Notable Books of 2011

Our designers, commentators, guest bloggers, and specially invited guests have chosen these as the most notable design books of 2011

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Nonfiction, Graphic Design

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Helvetica and the New York City Subway System	Shaw, Paul	The MIT Press	$39.95
Maps	Scher, Paula	Princeton Architectural Press	$50.00
Sagmeister: Another Book About Promotion and Sales Material	Sagmeister, Stefan et al.	Abrams	$40.00
Cultural Connectives: Bridging the Latin and Arabic Alphabets	Rjeily, Rana Abou	Mark Batty Publisher	$34.95
Star Wars: The Blueprints	Rinzler, J. W.	Epic Ink	$500.00
Alexander Girard	Oldham, Todd et al.	AMMO Books	$200
Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life	Oldham, Todd et al.	AMMO Books	$29.95
Ready to Print	Nickel, Kristina	Gestalten	$78.00
Graphic Design: Now in Production	Lupton, Ellen et al.	Walker Art Center; distributed by D.A.P.
Ootje Oxenaar: Designer + Commissioner	Kuijpers, Els	nai010 Publishers	$38.35
Beauty Is in the Street	Kugelberg, Johan et al.	Four Corners Books; distributed by D.A.P.	$40.00
Visual Storytelling	Klanten, Robert et al.	Gestalten	$68.00
Saul Bass: A Life in Film & Design	Kirkham, Pat et al.	Laurence King Publishing	$75.00
California Design 1930–1965	Kaplan, Wendy	The MIT Press	$60.00
Symbol	Hyland, Angus et al.	Laurence King Publishing	$40.00
Menu Design in America	Heller, Steven et al.	TASCHEN	$59.99
Why We Broke Up	Handler, Daniel et al.	Little, Brown and Co.	$19.99
Bob Gill, so far.	Gill, Bob	Laurence King Publishing	$50.00
100 Artists’ Manifestos: From the Futurists to the Stuckists	Danchev, Alex	Penguin	$20.99
Identify	Chermayeff, Ivan et al.	Print Publishing	$45.00
Typography for Lawyers	Butterick, Matthew	Jones McClure Publishing	$25.00
Wim Crouwel: A Graphic Odyssey	Brook, Tony et al.	Unit Editions	$27.00
TD 63-73: Total Design and Its Pioneering Role in Graphic Design	Bos, Ben	Unit Editions	$55.00
People	Blexbolex,	Enchanted Lion Books	$19.95

Announcements

Now is Better by Stefan Sagmeister

Now is Better

By Stefan Sagmeister
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: October 2023

Combining art, design, history, and quantitative analysis, transforms data sets into stunning artworks that underscore his positive view of human progress, inspiring us to think about the future with much-needed hope.

Order the book.

Design Emergency: Building a Better Future by Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli

Design Emergency: Building a Better Future

By Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: May 2022

Rawsthorn and Antonelli tell the stories of the remarkable designers, architects, engineers, artists, scientists, and activists who are at the forefront of positive change worldwide. Focusing on four themes—Technology, Society, Communication, and Ecology—the authors present a unique portrait of how our great creative minds are developing new design solutions to the major challenges of our time, while helping us to benefit from advances in science and technology.

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Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People by Debbie Millman

Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World's Most Creative People

By Debbie Millman
Publisher: Harper Design
Published: February 22, 2022

Debbie Millman—author, educator, brand consultant, and host of the widely successful and award-winning podcast “Design Matters”—showcases dozens of her most exciting interviews, bringing together insights and reflections from today’s leading creative minds from across diverse fields.

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

Milton Glaser: POP

By Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: March 2023

This collection of work from graphci design legend Milton Glaser’s Pop period features hundreds of examples of the designer’s work that have not been seen since their original publication, demonstrating the graphic revolution that transformed design and popular culture.

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Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange

Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall

By Alexandra Lange
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: June 2022

Chronicles postwar architects’ and merchants’ invention of the shopping mall, revealing how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in their cultural ascent. Publishers Weekly writes, “Contending that malls answer ‘the basic human need’ of bringing people together, influential design critic Lange advocates for retrofitting abandoned shopping centers into college campuses, senior housing, and ‘ethnocentric marketplaces’ catering to immigrant communities. Lucid and well researched, this is an insightful study of an overlooked and undervalued architectural form.”

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Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition) by Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller

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

By Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Publisher: Letterform Archives Books
Published: October 2023

This facsimile edition of Die Fläche, recreates every page of the formative design periodical in full color and at original size, accompanied by essays that contextualize the work, highlighting contributions by pathbreaking women, innovative lettering artists, and key practitioners of the new “surface art,” including Rudolf von Larisch, Alfred Roller, and Wiener Werkstätte founders Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann.

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