Keeping up to date, and educating yourself as a graphic designer is so important in an ever changing industry. These 10 books I personally own, and find to be valuable resources to me as a graphic designer. In this list there are books on pricing, hand lettering, to motivation and lots of branding to really round out the education spectrum. I wanted to include a wide variety so I hope that helps. Each book has its own voice, vibe and messaging to deliver. If you are looking for a good read, many of these have great content by professionals with tons of experience to share. I recommend each on in there own right. Here we go!
1.Feck Perfuction by James Victore
James Victore is a genius. This book is filled with raw content and advice only someone with experience can offer. Being in the industry for as long as James has, his words ring true when it comes to breaking up with a client, learning along the way, and just jumping in and trying something new One of my favorite quotes in the book is this:
“You are an artist and a genius. Don’t fit in. Don’t even try.”
Fantastic words of encouragement through out the book. James Victore is fantastic.
2. Do the F*cking Work: Lowbrow Advice for High-Level Creativity
Failure is a part of life, and this book reminds us that. The guys at GDFA are raw, real and relatable as they share their journey starting out in a business, to where they are now. There are stories of failure, struggle, but overall the messages are clear, hard work pays off. Fair warning: if you do not like cuss words, this book isn’t for you. Seriously.
3. The Psychology of Graphic Design Pricing by Michael Janda
Pricing is always a question on designers minds. This book has answers. Michael Janda does a great job talking through design pricing processes. I read this through, and it is an essential piece every designer who works for themselves should own and read. There are formulas, and ways to help you decide how to support yourself as a designer.
There are tons of real world scenarios and ways to calculate budgets, financials, and ultimately how to price your services. I cannot stress this enough, but this book is a great resource to help graphic designers find their pricing voice. Also, it is a quick read, being able to sit down in one, maybe two sittings is important to keeping things simple and not overwhelming the reader.
4. Branding in Five and a Half Steps by Michael Johnson
This is the big daddy of branding books. One of the newer books I have received so I am not fully through it yet, but what I have read is a great resource. Branding can be heavy and deep, but Michael tries to break things down for you in methods that work. From simple exercises you can do, to reminding us that a brand is an ever evolving message from business to customer.
5. Logo Modernism by Jens Müller and R. Roger Remington
The book is large, heavy and FULL of valuable resources to reference. There are TONS of pages of vector icons, and they are grouped together in strategic fashion. For anyone working with a lot of logo designs, or vector illustrations, this book is worth the money. I open this book whenever I feel stuck in a logo design, and it reminds me to keep things simple, but also to try something new. I highly recommend this book as a valuable reference material in any graphic designers arsenal.
When I said this book is heavy, I meant it. Its 7.91 lbs. Do some reps as you view this awesome resource.
6. Identity Designed:
The Definitive Guide to Visual Branding by David Airey
Branding is important. A brand is your connection to your followers, your customers and the dotted line to who you are. This book has so much knowledge wrapped in it to help you create fantastic deep brands for your clients. Definitely check this one out. Plus, I am also obsessed with how simple the cover is. Fantastic.
7.Lettering Manual by Ken Barber from House Industries
My handwriting is decent at best. My hand lettering is worse. This book I purchased to hopefully help me out in these departments. This book, not only is it pretty, but full of resources on typography and hand lettering. It talks about many techniques, and lots of beautiful visuals to be a fantastic resource for anyone getting into hand lettering and typography.
8. Logo Design: Global Brands by Ed Julius Wiedemann
This is a great reference for logo designs, with iconic name brand logos from all over the globe. This book is small, but filled with content to reference when researching for a design. Finding what works in the industry is valuable to know what may work for you and your client.
9. Design is Storytelling by Ellen Lupton
Sometimes I feel graphic designers want to make things look beautiful and that’s it, but the story is what connects us to our viewers. This book maps out story telling in an easy to digest way, with tools you can utilize to really give your story impact.
This book explores the many ways stories can be told. This book breaks it down in 3 acts, and the aftermath. I find this book to be important to remind myself that the story is the connections from creator, to viewer. Not everything needs to be pretty, but also have substance.
10. Logo Design Love by David Airey.
This book talks a lot of the process to get to iconic brand identifies. As designers we should all appreciate how the process works, and it is important to find one that works for you, but also to explore ones that work for others as well. This book mentions many methods such as mind mapping, to help you along in your creative process.
There it is! 10 fantastic books you can utilize in your graphic design arsenal. Also, if you have a graphic designer to buy for this holiday, all of these are great options as gifts as well. If you have any book recommendations for me to check out or share please shoot me an email and let me know at derek@derekdoesdesign.com! I am always on the hunt for new ways to educate myself, and share with others. I hope you all have a great rest of the week!
Derek
