Ever since me and Rebecka moved to the Swedish mountains back in 2023, my small collection of books about graphic design and web development have gathered dust in moving boxes in the garage. A couple of weeks ago, they finally got to see the light of day again after I got a new bookshelf set up in my home office. I was surprised by how nostalgic it felt to unpack them all.
While in the process of sorting out which book goes where on my new shiny shelves, I started to think about which of them have been the most useful to me, or meant the most. There’s no shortage of design information and inspiration to be had online, but there’s still something to be said for sitting down in a comfortable chair with a large book and a cup of coffee. Of all of my graphic design books, these five are my favorites right now.
Thinking with Type, by Ellen Lupton
Here’s a question I ask myself every time I enter a book store with a fun graphic design section: Do I need another book about typography? Probably not. I still find one in my bag when I get home at least every other time. Usually, they tread the same ground as the ones I already own, covering the fundamentals of typographic dos and dont’s. I just can’t help myself. If I had to choose a single typography book to recommend to someone, especially someone looking to build a solid foundation for getting deeper into typography, it’d be Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton.
It isn’t the most in-depth book on typography on my shelves (that prize goes to The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst, which is dense), but it covers the fundamentals of pretty much everything, from letters to layouts, with lots of examples of typographical rules being applied in practice, ranging from Johannes Gutenberg to early 2010 websites. The web design examples in my second edition do age the book somewhat, but I’m guessing that those have been updated for the third edition released last year, which also includes more up to date technical information about creating typefaces and using fonts on the web.
Also, there’s a certain charm to the pixelated screenshots of decade old versions of websites like Subtraction and Design Observer, which can now only be seen on Archive.org (with the images if you’re lucky).
Design is a Job, by Mike Monteiro
Saying “Fuck you, pay me” to a certain generation of web designers is likely to bring up an image of Mike Monteiro standing in a stark white conference room, yelling those exact words in front of a captivated CreativeMornings audience. You can still watch the video on YouTube, and once you’re done, I recommend you pick up Design is a Job, which expands on the subject into an entire book.
Unlike the other books on this list, it covers the more practical aspects of being in the design business, like finding, managing and sometimes sacking clients, charging for your time, presenting your work, and dealing with feedback. It’s a good read for any designer, but invaluable if you’re starting out as a freelancer. I turned to it often when I had just set up shop and needed someone to tell me that my clients wouldn’t value my work unless I did.
A Book Apart is no more (RIP), but you can still buy Design is a Job from Mike Monteiro directly. I haven’t read the second edition but it seems to include more information about ethical design, which Mike Monteiro has talked about in a separate presentation that’s also on YouTube. Another quality book on that subject is How To Be A Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul by Adrian Shaughnessy, which was a strong runner up for this list.
Making and Breaking the Grid, by Timothy Samara
I like structure in all things, and pretty much every design I work on has a twelve column grid keeping all of the content neat and tidy. I occasionally try to create something less rigid and more free-form, but I usually come crawling back to the comfort of columns and gutters before long. Grid Systems in Graphic Design by Josef Müller-Brockmann was my first book about grid layouts, and it would probably be the more obvious choice for this list since it’s an undisputable classic. (It also looks great on the shelf.)
However, when I’m looking for layout inspiration, I usually find myself reaching for Making and Breaking the Grid by Timothy Samara instead. It includes a broader selection of example layouts, both old and (relatively) new, and you’d be hard pressed to find much about “breaking the grid” in Josef Müller-Brockmanns book. Since Making and Breaking the Grid came out 20 years after Grid Systems, it also feels written with the assumption that the reader has already read Grid Systems. If in doubt, get them both.
There’s not much about designing grids for the web in either one, of course, but the fundamentals of grid layout can – in theory – be applied to the web just as easily as to posters from the 1960’s. I only wish the WordPress block editor was as grid-friendly in practice.
How to, by Michael Bierut
I don’t have a lot of monographs at home, but I do like this one by Michael Bierut. The dust jacket is starting to become worn from me taking it out and flipping through it. It’s an interesting collection, including his work for Saks Fifth Avenue, Museum of Arts and Design, United Airlines, MIT Media Lab, and more, presented beautifully in a chunky 25×25 centimeter volume with great print quality.
My only real gripe with the book is that there isn’t enough to read about each project. I’d happily take another couple of pages about the challenges for each one; especially since I know I enjoy his writing from another Michael Bierut book on my shelves: Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design. I’ve tried to get hold of his second essay collection, Now You See It and Other Essays on Design, but it seems to be out of print.
A Dictionary of Color Combinations, by Sanzo Wada
This one is actually a recent addition, so it didn’t have to spend two years in a moving box before going up on my shelf. There’s no aspect of design that I struggle with more than color, so I’m always on the hunt for resouces that help me find and combine colors. I bought this little book on the recommendation of Diana Costa, who I work with through Automattic. It’s a collection of 348 different color combinations originally curated by Sanzo Wada (1883-1967) for the 6-volume work Haishoku Soukan (The Complete Collection of Color Combinations), which was published in the 1930s.
There’s no shortage of directories for color combinations online, but the quality is often really poor, the tone inconsistent, and instead of making me feel inspired, browsing through them makes me stick to grayscale for the rest of my life. Flipping through A Dictionary of Color Combinations makes me want to put up new tapestry and pick up watercolor painting. I’ve found myself reaching for it every time my inspiration needs a jolt. Plus, it’s a beautiful little book.