Universal principles of design Must have
William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, and Jill Butler,
originally published in 2003
[Cal Poly Library] [Amazon]Meggs’ history of graphic design Must have
Philip B. Meggs, Alston W. Purvis, 2011
[Cal Poly Library] [Amazon]Signs and symbols: Their design and meaning
Adrian Frutiger, originally published in 1989
[Amazon]Less and more: The design ethos of Dieter Rams
Klaus Klemp and Keiko Ueki-Polet, 2011
[Amazon]Universal methods of design
Bruce Hanington and Bella Martin, 2012
[Amazon]Graphic design theory
Meredith Davis, 2012
[Amazon]Josef Muller-Brockmann: Pioneer of Swiss graphic design
Lars Muller and Paul Rand, 1994
[Amazon]Design is a job
Mike Monteiro, 2012
[Amazon]The form book
Borries Schwesinger, 2010
[Amazon]Paul Rand
Steven Heller, 2000
[Amazon]Envisioning Information
Edward R. Tufte, 1990
[Amazon]Visual explanations: Images and quantities, evidence and narrative
Edward R. Tufte, 1997
[Amazon]The visual display of quantitative information
Edward R. Tufte, 2001
[Amazon]Beautiful evidence
Edward R. Tufte, 2006
[Amazon]Principles of two-dimensional design
Wucius Wong, 1972
[Amazon]
Note: The links on this page are not affiliate links. My only purpose for this page is to help design students, from Cal Poly or elsewhere, find information about the field. The reason all the books are linked to Amazon.com is convenience. Amazon sells virtually any book and it has very helpful user reviews for most of their products. I encourage you to read the reviews and even borrow the book from your local library before making a purchase decision. Furthermore, you should always look for the best price, online and offline. Don’t forget that Amazon (as well as other websites) sells used books too.