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Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design
(Revised Edition)
by Steven Heller
The book that turned designers on to reading is back, chock full of new stories about the graphic icons and idols of today’s design culture. As witty and to the point as ever, the more than 125 thought pieces—30 of them brand new—offer a vast taste of the aesthetic, political, historical, and personal issues that move today’s global design community and fans, from the ubiquitous (shooting targets, the swastika, anti war posters) to the whimsical (Dwiggins jackets, Japanese matchboxes, the interior design of the Dr. Strangelove set).
This revised and expanded edition of Design Literacy reflects recent trends in graphic design such as the impact of graphic design on popular visual communication, aesthetic changes in type and typography in the digital age, reflection and analysis on designs most cherished and curious artifacts, and the nexus between graphic design and wired culture.
The essays range from the late 19th century to the present and are organized into eight thematic categories—persuasion, media, language, identity, information, iconography, style, and commerce—which follow a loose chronological order. The one-to-three page pieces are perfect for a quick stimulating read as well as for design students looking for a compact self-study course on the practice and appreciation of graphic design. |
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Reviews
“Its great virtue is that it offers a lot of information and raises many provocative issues while avoiding the windy theoretical jargon that sometimes passes for serious thought in the field.”
—PRINT magazine
“Any modestly priced paperback that can cover so much ground is welcome in the library.”
—Communication Arts
“This book intends to fill in some blanks and at the same time give an overview of the way graphic designs have become essential and influential images of not just graphic design culture, but of our culture at large.”
—Eye magazine
“Well edited and accessible, Design Literacy provokes the reader to think about how the larger issues can be addressed by the design profession.”
— I.D. magazine
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