READING LIST · BOOKS

The Best Graphic Design Books

12 must-read books.

By Erjon Ajazi

March 2026

12 books

A collage of illustration and design book covers

Master your technique in graphic design by picking up one of these 12 must-read books. “100 Illustrators”, “Directory of illustration”, “Malika Favre” are three books that can help illustrators to be inspired by various projects of talented designers. Louise Fili is offering key principles in her typography book “Elegantissima”. You can explore more techniques in motion graphics, infographics, and packaging by reading “After Effects Apprentice”, “Information Graphics” and “Print Matters”. And for all the photoshop lovers, Bret Malley is showing some advance secrets of photoshop in his book “Adobe Master Class: Advanced Compositing in Adobe Photoshop CC”.

By Bret Malley

Adobe Master Class: Advanced Compositing in Adobe Photoshop CC

Published: 2018

$54.13 (on Amazon)

Adobe Master Class: Advanced Compositing in Adobe Photoshop CC: Bringing the Impossible to Reality - with Bret Malley (2nd Edition) provides detailed, step-by-step examples, walking through complex compositing projects from start to finish in photoshop. Bret Malley shares the techniques he uses to elevate an image from every day to the extraordinary and create an imaginative world. The book is published in 2018 and it's available on the author website www.bretmalley.com and amazon.

By Viction Workshop

“Print Matters: The Cutting Edge of Print – Viction:ary”

Published: August 2015

$135.39 (on Amazon)

“Print Matters: The Cutting Edge of Print – Viction:ary”, graphic designers can explore techniques and key principles for more than 110 samples of packaging, book design, and new graphic identities. For all of them interested in printing design, they can find the professional look into the use of technical folds, thermal print, foil stamping, die-cut, and many more techniques. This book demonstrates professional package design guidelines and rules starting with research and planning, and finish with execution.

By Victionary

DESIGN(H)ERS: A Celebration of Women in Design Today

Published April 2019

$30.81 (on Amazon)

DESIGN(H)ERS is a collection of work from 30 female talented graphic designers from all over the world. Each interview and artwork in 272 pages is an inspiration and encourages all the females who want to make their mark in the world of creativity. This book highlight the diversity that women bring to their respective fields. The book is published in 2019 and honor the celebration of women in the creative industry today.

By Chris Meyer and Trish Meyer

After Effects Apprentice

Published: Feb 2016

$67.95 (on Amazon)

After Effects Apprentice is an essential book for graphic designers to give a little motion to their graphics. It is explained tools and techniques from the entry-level to intermediate level. The book is covering topics such as compositing, mattes, camera tracking, 3D elements, and more and shows the real-world skills for the aspiring motion graphics artist. From this book, you will learn to animate, edit manipulate keyframes, use masks, and explore 3D space, including using CINEMA 4D Lite.

By Malika Favre, Garrick Webster

Malika Favre

Published: January 2019

$51.09 (on Amazon)

Malika Favre is a well-known French illustrator and graphic artist for her minimalist style within Pop art and Op art. This is an inspiring book for all those graphic designers who work in the advertising, publishing, and editorial field. Malika creates minimal forms and the way they flow into one another, conjures up optical illusions with repeating lines and patterns. You can view her work in www.malikafavre.com

By Serbin Creative, Inc.

Directory of Illustration

Published: 2019

Available on www.directoryofillustration.com (browse the book online)

Directory of illustration is a stunning showcase for a group of designers from all over the world. This book is a catalog when successful designer show their work, but also creative buyers all around the world are looking for artists. You can view all 496 pages in digital format at www.directoryofillustration.com/browse-the-book.aspx or Subscribe to Newsletter & Qualify for Book Distribution.

Edited by Steven Heller, Julius Wiedemann

100 Illustrators

Published: March 2017

$20.00 (on Amazon)

100 Illustrator brings together 100 of the most successful and important illustrators around the world. Each illustrator is featured with a self-portrait, samples from their portfolio, and a succinct description by Steven Heller, the author of more than 120 graphic design books. Multilingual Edition: English, French, German. This book is published by Taschen and can be found on www.taschen.com and amazon.

By Louise Fili

Elegantissima: The Design and Typography of Louise Fili

Published: September 2012

$40.00 (on Amazon)

Louise Fili is an Italian American graphic designer who has been an inspiration for designers around the world since the 1980s. Elegantissima is a 256-page monograph featuring the nearly forty-year career of Louise Fili, from books to restaurants to food packaging and identities, with illuminating case studies. Elegantissima is been published in 2012 but it still one of the best books for people who like elegant use of typography. Fili has set a new standard for restaurant and food packaging design.

By Sandra Rendgen, Julius Wiedemann

Information Graphics

Published: May 2012

$90.01 (on Amazon)

“Information Graphics” by Sandra Rendgen, Julius Wiedemann it’s an infographic book with more than 400 exemplary graphics. A mixed collection of infographics explores the development of visual communication in the big data age. Graphs, diagrams, and maps show the way how visual communications are used in journalism, art, education, governments. This book gives a reader a great overview of how the communication was from primitive cave paintings until now in modern areas.

By David Airey

Identity Designed

Published: January 2019

$45.00 (on Amazon)

“Good design is good business”. “Identity Designed” by David Airey is a book for entrepreneurs and designers. Airey is focused on brand identity design and his book includes projects from a variety of the world’s most talented design studios. ID delivers an analytical approach to branding and design strategy. In that book you will find everything from conducting research, defining strategy, generating ideas, developing touchpoints, implementing style guides, and futureproofing your designs.

By Sandu Publications

“Win Out: The Best of Sports Graphic Design and Branding”

Published: December 2019

$45.00 (on Amazon)

You will find in one book, more than 80 global designs for sports brands and events from the Olympics to the world cup. “Win Out: The Best of Sports Graphic Design and Branding” is a great inspiration for designers who work in the marketing field. This is a publication of December 31, 2019, and also provides interviews with the designers and contributors. In sports branding, visual language is key to establishing an identity, creating a fan base, and generating positive influence.

By Jens Müller and Julius Wiedemann

The History of Graphic Design. Vol. 2, 1960–Today

Published: December 2018

$80.00 (on Amazon)

Do you want to discover graphic design shaped contemporary society from the 1960s until today? “The History of Graphic Design. Vol. 2, 1960–Today” is the right book that shows all the movements to new forms of visual language for the last 80 years. There are around 3,500 seminal pieces and 78 landmark projects in 480 pages. In this book is included the work of Massimo Vignelli (New York subway wayfinding system), Otl Aicher (Lufthansa identity), Paula Scher (Citibank brand identity), Neville Brody (The Face magazine), Kashiwa Sato (Uniqlo brand identity), and Stefan Sagmeister (handwriting posters).

KEEP READING