Books
12.12.12
Still on the hunt for that perfect gift for the Art Director or Photo Editor in your life? Well, look no further! We've gathered some favorites that will be a great addition to your bookshelf. Plus, you can buy them all now at our online SPD Book Store. For a limited time, readers can also get a special discount on SPD Annuals HERE. Just use promo code: holiday at checkout.Did we forget something? Add your suggestions below in the comments.
And for other non-book gift ideas, check out SPD-U's Gift Guide over on the student blog.
Noma Bar's "Negative Space" is my constant desktop companion...Noma's work, aside from being maddeningly smart (in that "how the hell does this guys brain work/I could never have come up with that!!" type of way) is a constant inspiration to me as a designer. It reminds me that with just a few simple marks and a deceptively simple composition a great idea can resonate, entertain, inform and challenge. This collection of Noma's editorial work has been around for a couple of years now but is still a must have for illustrators, designers, typographers and anyone looking to be inspired.
- Neil Jamieson,
Money Magazine
Graphic Design: Now in Production
by Ian Albinson, Rob Giampietro, Andrew Blauvelt and Ellen Lupton
- Gail Bichler,
New York Times Magazine
Visionaire No. 37: Vreeland Memos
-Dora Somosi, GQ
Elegantissima: The Design and Typography of Louise Fili
In Elegantissima, a beautifully produced book that is a treat to hold and peruse, all of Louise's magnificent work (to date!) is collected in one sumptuous volume, book jackets, restaurant logos, packaging, etc. That alone is enough to make this book worthy of inclusion on every designer's bookshelf. But the deeper lure of Elegantissima is the fascinating narrative written by the designer. Her insightful, knowing, sometimes wry commentary on each project conveys a lifetime of experience that is not to be missed. I especially enjoyed the process sketches and reference photos included as background for some projects. Louise's extensive documentation of shop and restaurant signage is referred to here, and it is my sincere hope that her photographic cache will one day become the subject of another volume; it would be a fantastic typographic resource.
-Ina Saltz, Ina Saltz Design
Grace
by Grace Coddington
Herb Lubalin: American Graphic Designer, 1918-1981
by Gertrude Snyder
Another must have is Adrian Shaunessy's massive and comprehensive monograph: Herb Lubalin: American Graphic Designer, 1918-1981. It weighs about 8 lbs and comes in its own numbered case, it is the ultimate authority on Lubalin's life and work. Every item in Cooper Union's Lubalin Archive was painstakingly photographed; this book was two and a half years in the making. A treasure!
-Ina Saltz, Ina Saltz Design
Identical: Portraits of Twins
by Marti Schoeller
W: The First 40 Years
by Stefano Tonchi
30 Years at VANITY FAIR
by Jonathan Becker
Fraktur Mon Amour
This beautifully bound hot-pink and black prayer-style book presents 300 variations of Blackletter fonts and their many different applications. Interesting factoid: Blackletter type became taboo in Germany after World War II because it was incorrectly associated with the Nazis, who actually banned its use in 1941 because it was falsely believed to be a Jewish invention.
-Todd Weinberger, Inked Magazine
La Dolce Vita
by Slim Aarons
Exposed
by Bryan Adams
Designers Guide to Color Combinations
by Leslie Cabarga
-Todd Weinberger, Inked Magazine
