Meggs’ History of Graphic Design, 5th Edition

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Philip B. Meggs

Alston Purvis

John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2011; originally published 1983, English

Nonfiction, Graphic Design

11.2 x 9 inches, hardcover, 624 pages, 1,400 illustrations

ISBN: 9780470168738

From the Publisher. Meggs' History of Graphic Design is the unrivaled, comprehensive reference tool for graphic designers and students that was heralded as a publishing landmark by the Association of American Publishers, who awarded it a coveted award for publishing excellence. Due to the constantly changing world of design and computer-generated graphics, a revised edition of this landmark text is essential for students and designers alike. The Fifth Edition includes updated images, as well as new information on current graphic design trends and technologies, such as web, multi-media, interactive design, and private presses.

Also see Meggs’ History of Graphic Design, 6th edition

On 2 book lists

Kit Hinrichs

On Kit Hinrichs’s Book List

The best reference guide to American design, even if I didn’t make the cut!

Rick Poynor

On Rick Poynor’s Book List

I could hardly leave this title out. It was the first graphic design book I owned, a groundbreaking attempt at synthesis in its time, and an exciting window opening on to what was, for me, a previously unknown realm of visual history. I still have a fondness for that first 1983 edition, but readers interested in the evolution of the late Philip Meggs’s perspectives on graphic design history should seek out the third edition (1998). Since that volume appeared, design historian Alston Purvis has updated the book again. It’s probably best consulted now in combination with other revisionist histories (see Drucker and McVarish, Graphic Design History: A Critical Guide).

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