A concise yet comprehensive manual on typesetting drawing from over thirty years of experience. Felici’s writing is clear and his examples are easy to study. Set in Monotype Perpetua, the beautiful book is a reference that is never too far from reach.

Before diving into Meggs’ History of Graphic Design, I faced a dilemma. Should I jump right in or should I wait until the fall since the book is required for Graphic Design History class? Once I began the first chapter, however, I couldn’t stop.

With almost 600 pages, the book began with the invention of writing and ended at the digital revolution. The first two parts are fascinating, especially chapters on the alphabets and the progression of print and typography. Part three and four are comprehensive in documenting the graphic design moments and prominent designers. While the layout is filled with rich visual examples to complement the texts, the body copy, which set in Sabon Next, is a bit loose.

The historical details definitely needed to be revisited again, but this is the first textbook that I have read from cover to cover.

A typographic resource, part showcase, part specimen. The book examples are complemented with the authors’s concise criticism. The specimen demonstrations come with various text sizes and line heights. Not all types in the specimen are appropriate for reading text. The book itself is set in Ellington, which is not a friendly for reading typeface either. Nevertheless, the brief historical background of printing and bookmaking is informative.

Similar to Alexander Lawson’s Anatomy of a Typeface, Type & Typography is an invaluable book on learning the history of typography. The articles, selected from the Matrix archive, covered a wide range of topics including early Indian typography, the Colum Cille Irish type, Greek types, Treyfold type and music type. The body text of the book is set in Hermann Zapf’s Comenius, which is beautiful, legible and readable.

Now that the hype has subsided, I got around to read Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs. In contrast to the negative criticisms from the tech community, I find Isaacson’s writing to be engaging, particularly in demonstrating Jobs’s design sensibility. Jobs had picked the right author to write his biography. I am glad I read it after all. The book is also way better than the movie played by Ashton Kutcher.

When Hitler took over power in 1933, many innovators including Jan Tschichold left Germany. It was also the period that marked a significant change in the world of graphic design and typography. One of the graphic design journals that helped bring Swiss Typography to the international level was Typografische Monatsblätter. This book focuses on the historical influence of MT from 1930–1990. The concise overview combined with rich visual documentations make it a fascinating study.

Although the cover is a bit overwhelming, Tamye Riggs’s Typeface is filled with beautiful typographic visuals, unique character highlights, and a bit of history. It’s a perfect coffee table book to look at and to be inspired.

The first part of Kenya Hara’s Designing Design devotes to redesign projects of daily products. For example, Shigeru Ban turned a round roll of toilet paper into a square roll. In term of functionality, a square roll creates more resistance than a round roll; therefore, it reduces usage. In addition, square rolls are easier to stack and fit easier than round rolls. The book features dozens of case studies that focuses on design thinking with fascinating visual examples. An eye-opening and beautiful read.

Alexander Lawson’s Anatomy of a Typeface is an informative historical study of classic typefaces starting from Goudy Text and the Black-letter Types. Each typeface was designed to serve a particular purpose and Lawson explores the reasons behind it. It’s on my re-read list.

Overwhelmed with the use of colors he encountered on the streets, graphic designer Kenya Hara turned to white as the most basic and necessary element in his work. This is a short yet fascinating read on the perception of White, emptiness and their essential role in graphic design.