. Draplin is one of the new school of influential graphic designers who combine the power of design, social media, entrepreneurship, and DIY aesthetic to create a successful business and way of life.
Best Art Book for a Graphic Design in 2019: Logo: The Reference Guide to Symbols and Logotypes (Mini)
The next time you are tempted to design a logo, take a look at this book. Chances are, it has already been done. By raising the bar, this wonderful resource will make better designers of all of us.” Michael Bierut of Pentagram Design
The logo bible, this book provides graphic designers with an indispensable reference source for contemporary logo design. More than 1300 logos are grouped according to their focal form, symbol and graphic associations into 75 categories such as crosses, stars, crowns, animals, people, handwritten, illustrative type, etc. To emphasize the visual form of the logos, they are shown predominantly in black and white. Highlight logos are shown in colour.
Best Art Book for a Graphic Design in 2019: Grid systems in graphic design
A grid system is a rigid framework that is supposed to help graphic designers in the meaningful, logical and consistent organization of information on a page. It is an established tool that is used by print and web designers to create well-structured, balanced designs. Rudimentary versions of grid systems existed since the medieval times, but a group of Swiss graphic designers, mostly inspired in ideas from typographical literature started building a more rigid and coherent system for page layout. The core of these ideas were first presented by Müller-Brockmann who helped to spread the knowledge about the grids thorough the world. This volume provides guidelines and rules for the function and use for grid systems from 8 to 32 grid fields which can be used for the most varied of projects, the three-dimensional grid being treated as well. Exact directions for using all of the grid systems possibe presented are given to the user, showing examples of working correctly on a conceptual level.
Best books for a graphic designer in 2019: Business Books
A lot of graphic designers are great designers but are not the best business or sales person. It is not always needed for graphic designer to learn how to run a business. It is helpful though if you want to be a freelancer and need to know how to run a business and make a sale. You could as a freelance graphic designer have someone do all the marketing and selling for you but that means you are going to need to split some of the profits.
Best Business Book for a Graphic Design in 2019: Crushing it!
Four-time New York Times best-selling author Gary Vaynerchuk offers new lessons and inspiration drawn from the experiences of dozens of influencers and entrepreneurs who rejected the predictable corporate path in favor of pursuing their dreams by building thriving businesses and extraordinary personal brands.
In his 2009 international best seller Crush It, Gary insisted that a vibrant personal brand was crucial to entrepreneurial success. In Crushing It! Gary explains why that’s even more true today, offering his unique perspective on what has changed and what principles remain timeless. He also shares stories from other entrepreneurs who have grown wealthier – and not just financially – than they ever imagined possible by following Crush It principles. The secret to their success (and Gary’s) has everything to do with their understanding of the social media platforms and their willingness to do whatever it took to make these tools work to their utmost potential. That’s what Crushing It! teaches listeners to do.
Best Business Book for a Graphic Design in 2019: How to
The first monograph, design manual, and manifesto by Michael Bierut, one of the world’s most renowned graphic designers—a career retrospective that showcases more than thirty-five of his most noteworthy projects for clients as the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Yale School of Architecture, the New York Times, Saks Fifth Avenue, and the New York Jets, and reflects eclectic enthusiasm and accessibility that has been the hallmark of his career.
Best Business Book for a Graphic Design in 2019: Freelance, and Business, and Stuff
We never thought of ourselves as writers. But we kept getting the same questions about how we started our business. After thinking about our mistakes, wins and lessons learned, we wrote it all down into a freelance business book. Freelance, and Business, and Stuff is for anyone looking for more control in their creative career. Freelance can truly enrich your life. And you don’t have to be full-time freelance to enjoy the perks. It can be a way to make side cash to supplement your income; to test a new profession or skill without ditching your steady day job; and to work on projects that fulfill you (if you’re feeling stifled or stagnant at your day job). When you run your own freelance or creative business, it gives you more power to choose how you work (when and where), what you work on, who you work with, and how much you make. The gain is more flexibility and control. The tradeoff is more responsibility.
