Book List of the Week

Book List of the Week: Milton Glaser

Design with immense chutzpah.

By Stephanie Salomon and Steve Kroeter June 30, 2020

Milton Glaser, Graphic Designer

Milton Glaser (1925–June 26, 2020) “made graphic design look alive, vibrant, and human,” writes Rudy VanderLans.

VanderLans, co-founder of the type foundry Emigre, is one of several designers who count the classic Milton Glaser: Graphic Design, first published in 1973 and the most popular compilation of Glaser’s work, among the books that have inspired their careers.

Pentagram’s Michael Bierut says it’s “one of two books I owned when I graduated from high school,” and critic Rick Poynor cites Glaser’s book for “the immense chutzpah, visual energy, and style with which it captured its era.” Kit Hinrichs sums up its impact: “For me, Glaser is one of the most influential design thinkers in the world.”

Milton Glaser: Graphic Design (1973).

The creator of such iconic designs as the “I [Heart] NY“ logo, a co-founder of New York magazine, and the first graphic designer to receive the National Medal of Arts, in 2009, Glaser was also a wide-ranging reader and some years ago sent us the list of books that he found inspirational — books by artists, historians, and other thinkers. It’s an honor to share them again.

View the List of Books That Inspired Milton Glaser.

View the List of Books by Milton Glaser.

Milton Glaser and Steven Heller were featured speakers at the Designs & Books Fair in New York in 2015. Photo: Courtesy School of Art & Design, FIT

Mag Men: Fifty Years of Making Magazines Milton Glaser

Milton Glaser: Graphic Design Milton Glaser

In the Cube: James Biber’s Book List—Interview by Michael Bierut

Seymour Chwast in Conversation with Steven Heller at The Cooper Union, May 24

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Announcements

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Published: February 22, 2022

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Milton Glaser: POP by Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber

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Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: March 2023

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Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition)

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