Resources for Book & Type Designers

Every once in a while, someone reaches out to me—usually a student or young professional—to ask about “how I got my start” as a book designer. The answer is always very simple: I read a lot of books. The skills for contemporary book design are, sadly, not widely taught on the internet, though there are those of us who are trying to change that. However, there are numerous books on the subject. Something about the act of designing books all day appears to have convinced many of us to commit our ideas to books of our own, and so books about book design are abundant, though with a wide degree of quality in content. What follows is my abbreviated reading list, many of which I would consider to be essential texts on the subject of designing the elements of books, from the micro to the macro.

 

Books / Primary Resources

INTRODUCTION

Thinking With Type by Ellen Lupton – an introduction to graphic design from the prolific Ellen Lupton. Widely read by freshman graphic design students worldwide.

Inside Paragraphs by Cyrus Highsmith – “is about what goes on inside a paragraph of printed text”

Go: A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design by Chip Kidd – one of the best resources for young graphic designers available


PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE / READING

What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund is a wonderfully experimental work about the process of reading fiction by arguably one of the best book cover designers of the 21st century so far.

What is Reading For by Robert Bringhurst and . . .

The Solid Form of Language by Robert Bringhurst are two essays-in-book-form by the dogmatic Canadian poet-historian-typographer-professor.

BOOK DESIGN PRACTICE AND THEORY

The Form of the Book by Jan Tschichold  – Tschischold’s timeless collection of essays should be taken with a grain of salt, as it’s easy to take his strong opinions as gospel when they are actually a bit dated. He gives a good sense of book design as it stood on the eve of the technological shift of the digital age.

The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst – reviewed by Maurice Meilleur on Typographica here.

Grammar of Typography by Mark Argetsinger – a brilliant tome of a book that has a misleading subtitle.

On Book Design by Richard Hendel  – I adore Richard Hendel’s two books for their straightforward candor and overall humility. Have no doubt, these collections of interviews of contemporary-at-publication book designers are highly granular accounts of typesetting practices at scholarly presses, but are absolutely delightful to read for their near-naive sense of adamancy about the importance such practices.

Aspects of Contemporary Book Design by Richard Hendel  – This should probably be #1 on my list. Basically the sequel to the above, but updated to meet changing demands of digital publishing. The essay Walking Backwards in High Heels by Andrew Barker is essential reading for anyone working in book design today.

Book Design: A Contemporary Guide by Andrew Haslam  is a heavily illustrated overview of the book design process—it is possibly the most thorough and easily-consumed book on this list, if for no other reason that it’s basically a picture book.

Designing Books: practice and theory by Josh Hochuli and Robin Kinross  – read a better review of this book than I could write by Ricardo Cordoba

Notes on Book Design by Derek Birdsall  – more for inspiration rather than a detailed guide of best practices, Birdsall’s collection of notes is another highly-illustrated sampling of his various work over the years. It’s as close to a book designer monograph as I’ve found.

Bookmaking by Marshall Lee  – do I dare recommend this book, the very one that was recommended to hundreds of designers in the second half of the 20th century as the “definitive” book design book? If nothing else, it provides an excellent example of how even books on book design can be designed so so terribly.


COVER DESIGN

The Look of the Book by Peter Mendelsund & David J. Alworth – the book about books with much deserved fanfare is finally released!

Cover by Peter Mendelsund  – one of the most celebrated contemporary cover designers, former art director at Knopf/Doubleday.

Chip Kidd Book One by Chip Kidd  – as far as cover designer monographs go, this one takes the cake.

Chip Kidd Book Two by Chip Kidd  – second only in cover designer monographs to ^.

Best of Cover Design by Altitude Associates – “meh” to books by design studios, but this one is pretty okay.

By Its Cover by Ned Drew and Paul Sternberger – “Modern” are “American” are the scope here, and it’s limiting.

W.A. Dwiggins: A Life in Design by Bruce Kennett  – not limited to his cover designs, but the legacy of Dwiggins is not to be ignored.


HISTORY OF BOOK DESIGN

The Book by Keith Houston  – there have been many historical texts on the history of the book, but this one is by far the most accessible.

Typographic Firsts by John Boardley  – because who wouldn’t trust a book on the history of printing by a man named Boardley?*


JARGON

Glossary of Typesetting Terms by Eckersley, Angstadt, Ellertson, Hendel, Pascal, and Scott – a staple of any book designer’s shelf.


HISTORY OF TYPE

Letter Fountain by Joep Pohlen – probably the book I read the most.

The Visual History of Type by Paul McNeil – probably the book I reference the most when picking typefaces or designing a new typeface.

Type: A Visual History of Typefaces and Graphic Styles – an absolute treasure trove, in two volumes, of historical design assets with very little text to describe them.

Revival Type by Paul Shaw – a go-to survey of revival typefaces by the venerable historian.

The Eternal Letter by Paul Shaw – I’m inclined to include every book by Paul Shaw, but these two are the best.


LETTERING / CALLIGRAPHY

Writing & Illuminating & Lettering by Edward Johnston – the bible of this subject.

House Industries Lettering Manual by Ken Barber – the GOAT of contemporary lettering.

The Fine Art of Letters by Hermann Zapf – out of print but not hard to find on eBay or Abe Books. You’ll spend a pretty penny for this slender volume.

Helmut Salden Uncovered 1:1 by Mathieu Lommen and Karen Polder – beautiful little book about Salden that is sadly out of print.