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After my lovely camping holiday to Whitby, I finally feel settled and thought I would start things off with a design book guide. The books I will be discussing will mainly focus on Graphic Design but all heed advice for all creative fields.
It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be
Paul Arden
If I may quote the back cover of the book, “It’s not how good you are… is a concise guide to making the most of yourself – a pocket ‘bible’ for the talented and timid to make the unthinkable thinkable and the impossible possible.”
Although this book doesn’t pinpoint any particular creative field, it is a must for them all. That being photography, graphic design, architecture, advertising and many other creative fields. The book gives creatives basic advice on how to deal with clients, workloads, confidence, achievement and recognition, ideas and positive thinking. Most of Arden’s advice only spans two pages but it stays with you. Also, the book is only a 127 pages in length and has an average point size of around 12, you can get through it in about 45 minutes.
Priced at only £4.95 it is well worth the buy and its lessons will stick with you.
The Basics Design Series
Gavin Ambrose and Paul Harris
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The Basics Design series is collection of books all about different aspects of design. There is Format, Typography, Layout, Grids, Image, Colour and Print & Finish.
What really sets these books apart for me is the imagery used to convey both Ambrose and Harris’s points. They just have a mass collection of work from other studios and all are clearly labeled with information including client, design and process.
Similar to It’s Not How Good You Are… in the sense that they are quick reads but have you coming back for more and leave you with a fountain of knowledge.
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How to be a Graphic Designer, Without Losing Your Soul
Adrian Shaughnessy
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This was one of my first books I read on the subject Graphic Design. Before reading this I didn’t quite know what Graphic Design was but after finishing I realised I produced a lot of this work in my spare time anyway. I had always had a fascination with typography and layout ever since make car boot and plant sale signs for my parents. I never realised you could actually get paid for this type of thing. This book really opened my eyes, not just for the idea of getting paid for something I love doing but the range of amazing creatives out there.
The book also includes an interview with a well known graphic designer at the end of each chapter. This also gave me a great insight into the world I now know as Graphic Design.
Although I have only mentioned two books and one collections of books, I highly recommend them all. I know this is a cliché but they really do pay for themselves.
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