In our new weekly feature, Jon Dowling of Counter-Print will list the fifty essential books that any self-respecting graphic designer should have on their bookshelf.
You might be at the very start of your career and looking to build up your own personal library, or you might be one of the lucky ones who already owns most of the books listed — so this list will either send you green with envy or make you feel smug as hell.
Some of the fifty books featured are still readily available, but some have long since gone out of print. While some of the latter can be purchased from specialist shops and websites, it is still possible to pick up the odd complete bargain if you're prepared to look long and hard enough. And that means never passing a charity shop (however unpromising it looks or smelly it is) and getting up at the crack of dawn to go trawling round a car boot fair in the rain.
And, as any collector will know, there's nothing quite like the exquisite feeling you get when you find that elusive hard-to-find book/12 inch/Star Wars Action figure nestling innocently next to a three-foot high Scooby Doo at your local car boot sale.
Your initial euphoria soon turns into panic however. The tension mounts as you realise that the stall holder clearly has no idea as to the value of what they're selling. Do you try and knock some money off or should you pay and leave the scene immediately? Or would the lack of haggling make the seller suspicious as to the true value of your purchase? You end up buying the Scooby Doo just to divert attention from the mint copy of Graphis Diagrams.
Fast forward a bit — your new book has pride of place on your shelf and you and your fortuitous find are the envy of all your friends. But something's not quite right. Instead of feeling pleased as punch, the empty feeling has returned. Before you know it, you're looking at your wish list again, scouring Ebay and Abe Books, and realising that as much as you treasure the new addition to your bookshelf, the thrill of the chase is often just too irresistible.
Part one
Comments 6 | Permalink
Comments:
No link?
23 November 2009
Where's the link to Counter-Print? Interested to see more from Jon Dowling...
Link is in the right hand column
23 November 2009
Hi Matt - if you look at the right hand column and look for 'Elsewhere', under
Related Content you'll see the counter-print link.
Thanks,
Dan
just an aside
05 December 2009
Just being picky; shouldn't it be 'read' and not 'buy'? Doesn't that imply a
dreadful culture of buying books to let them sit on the shelf, so people who
come round wonder at a massive library of books that you haven't actually read,
and think you're cleverer than you are?
I disagree
06 December 2009
Lizzy, wouldn't you say that is excessively pedantic?
Just because you've bought a book doesn't necessarily mean that you won't
read it.. Also (more importantly) as a designer it's more useful to actually own
books as they provide a constant source of reference and inspiration. You
don't want to have to go to a library every time you want to look at Muller-
Brockman's grid systems. Would you rather own all your favorite music so
you can listen to it whenever you like, or would you prefer to borrow it from
the library?
It's not to do with appearing "cleverer" it's about having a fantastic personal
reference library at your disposal—not to mention financially supporting the
design book economy, given that design/art books usually have much higher
production costs and especially in the current climate are the first titles to be
axed by publishers..
Emptiness
08 December 2009
Hi Steven,
I guess to clarify what I meant, the accumulation of knowledge from books
being tied to a consumerist urge to buy stuff is what I'd object to. In my mind
it's not pedantic, since I'm not only questioning the terminology of the post,
but also the 'empty feeling' Caroline Roberts describes. This to me goes much
deeper than pedantry.
As someone who believes in the value of books for self-education, in their
accessibility, their openness to all, how deeply they can affect a person, it
strikes a duff chord to associate them so closely with such a vacuous pursuit.
I don't feel empty because I make use of the library.
(Wuhoo! Debate! This is what the internet is for. Thanks Steven, I look
forward to your response.)
more than just words and pictures
22 December 2009
I think Caroline is talking about books in terms of a collectible item (which
many are) rather than a self-contained and fulfilling object? I think you're
mis-interpreting for the sake of discussion.
It also raises an interesting question about whether a book or record can
transcend the value of the content, and whether that detracts from the
content? I would say not.
As someone who collects books and records, I can definitely say that I get a
great deal of pleasure from finding a rare object as I do getting to read the
content, especially since information is so readily available on the internet
these days— it becomes about something more than just being able to read
the words.
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