Typophile

Design theory book...

outerone

Hi,

Ive been searching for a good intro book to design theory and design movements. Im not looking for thought relating to graphic design in particular but design theory and though that relates to all forms of design. I dont know if this kind of book even exists out there but Im hoping it does.

I have a pretty basic understanding of design movements like modernism and functionalism for instance but I want to learn how these ways of thinking and designing are related and how they have evolved and what designers were associated. A book with images that show examples would be a bonus also. Some critical essays and good all around coverage of the timeline would be nice also.

So does anyone know of such a book.... ?

No about -isms but about the practice of being a designer, Norman Potter's 'What is a designer: Things, places, messages' might be interesting.

How about trying out combining Robin Kinross' Modern Typography and Tom Wolfe's From Bauhaus to Our House…

http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=86046252

Written in 1960, so you will need something more current for post-modernism, etc.

The two volume set called Art in Theory is nice to have on the shelf...

Art in Theory 1815-1900 An Anthology of Changing Ideas
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Theory-1815-1900-Charles-Harrison/dp/0631200665

Art in Theory 1900-2000 An Anthology of Changing Ideas
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Theory-1900-2000-Anthology-Changing/dp/06312...

On-line, try searching 'timelines' and you'll find brief looks at what happened when, like this... http://www.drleslie.com/Timeline/Timelines.html

[edit] I just noticed that there is a third volume to the ones I use and mentioned above...

Art in Theory 1648-1815: An Anthology of Changing Ideas
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Theory-1648-1815-Anthology-Changing/dp/06312...

Coolness!

Hey Santa... !

^ Thanks for those links, those books seem very informative and I might just have to write Santa a letter.

What about books with good critical essays written by both the American and European graphic designers....

In response to your original query, The Bauhaus Ideal: Then and Now is a good introduction to the differences between Modernism and Postmodernism in design.

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