Graphic Design School: The Principles and Practice of Graphic Design

by David Dabner

The principles and practice of graphic design Graphic Design School is a foundation course for graphic designers working in print, moving image, and digital media. This revised, fourth edition contains specific advice on how to adapt designs to suit different projects, including information on digital imaging techniques, motion graphics, and designing for the web and small-screen applications.

Genres: Design, Art, Nonfiction, Art Design, Textbooks, Business, School

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2006

Reviews

[Minh Duy · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Graphic Design School* provides me with a basic understanding of graphic design—enough to make me reconsider being a designer. The part I love about reading books in the fields like this is that I can have a glimpse of what it looks like to be a designer. From the book, I can understand the ups and downs of being in this visual art form field. As Mark Manson has mentioned in *The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck*, we should choose a career when we fully understand and experience its downside—not seeing only the glorious outside cloak. I believe this book has given me enough to sense what the inside looks like.

[Rich B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is packed with useful information about graphic design, great book for those new to the subject. Definitely worth a read if you want to make sure you’ve got a good grasp of the fundamentals of graphic design.

It covers key topics like research and concepts, composition, typography and colour, and these sections were clear, informative and are really the heart and soul of the book. If you don’t have a grounding in these principles, this is a great book to learn them.

The book then moves on to more practical areas covering digital tools and web design, print production and career pathways. Both the print and career options are excellent and comprehensive. No issues there.

The digital and web sections were also fine, though noticeably lighter in content than you’ll find in the other sections. It’s understandable in that those topics will date the fastest, and are complex enough they could easily be a whole book on their own, but they are the weakest sections in the book.

You get an overview of each key tool like Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign for example, so you understand what each tool is capable of and how to use it. But you’d really need to do more research than read this book to learn specific skills with those tools. The general advice (watch the videos on Adobe’s website, read more specific books) is a little lighter here.

Still, that didn’t put me off, learned a lot about the fundamentals of graphic design, got loads of follow up references and learned a lot from the examples they shared in the book. Some very inspiring ideas and mini case studies.

[Tim Lindeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to many of the topics of design. I especially liked the fundamentals section, but skimmed through the latter portions of the book. Has a good bibliography section. Also has a decent overview of several design careers.

[NathalieB · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 2020 version has a new cover that is different from the one shown here. This book is very informative. I finally was able to figure out what IS the world of Graphic Design. This book covers the field in an impeccable flow of information. I could not resist highlighting every page, trying to capture all the knowledge it offers. I wish books such as this one existed for other types of career fields. It would help so many young ones determining if a career field is right for them. Bravo!

[Celia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is pretty funky at times and could use another round of thorough editing. The information is too general and not directly actionable. A good book for someone with a year or two of graphic design experience, but not great for someone still new to the industry.

Instead of this book, I recommend The Elements of Graphic Design by Alex White.

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good insights and handy to use as a reference book for definitions, examples and such. However the pages were cluttered with different sorts of information which made it a quite hard book to read.

[Tommi Brownie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous book about graphic design, I recommend it to everyone who wants to explore lots of design aspects, from typography to web design! It became my favourite book about design!

[Casandra Cano · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great introduction to the world of graphic design. As a marketing professional who is keen on learning about the world of art and design, I was happy that this book took a broad approach to the subject and didn't assume I knew anything about art! I feel much more knowledgeable about art history and fundamental design concepts and will continue to glean value from this book as I explore the multitude of "further reading" and "online resources". Thank you, Dabner, Stewart, and Zempol for sharing your breadth of knowledge with us newbies!

[PRJ Greenwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little bit outdated and they give zero coverage of open-source apps like Inkscape or GIMP but this is a good textbook on the subject of visual design. I learned a fair bit from it, and it gave me a few ideas on where to go with design decisions. Keep in mind that it is a textbook and as such has exercises designed for students to follow along with and/or complete.

[Niko Hyppönen]

Hyvä peruskatsaus graafisen suunnittelun maailmaan. Nettisivujen suunnittelua koskevat osiot hieman vanhentuneet, vaikka luin vuoden 2017 painoksen. Itselleni myös hieman liikaa asiaa painotuotteista, mutta jollekin toiselle ne voivat olla tärkeitä.

[Alia Bosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well what to say rather than this book is the true guidance for all beginners in graphic design or the ones that lost their ways through their daily work ,
contains all the principles and how to apply them with a really good tips 👍👌

[Strawberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Serves as a really good introduction to graphic design everything is broken into simple chunks of infos and u can go through any chap and read it without worrying about previous chapters(although reading them in order is better)
Love it!

[Carmilla Mayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

had to read for school, it's decent, definitely helpful if you're newer to design

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good review book of the fundamentals of graphic design for those learning about or wanting to learn more about it.

[Jonathan Tagoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice book

[Rufino Gomez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book helped me a lot to understand how is the world of creating graphics

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical and exhaustive. I think the last chapter breaking down career options can be especially useful.

[Autumn Uhrig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful book on design! There are so many cool examples and images to inspire the designer in us. While their information is a little basic, some of it has been quite helpful and I intend to refer to this book more in the future when struggling with a design project.

[Rory H · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who is amaturely interested in graphic design, this book was very informative. It reads like a textbook, but there are lots of pictures and it keeps it interesting by not spending too much time on any one thing. The first few chapters - going over color, form, style, etc - were very interesting to me and I loved learning about the thought process behind all that. Unfortunately the second half of the book - discussing graphic design software and programs - was less interesting, as I'm not going to be a graphic designer.
I can recommend the first part of this book to anyone who thinks graphic design is cool, and the whole book to anyone interested in being a graphic designer.

[Boštjan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Good:

A good book if you want to learn the principles of graphic design, in theory.

The Bad:

If you want to learn anything related to computer design, webdesigning etc., the content is very minimal.

[Helena Prata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muito actual, com exemplos e exercícios práticos que explicam a complexidade do processo criativo dos designers, permite perceber e entrar em contacto com o mundo do design, nas diferentes vertentes, editorial, ambiental, webdesign etc...

[Miriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great intro to Graphic and Web Design.

[Debbie Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great intro to graphic design.

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a decent book for complete beginners, especially for those just learning about colors, typography and composition, but I would not recommend it to anyone else.

[Sanany · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Abdullah · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Karolina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book. It provides a good foundation for non-professionals. There were interesting examples and overall it was a good read.