Resources

I’m a huge fan of libraries, and I can’t stress enough how much of a resource they can be. That said, not everyone has the same type of library access, which often means students and designers have to pony up for monographs and magazines on top of Adobe’s already hefty software fees. All of that gets pricey fast, so below are links to free digital archives that not only offer access to inspiring work, but books and periodicals that are filled with stuff you don’t always find in a classroom. I’ll try to update this regularly, since getting caught up in a book or falling down a design archive rabbit hole beats the hell out of scrolling social media.

Updated: 09/16/23

Design Archives

Design Magazine Archives

The International Advertising & Design Database
U&lc Magazine Archive
Communication Arts (it’s $30/year to access their archive, but worth it)
Emigre Magazine Archive
Print 1940-2005 (currently up to 1960)
HOW 1991-1997
Art Direction 1953-1975

Design + Illustration Books (Out of Print)

Monographs:

A Persistence of Vision by Arnold Schwartzman
Agatha Christie: The Paintings of Tom Adams by Tom Adams
April Greiman: Floating Ideas into Time and Space by Liza Farrelly
Andrzej Klimowski: A Retrospective by Andrzej Klimowski
Art is Work by Milton Glaser
Behind the Li nes by R.O. Blechman
Beware Wet Paint by Alan Fletcher
Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas
The Book of Gossage by Howard Luck Gossage
Chip Kidd by Véronique Vienne
Cipe Pineles: A Life of Design by Martha Scotford
Design is One by Lella and Massimo Vignelli
Designed by Peter Saville by Peter Saville
Designing by Ivan Chermayeff
The End of Print: The Grafik Design of David Carson by Lewis Blackwell
For the Love Vinyl: The Album Art of Hipnosis by Thorgerson & Powell
Forget All the Rules by Bob Gill
The Graphic Design of Yusaku Kamekura
The Graphic Language of Neville Br ody by Jon Wozencroft
Herb Lubalin by Gertrude Snyder & Alan Peckolick
István Orosz: Vision of design by István Orosz
It Is Beautiful Then Gone by Martin Venezky
Jan Tschichold: The Penguin Years by Richard B. Doubleday
Jenny Holzer by David Joselit
Lech Majewski : Poland by Lech Majewski
The Man with Kaleidoscope Eyes by Alan Aldridge
Paul Rand by Steven Heller
Paul Rand: A Designer’s Art by Paul Rand
Paul Renner: The Art of Typography by Christopher Burke
The Push Pin Graphic by Seymour Chwast
Reasons to be Cheerful: The Life and Work of Barney Bubbles by Paul Gorman
Reza Abedini: Vision of design by Reza Abedini
Robert Brownjohn: Sex and Typography by Emily King
Sagmeister: Made You Look by Stefan Sagmeister
Some People Can’t Surf: The Graphic Design of Art Chantry by Julie Lasky
tellmewhy by Karlssonwilker Inc
Testament: The Life and Art of Frank Frazetta by Arnie & Cathy Fenner
Thinking of You by Barbara Kruger
Tibor Kalman: Design and Undesign by Liz Farrelly
Up They Rise: The Incomplete Works of Jamie Reid by Jon Savage
Vaughan Oliver: Visceral Pleasures by Rick Poynor
The Visual Craft of William Golden by Cipe Pineles
Wim Crouwel Alphabets by Kees Broos

Posters:

The 20th-Century Poster by Dawn Ades
American Posters of Protest 1966-70 by David Kunzle
Angura: Posters of the Japanese Avant-Garde by David G. Goodman
British Film Posters: An Illustrated History by Sim Branaghan
Close Up in Black by AMPAS
Contemporary Polish Posters in Full Color by Joseph S. Czestochowski
Cult Rock Posters by Roger Crimlis
Dance Posters by Elenor Rachel Luger
Film Posters of the 70s by Tony Nourmund and Graham Marsh
Great Movie Graphics by Marc English
Images of an Era: The American Poster, 1945-75
James Bond Movie Posters by Tony Nourmand
Living Pictures: Perspectives on the Film Poster in India
The Modern American Poster by MoMA
The Modern Poster by MoMA
The Poster Art of Tomi Ungerer by Tomi Ungerer
The Poster: A Worldwide Survey and History by Alain Weill
Posters of the WPA by Christopher DeNoon
The Queer Movie Poster Book by Jenni Olson
Rambow in the Museum Wiesbaden (Posters, 1960-1988) by Gunter Rambow
Revolución!: Cuban Poster Art by Lincoln Cushing
Revolutionary Soviet Film Posters by Mildred Constantine
Science Fiction Poster Art by Tony Nourmand and Graham Marsh
A Separate Cinema by John Kisch and Edward Mapp
Soy Cuba: Cuban Cinema Posters by Carole Goodman
The Star Wars Poster Book by Stephen J. Sansweet
Swag 2: Rock Posters of the ’90s and Beyond by Spencer Drate & Judith Salavetz

