16 Books Every Graphic Designer Should Read

As graphic designers, we are constantly looking to learn and refine our skill sets. The wealth of inspiration and knowledge that can be found in a good book is usually incomparable to the readily available content on the internet. Whether you are an established design professional or a beginner who is looking to learn new skills, we recommend this list of 12 inspiring graphic design books to fuel that creative spark.

1. How to be a graphic designer, without losing your soul by Adrian Shaughnessy.

This book is by Adrian Shaughnessy. This legendary graphic designer is able to provide his insights and valuable advice through this book. This book can be used as a guide to get you through this profession. It also covers a series of topics including how to establish your design career, insights into the creative process, how to run your business and on how to become a better designer.

2. Just my type by Simon Garfield

This book encourages you to take a look at typefaces with scrutiny. Understanding their rich history, learning about their power and how it can make or break a design are a few topics that are covered in this book

3. The art of looking sideways by Alan Fletcher

This book is one of Alan fletchers best-known work. He offers his take on how to think about everything from color to composition. His remarkable thought process is examined in this prose and it also includes a series of mind teasers, names and visual puns assembled from his personal notebook and diaries.

4. How to use graphic design to sell things, explain things, make things look better, make people laugh, make people cry, and every once in a while change the world by Michael Beirut

This book demonstrates the author’s eclectic approach to graphic design. Inspiring and informative, authoritative and liberating – it has become the graphic design bible for most designers today.

5. Multicolor by Viction:ary

This book looks at visual communication solutions based on a vibrant palette. Our eyes are naturally drawn to colors and they have the ability to invoke a broad range of emotions. Through a colorful showcase, this book is able to take the reader on a journey into what makes a color a powerful tool that is able to catch the viewers eye and create compelling sensations from near and far.

6. Why fonts matter by Sarah Hyndman

Fonts and typefaces are designed with tiniest details in mind. They have an emotive quality that is usually associated with its form and function. Just like an illustration is able to capture an intangible experience, fonts have personalities that create trust and confidence. This book by Sarah Hyndman talks about the science and art behind how fonts influence you and explains why certain fonts evoke particular experience or associations.

7. Don’t get a job … make a job: how to make it as a reactive graduate. Gem Barton

How do you forge your own path after graduation? This book delves deep into the various strategies that students and graduates are taking to succeed in their design careers. Available in both Kindle and hard cover.

8. I used to be a design student — frank Philippin

This book gives us a peek into the world of graphic design students and how they feel about their education and profession. About fifty influential designers share their experiences about their student and professional lives

9. Made in North Korea by Nick Bonner

This book offers a beautiful visual representation of the graphic culture from North Korea. Print materials from packaging to hotel brochures, luggage tags are showcased in this book. Nick Bonner is an avid collector of North Korean graphic ephemera and has collected thousands of items that provide a rare insight into the state-controlled graphics output.

10. Things I have learned in my life so far — Stefan Sagmeister

This book revolves around 21 thought-provoking phrases transformed into typographic works for clients around the world. Available in Kindle, hard cover and paperback.

11. The graphic design idea book: Inspiration from 50 masters

This book covers all the key elements that make a great design. It features work from designers such as Paul brand, Stefan Sagmeister, and Neville Brody. Available in Kindle and paperback.

12. Newspaper Design: editorial design from the worlds best newsrooms by Die Gestalten Verlaine

This book showcases the best of editorial and newspaper graphic design. In addition the beautiful display of editorial illustrations, this book discusses the daily challenges of journalists and editorial designers.

13. Graphics Alive 2

This book explores the power of graphic art and illustrations and its importance in our everyday lives. It is a compilation of T-shirt graphic, toys, shoes, signs, everyday objects and ephemera. The cover of the book itself draws the reader into the beautiful, special and intriguing graphic that is individually stickered by hand.

14. Super Graphic – A visual guide to the comic book universe

This explores comical questions and attempts to find ways to answer them via an array of graphical infographics. This book is adventurous and inspiring at the same time. It is filled with heroes and villains. This book offers a rare glimpse into the world of most popular and long-running comics and graphic novels out there.

15. Designer’s Art

This book delves deep into the process behind graphic design, its impact on society, what works, what doesn’t and most importantly why. It is a collection of Rands best graphical work from the thirties to the present. It starts with his thoughts on design moves on to his work with packaging, advertising, branding, and typography.

16.Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the process of brand development and implementation. It is divided into three sections, covering topics about brand fundamentals, process basics, and case studies. This best selling guide to branding includes 100 branding subjects, checklists, tools, and diagrams, 50 case studies that describe goals, process, strategy, solution, and results and over 700 illustrations. Available in Kindle, hardcover and digital format.

