Top Graphic Design books curated by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we have connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favouriteGraphic Design books – and here are the answers.

  • Curated by industry experts
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Top Graphic Design books recommended by experts
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Fundamentals of Graphic Design

Understanding the concepts of Graphic Design starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

Caps Lock: How Capitalism Took Hold of Graphic Design, and how to Escape it

Caps Lock: How Capitalism Took Hold of Graphic Design, and how to Escape it

CAPS LOCK uses clear language and visual examples to show how graphic design and capitalism are inextricably linked. The book features designed objects, and also examines how the study, work, and professional practice of designers supports the market economy.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design

100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design

100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design is an accessible and compact book which demonstrates how ideas influenced and defined graphic design, with stunning visual examples. It is both a great source of inspiration and a provocative record of some of the best examples of graphic design from the las…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Graphic Design School: A Foundation Course for Graphic Designers Working in Print, Moving Image and Digital Media

Graphic Design School: A Foundation Course for Graphic Designers Working in Print, Moving Image and Digital Media

Graphic Design School is organized into two main sections, ‘principles’ and ‘practice’. The first section deals with the fundamentals of design, such as composition, hierarchy, layout, typography, grid structure, colour and so on. The second section puts these basics into practice, and gives inf…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

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

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

The first monograph, design manual, and manifesto by Michael Bierut, one of the world's most renowned graphic designers—a career retrospective that showcases more than thirty-five of his most notable projects for clients such as the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Yale School of Architecture, the…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Work for Money, Design for Love: Answers to the Most Frequently Asked Questions About Starting and Running a Successful Design Business

Work for Money, Design for Love: Answers to the Most Frequently Asked Questions About Starting and Running a Successful Design Business

Unlike other dry business books, this refreshing, straightforward guide from Logo Design Love author and international designer David Airey answers the questions all designers have when first starting out on their own. In fact, the book was inspired by the many questions David receives every day…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Mid-Century Modern Graphic Design

Mid-Century Modern Graphic Design

Mid-century modern graphic design has a similar aesthetic to flat design, using geometric shapes, clean lines, bright hues and earthly palettes to create bold, reductive images.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Additional Graphic Design Reading

These books are not required for you to learn Graphic Design, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

Logo Modernism

Logo Modernism

Examine the distillation of modernism in graphic design with this vast collection of approximately 6,000 logos from 1940–1980. Ranging from media outfits to retail giants, airlines to art galleries, these clean, clear visual concepts may be seen as the visual birth of corporate identity.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

How to Draw Cool Stuff: A Drawing Guide for Teachers and Students

How to Draw Cool Stuff: A Drawing Guide for Teachers and Students

How to Draw Cool Stuff shows simple step-by-step illustrations that make it easy for anyone to draw cool stuff with precision and confidence. These pages will guide you through the basic principles of illustration by concentrating on easy-to-learn shapes that build into complex drawings. With th…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Bob's Burgers 2025 Wall Calendar

Bob's Burgers 2025 Wall Calendar

Centering on patriarch Bob (Archer’s H. Jon Benjamin) who runs his business with his wife, porcelain baby collector and dinner-theatre enthusiast Linda (voiced by John Roberts), the series also features teenage daughter Tina (Dan Mintz), who is obsessed with boys and horses; son Gene (Eugen Mirm…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

How to Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul

How to Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul

How to Be a Graphic Designer offers clear, concise guidance along with focused, no-nonsense strategies for setting up, running, and promoting a studio; finding work; and collaborating with clients.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Designing News: Changing the World of Editorial Design and Information Graphics

Designing News: Changing the World of Editorial Design and Information Graphics

Francesco Franchi's perceptive book about the design of media and information graphics. In it, Franchi also envisions the future of news reporting by publishing companies and on the internet. Francesco Franchi is one of the most exceptional talents working in information graphics today.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

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