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Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Field
The titles in our best-selling Design Brief series are highly praised by graphic design students, educators, and professionals worldwide as invaluable resources. Each beautifully designed, affordable volume offers a concise overview of a design fundamentalthe hows of design. But as most seasoned designers will tell you, a comprehensive education also requires an understanding of the whys of design practice. Graphic Design Theory presents groundbreaking, primary texts from the most important historical and contemporary designthinkers. From Aleksandr Rodchenko's "Who We Are: Manifesto of the Constructivist Group" to Kenya Hara's "Computer Technology and Design," this essential volume provides the necessary foundation for contemporary critical vocabulary and thought.
Graphic Design Theory is organized in three sections: "Creating the Field" traces the evolution of graphic design over the course of the early 1900s, including influential avant-garde ideas of futurism, constructivism, and the Bauhaus; "Building on Success" covers the mid- to late twentieth century and considers the International Style, modernism, and postmodernism; and "Mapping the Future" opens at the end of the last century and includes current discussions on legibility, social responsibility, and new media. Striking color images illustrate each of the movements discussed and demonstrate the ongoing relationship between theory and practice. A brief commentary prefaces each text, providing a cultural and historical framework through which the work can be evaluated. Authors include such influential designers as Herbert Bayer, Lszl Moholy-Nagy, Karl Gerstner, Katherine McCoy, Michael Rock, Lev Manovich, Ellen Lupton, and Lorraine Wild. Additional features include a timeline, glossary, and bibliography for further reading. A must-have survey for graduate and undergraduate courses in design history, theory, and contemporary issues, Graphic Design Theory invites designers and interested readers of all levels to plunge into the world of design discourse.
Graphic Design Theory is organized in three sections: "Creating the Field" traces the evolution of graphic design over the course of the early 1900s, including influential avant-garde ideas of futurism, constructivism, and the Bauhaus; "Building on Success" covers the mid- to late twentieth century and considers the International Style, modernism, and postmodernism; and "Mapping the Future" opens at the end of the last century and includes current discussions on legibility, social responsibility, and new media. Striking color images illustrate each of the movements discussed and demonstrate the ongoing relationship between theory and practice. A brief commentary prefaces each text, providing a cultural and historical framework through which the work can be evaluated. Authors include such influential designers as Herbert Bayer, Lszl Moholy-Nagy, Karl Gerstner, Katherine McCoy, Michael Rock, Lev Manovich, Ellen Lupton, and Lorraine Wild. Additional features include a timeline, glossary, and bibliography for further reading. A must-have survey for graduate and undergraduate courses in design history, theory, and contemporary issues, Graphic Design Theory invites designers and interested readers of all levels to plunge into the world of design discourse.
149 pages, Paperback
First published March 11, 2009
42 people are currently reading
833 people want to read
About the author
Helen Armstrong
23 books9 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Helen Armstrong, a Professor of Graphic Design at North Carolina State University, focuses her research on accessible design, digital rights, and machine learning. Armstrong authored Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Field, Digital Design Theory: Readings from the Field and coauthored Participate: Designing with User-Generated Content. She is a past member of the AIGA National Board of Directors, the editorial board of Design and Culture, and a former co-chair of the AIGA Design Educators Community. Armstrong is the proud mom of a kid with disabilities and a fierce advocate for designing inclusive, intelligent, interfaces and experiences.
Currently, Armstrong is combining her knowledge of participatory practice with computational thinking to explore the potential of intelligent interfaces (i.e. machine learning) to address the needs of individuals with disabilities.
Helen Armstrong, a Professor of Graphic Design at North Carolina State University, focuses her research on accessible design, digital rights, and machine learning. Armstrong authored Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Field, Digital Design Theory: Readings from the Field and coauthored Participate: Designing with User-Generated Content. She is a past member of the AIGA National Board of Directors, the editorial board of Design and Culture, and a former co-chair of the AIGA Design Educators Community. Armstrong is the proud mom of a kid with disabilities and a fierce advocate for designing inclusive, intelligent, interfaces and experiences.
Currently, Armstrong is combining her knowledge of participatory practice with computational thinking to explore the potential of intelligent interfaces (i.e. machine learning) to address the needs of individuals with disabilities.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 4, 2016
I wanted to get a lot out of this book and I'm sad to say that I didn't. There were a few interesting essays, and I made note of a few authors/designers I'd like to read more from or about, but I found most of it boring.