The post 16 Books Every Graphic Designer Should Read appeared first on Line25.

Source: https://ift.tt/2zA8HK3

Design your way

A red background for your website is a surefire way to capture someone’s attention. Red is an intensely powerful color.

It is one of the most symbolic colors in human history, used to stand for love, passion, Cupid, and the event he Devil. It even has a physical effect on people, raising their blood pressure and their respiration rates. Red even has the effect of slightly enhancing the human metabolism.

Red is frequently associated with feelings of anger but is also associated with a sense of importance, such as when it is used for the well-known red carpet at awards shows and other celebrity events.

Red is also used to signal danger, which is the reason why stop signs, stop lights are red. It is often used for warning labels for the same reason.

Red is a very powerful color to use in design. It can easily overwhelm if not used correctly and in the right amount, especially in its purest form.

Use it to portray power or passion. However, a red background can be much more versatile than you think. Brighter reds are highly energetic, while darker shades of red are more elegant and powerful.

Red background textures

 

Red Hot

Red is not just a warm color. It is a hot color. It is very strong and hard not to notice wherever and however it is used in a design. It instantly grabs viewers’ attention to whatever it is used to highlight. It instantly brings heat and energy to a web page.

Red is a highly emotional color. It can be used to convey a wide array of feelings, including love, hate, anger, and just about everything in between.

Because of this wide array of emotional connotations, the color red used by many activist groups and charities as a part of their color scheme.

Red can also be used to display pride and strength, which is why it is commonly found on flags, team uniforms, and sports cars. It is a bit stronger than orange, another warm color, and is a better option if you need something with a bit more kick to it.

Be careful not to use too much red and be cautious about which shade of red you use for your red background. Red has been sued in the media and around the world in many cultures as a sign of danger to signal to stop.

This can turn away many viewers. Too much red acts like a wall that viewers run into right as they enter your site. It can be too harsh and not worth dealing with.

If you choose to use a completely red background and fill up their site with red, you need to do so carefully. Use light contrast and clearly legible text. A bright orange-red background with white text can be a bit too much for the eyes. A darker red can be easier to look at.

Red is a highly motivated, energetic, and nervous color. It makes people hungry and even raises their blood pressure. It begs for attention with hardly any effort at all. Deep reds, like maroon, indicate royalty or rage.

It is very sued for sending a strong message or conveying a strong personality. Red can also be used to communicate war or danger. Red is not a color you use to communicate gentle, wishy-washy emotions. It is a very, very strong color.

Where and How to Use Red

You can use red in every last element of your web design as long as you do so wisely. Use red in a way that triggers a visitor’s curiosity and pulls their attention to where it best serves the site’s purpose.

Red can be used to highlights the site’s logo, or pull attention to a particular image, or make your call to action stand out. A red background in just the right shade can set the right emotional tone for the whole site.

Red’s versatility and the way it combines with other colors mean you can use it in many different ways, but you should always think it out first. Avoid using red for energy, finance, and airlines, since it tends to send the wrong signals in those fields.

Using Red in Web Design

Red, as you can see, can be used to communicate a number of different tones, meanings, and moods. It is most likely to communicate the emotions associated with a particular shade that you use in a specific interface.

Bright red grabs viewers’ attention right away and is often used for CTA buttons. When you use it in a clean and minimalist interface, red conveys a very modern and professional feel.

A customer experience agency called RED uses the color for the logo, as you might guess, as well as their navigation elements, icons, brand names, and headlines, which are placed on neutral, fair-hued background with a lot of whitespace around them.

Using Red With Other Colors in Web Design

The meaning of a red background will change a bit when used with other colors. Mix red with green and yellow for food-related projects, similar to the McDonald’s logo and branding campaign.

Red and green are often used for a holiday feeling, while red and white are more clinical. Red and black can be ominous, while red and gray is quite professional.

Using Red in Infographics

Red is very useful for drawing attention to a specific area on an infographic that you want viewers to pay attention to.

Bright reds will draw the eye of impulse buyers, while softer reds work better on more traditional shoppers with a budget. Remember, red works to grab attention, so use it to make sure people see what you want on an infographic.

Ending thoughts on using a red background

A red background can communicate many things to visitors to a website, all of them very strong and intense. Red can be a hard color to master, but if you take the time to understand how to best use the color, it can help you out a lot!

If you enjoyed reading this article about red background, you should read these as well:

• Clouds background images to use in your designs
• Brick wall background textures that you can use in your designs
• Pastel background textures and images to download and design with
• Pink background images to use in your design projects
• Wood background textures that you can add in your designs

The post Red background textures to download and use in your designs appeared first on Design your way.

Source: https://ift.tt/2Pa6lGE