Entertainment Design:

1000 Record Covers by Michael Ochs
Blue Note: Album Cover Art by Graham Marsh
CD Jacket Collection
DVD-art: Innovation in DVD Packaging Design by Charlotte Rivers
ECM Sleeves of Desire
Event Flyer Graphics
Fly By Night: The New Art of the Club Flyer by Craig McCarthy
Graphic Communications for the Performing Arts
Graphics in Motion by John Halas
Oh So Pretty: Punk in Print 1976-80
Outside the Lin es by Matteo Torcinovich
Stories Behind the Sleeves by Storm Thorgerson & Aubrey Powell
Television Graphics: From Pencil to Pixel by Douglas Meritt
That’s Entertainment: Graphics of Show Business by Steven Heller & Anne Fink
This Ain’t No Disco: New Wave Album Covers by Jennifer McKnight-Trontz
TV Graphics by Roy Laughton

Typography:

A Type Primer by John Kane
Letters Only by Museum für Gestaltung
The New Typography by Jan Tschichold
Pioneers of Modern Typography by Herbert Spencer
Typography by Wolfgang Weingart
Typography: Macro + Micro Aesthetics by Willi Kunz

Logos:

American Trademark Designs by Barbara Baer
LogoMania by Bob Gill
Marks: New Directions in Logo Design by Jay Vigon
Trademarks & Symbols Vol. 1 by Yasaburō Kuwayama
Trademarks & Symbols Vol. 2 by Yasaburō Kuwayama

Design Fundamentals:

A Smile In the Mind by Beryl McAlhone & David Stuart
The Book of Graphic Problem Solving by John Newcomb
The Design Concept by Allen Hurlburt
Creative Ad Design & Illustration by Dick Ward
Fresh Ideas for Designing with Black, White, and Gray by Gail Deibler Finke
Graphic Design as a Second Language by Bob Gill
Graphic Idea Notebook by Jan V. White
Practical Graphic Design Techniques by Lydia Darbyshire
Sourcebook of Visual Ideas by Steven Heller & Seymour Chwast
The Vignelli Canon by Massimo Vignelli
Type & Image: The Language of Graphic Design by Philip B. Meggs
Unspecial Effects for Graphic Designers by Bob Gill
What’s the Big Idea? by George Lois

Design History + Collections:

American Modernism by R. Roger Remington
The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher
Graphic Design History by Georgette Ballance & Steven Heller
Graphic Design History: A Critical Guide by Johanna Drucker & Emily McVarish
Graphic Design: A Concise History by Richard Hollis
Graphic Design: Los A ngeles
Graphic Design: Visual Comparisons by Fletcher/Forbes/Gill
Graphic Designers in Europe (Vol. 1)
International Women in Design by Supon Design Group
Merz to Emigre and Beyond by Steven Heller
Next: The New Generation in Graphic Design by Jesse M. Reyes
Nine Pioneers in American Graphic Design by R. Roger Remington
Projekt: The Polish Journal of Visual Art & Design
Rewind: Forty Years of Design & Advertising by Jeremy Myerson
Seven Hundred Penguins by Penguin Books
Sketchbook: Conceptual Drawings From Designers by Timothy O’Donnell
Swiss Graphic Design by Richard Hollis
Women of Design by Bryony Gomez-Palacio

Illustration:

Cartoon Modern by Amid Amidi
Drawing is Thinking by Milton Glaser
Fantasy Art Techniques by Boris Vallejo
Illustration by Bob Gill
Illustration: Aspects and Directions by Bob Gill & John Lewis
The Illustrator in America, 1860-2000 by Walt Reed
Innovators of American Illustration by Steven Heller
Media Scene: The Latest Commercial Illustrations from Japan
Sci-Fi Art: A Graphic History by Stephen Holland
Tomi Ungerer: Cartoons by Tomi Ungerer (German)
Under Cover: An Illustrated History of Paperbacks by Thomas L. Bonn

Miscellaneous Books (Out of Print)

75 Years of DC Comics by Paul Levitz
Art without Boundaries: 1950-70 by John Williams
The Art of Tron by Michael Bonifer
Batman Animated by Paul Dini & Chip Kidd
Chronique du cinéma (French)
The Golden Age of Advertising – the 70s
Learning by Heart by Jan Steward & Corita Kent
Masters of Spanish Comic Book Art by David Roach
Paintbox No. 1 by Albert Winkler
Punk: An Aesthetic by Jon Savage
A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics
A Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics
Simenon cinéma by Serge Toubiana (French)
Speedball Text Book by Ross F. George
Strange Sisters : The Art of Lesbian Pulp Fiction by Jaye Zimet

Design/Illustration Annuals

Poster Galleries, etc.

Artist Specific Archives

Miscellaneous Collections

Royalty Free Images for Projects