The essay by Herbert Bayer annoyed me, not because of its content but because of its layout. The body of the book is set in a serif typeface. Herbert Bayer was instrumental in the Bauhaus movement, using sans serif type and no upper case letters. His essay was set in the same serif type as the rest of the book but without any capital letters or changes to spacing, making it hard to read. If they wanted to accentuate his design aesthetic, they should have gone all the way and changed the typeface as well. And, for that matter, why was his aesthetic incorporated but nobody else's?
The essay by Jan Van Toorn was wordy and made worse by the excessive use of 50-cent words. It was, to me, the most cumbersome of the selections.
I can appreciate the irony that the two examples listed above both hinder communication in a book about communicating.
There were a few design examples by the essayists added to the end of each section, and on rare occasions added to the essays themselves. I would rather see some design with each essay, as an extension of the bio presented about each designer. I'm familiar with the work of most of the designers, but not all to the point of being able to call specific examples to mind. Even though the focus of this book is the essays, it is still a book about design and it would be nice to actually see the progression while reading about how styles evolved.
The essay by Herbert Bayer annoyed me, not because of its content but because of its layout. The body of the book is set in a serif typeface. Herbert Bayer was instrumental in the Bauhaus movement, using sans serif type and no upper case letters. His essay was set in the same serif type as the rest of the book but without any capital letters or changes to spacing, making it hard to read. If they wanted to accentuate his design aesthetic, they should have gone all the way and changed the typeface as well. And, for that matter, why was his aesthetic incorporated but nobody else's?
The essay by Jan Van Toorn was wordy and made worse by the excessive use of 50-cent words. It was, to me, the most cumbersome of the selections.
I can appreciate the irony that the two examples listed above both hinder communication in a book about communicating.
There were a few design examples by the essayists added to the end of each section, and on rare occasions added to the essays themselves. I would rather see some design with each essay, as an extension of the bio presented about each designer. I'm familiar with the work of most of the designers, but not all to the point of being able to call specific examples to mind. Even though the focus of this book is the essays, it is still a book about design and it would be nice to actually see the progression while reading about how styles evolved.
March 1, 2013
An acceptable overview of design, with works pulled from influential figures, but it felt like it was missing a cohesive narrative. Perhaps this is intended, but for a novice, it was a little jarring to flip from essay to essay without more background.
February 1, 2014
Redacted essays authored by seasoned graphic designers dealing with the many aspects of graphic design, specially the why and the theories of the practice. I recommend it for students and professionals alike, I wish I had read it while in college, as some of the essays serve to clarify questions related to content vs form, social responsibility, communication vs commercialism, complacency, etc. The book is organized in a way that also serves as a brief historical reference including few examples to illustrate the different topics. Some of the essays feel relevant to my career and professional experience, but the book is starting to feel a bit outdated.
Read
July 16, 2015Super great book! I learned so much about the flow (and cycle) of how designers think, and cemented my knowledge of the reasons why to design. These are all the readings you really need to know. Moholy-Nagy, Kenya Hara, Herbert Bayer, Paul Rand, Ellen Lupton. All the greats.
June 30, 2017
Pengantar yang bagus untuk menyelami kajian teori dan sejarah desain grafis dunia melalui pikiran-pikiran para desainer populer yang berpengaruh dari masa ke masa. Sebagaimana Kenya Hara mendefinisikan kreativitas sebagai "dynamism of intellectual conception that flows back and forth between the future and the past", dengan menilik akar bidangnya sendiri para desainer dapat mengenali tema-tema luas yang masih relevan untuk diskusi teoritis dan kritik kontemporer serta mendorong pertumbuhan dan perubahan desainer terhadap karyanya.
December 20, 2021
some of the designer’s essays prove to be a very interesting read, revolutionary to their time and what they’ve done to the overall design movement.
i kind of wished that they would have added a ‘summary’ at the end of each essay, because not only were reading some essays incredibly dated, they were long and for the most part uninteresting to read. having a summary would’ve been easier to have a quick reference.
also i know the book has been categorised into 3 parts, but there wasn’t any conclusion to each part. the key highlights of each designer and their belief and how this impacted design as a whole would’ve been nice and made the book more cohesive.
2/5 ⭐️
i kind of wished that they would have added a ‘summary’ at the end of each essay, because not only were reading some essays incredibly dated, they were long and for the most part uninteresting to read. having a summary would’ve been easier to have a quick reference.
also i know the book has been categorised into 3 parts, but there wasn’t any conclusion to each part. the key highlights of each designer and their belief and how this impacted design as a whole would’ve been nice and made the book more cohesive.
2/5 ⭐️
May 30, 2017
very good, lots of incredibly prescient essays about contemporary media
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February 28, 2023Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Field by Helen Armstrong (2009)
November 8, 2025
A must read book for any designer, and especially graphic designers. Articles there really help graphic design students and junior designers learn how to approach design problems.
March 31, 2009
The titles in our best-selling Design Brief series are highly praised by graphic design students, educators, and professionals worldwide as invaluable resources. Each beautifully designed, affordable volume offers a concise overview of a design fundamental—the hows of design. But as most seasoned designers will tell you, a comprehensive education also requires an understanding of the whys of design practice. Graphic Design Theory presents groundbreaking, primary texts from the most important historical and contemporary design thinkers. From Aleksandr Rodchenko's "Who We Are: Manifesto of the Constructivist Group" to Kenya Hara's "Computer Technology and Design," this essential volume provides the necessary foundation for contemporary critical vocabulary and thought.
Graphic Design Theory is organized in three sections: "Creating the Field" traces the evolution of graphic design over the course of the early 1900s, including influential avant-garde ideas of futurism, constructivism, and the Bauhaus; "Building on Success" covers the mid- to late twentieth century and considers the International Style, modernism, and postmodernism; and "Mapping the Future" opens at the end of the last century and includes current discussions on legibility, social responsibility, and new media. Striking color images illustrate each of the movements discussed and demonstrate the ongoing relationship between theory and practice. A brief commentary prefaces each text, providing a cultural and historical framework through which the work can be evaluated. Authors include such influential designers as Herbert Bayer, Lászlo Moholy-Nagy, Karl Gerstner, Katherine McCoy, Michael Rock, Lev Manovich, Ellen Lupton, and Lorraine Wild. Additional features include a timeline, glossary, and bibliography for further reading. A must-have survey for graduate and undergraduate courses in design history, theory, and contemporary issues, Graphic Design Theory invites designers and interested readers of all levels to plunge into the world of design discourse.
Helen Armstrong teaches in the Art History, Theory, and Criticism Department at Maryland Institute College of Art. She is the Principal and Creative Director of Strong Design in Baltimore.
Graphic Design Theory is organized in three sections: "Creating the Field" traces the evolution of graphic design over the course of the early 1900s, including influential avant-garde ideas of futurism, constructivism, and the Bauhaus; "Building on Success" covers the mid- to late twentieth century and considers the International Style, modernism, and postmodernism; and "Mapping the Future" opens at the end of the last century and includes current discussions on legibility, social responsibility, and new media. Striking color images illustrate each of the movements discussed and demonstrate the ongoing relationship between theory and practice. A brief commentary prefaces each text, providing a cultural and historical framework through which the work can be evaluated. Authors include such influential designers as Herbert Bayer, Lászlo Moholy-Nagy, Karl Gerstner, Katherine McCoy, Michael Rock, Lev Manovich, Ellen Lupton, and Lorraine Wild. Additional features include a timeline, glossary, and bibliography for further reading. A must-have survey for graduate and undergraduate courses in design history, theory, and contemporary issues, Graphic Design Theory invites designers and interested readers of all levels to plunge into the world of design discourse.
Helen Armstrong teaches in the Art History, Theory, and Criticism Department at Maryland Institute College of Art. She is the Principal and Creative Director of Strong Design in Baltimore.
December 19, 2012
This is probably the best textbook I have ever encountered. No filler, no stock images. Great construction, lovely design, thick pages, great size and weight, additional material is added in non-distracting fashion, lovely book all around. The content is extremely useful. Rather than describing one or several methods of design, it features primary documents from some of the most important frontrunners of several schools of design, going back to the beginning of last century. Fantastic in every way for a variety of designers.
Want to read
November 8, 2008Holy Crap! The best graphic design theory book available, ever.
October 29, 2011
Solid collection of seminal texts - great to have them all in one place.
December 17, 2012
Great theory book on graphic design.
December 29, 2012
Gets really deep into theory and history.
July 23, 2014
Great collection of essays from graphic designers past and present.
September 18, 2016
A decent round up of the history of design
October 14, 2014
Some good insights but rather difficult to understand every single thing.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews