History · Similar reads
Books like Meggs' History of Graphic Design
The best books like Meggs' History of Graphic Design are The Design of Everyday Things, Don't Make Me Think, and Steal Like an Artist. Meggs' History of Graphic Design by Philip B. Meggs is about graphic design history, typography, visual communication. If that's what drew you in, here are 12 books that share its DNA — each summarized on Superbook, and ready to chat with in the app.
- The Design of Everyday Things
01
Donald Norman · Psychology
The Design of Everyday Things began as The Psychology of Everyday Things when first published in 1988, and Donald Norman revised it substantially for a 2013 edition that updated the examples for a digital age.
A kindred history read.
Read the summary → - Don't Make Me Think
02
Steve Krug · Business
Don't Make Me Think is Steve Krug's short, plainspoken guide to web usability.
A kindred history read.
Read the summary → - Steal Like an Artist
03
Austin Kleon · Self-help
Steal Like an Artist is Austin Kleon's short, illustrated guide to the creative process, built around the premise that nothing is truly original — all creative work is built from and inspired by what came before.
A kindred history read.
Read the summary → - Understanding Media
04
Marshall McLuhan · Philosophy
Understanding Media, published in 1964, is Marshall McLuhan's most developed work and the book that made "the medium is the message" a catchphrase of the twentieth century.
A kindred history read.
Read the summary → - The New Typography
05
Jan Tschichold · Philosophy
The New Typography, published in German in 1928 as Die neue Typographie, is Jan Tschichold's manifesto for a modernist approach to printed communication.
Shares typography and visual communication with Meggs' History of Graphic Design.
Read the summary → - Grid Systems in Graphic Design
06
Grid Systems in Graphic Design
Josef Müller-Brockmann · Philosophy
Josef Müller-Brockmann's Grid Systems in Graphic Design, first published in German and English in 1981 by Niggli Verlag, is the closest thing graphic design has to a foundational technical text.
Shares typography and visual communication with Meggs' History of Graphic Design.
Read the summary → - The Elements of Typographic Style
07
The Elements of Typographic Style
Robert Bringhurst · Science
The Elements of Typographic Style is Robert Bringhurst's comprehensive treatment of typography as both craft and art.
Shares typography and visual communication with Meggs' History of Graphic Design.
Read the summary → - Thinking with Type
08
Ellen Lupton · Self-help
Thinking with Type is Ellen Lupton's critical guide to typography — not as a catalog of fonts, but as a discipline for thinking about how written language takes visual form.
Shares typography and visual communication with Meggs' History of Graphic Design.
Read the summary → - Bauhaus
09
Magdalena Droste · History
Magdalena Droste's Bauhaus is the standard illustrated history of the school that ran in Germany from 1919 to 1933 and produced some of the most durable ideas in twentieth-century design, architecture, and art education.
Both dig into modernism.
Read the summary → - Just My Type
10
Simon Garfield · History
Just My Type is Simon Garfield's popular history of fonts and typography, aimed at general readers who have become dimly aware that fonts matter without having the vocabulary to explain why.
Both dig into typography.
Read the summary → - Concerning the Spiritual in Art
11
Concerning the Spiritual in Art
Wassily Kandinsky · Philosophy
Wassily Kandinsky's 1911 manifesto is the founding document of abstract art.
Both dig into modernism.
Read the summary → - Making and Breaking the Grid
12
Timothy Samara · Self-help
Making and Breaking the Grid is a textbook for graphic designers that does something most design textbooks avoid: it teaches both halves of its title with equal seriousness.
Both dig into typography.
Read the summary →
Books like Meggs' History of Graphic Design: quick answers
What are the best books like Meggs' History of Graphic Design?
The best books like Meggs' History of Graphic Design by Philip B. Meggs are The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman, Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug, Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon, Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan, The New Typography by Jan Tschichold, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with Meggs' History of Graphic Design, such as graphic design history, typography, visual communication.
What should I read after Meggs' History of Graphic Design?
A natural next read after Meggs' History of Graphic Design is The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman. A kindred history read. Other strong choices are Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug, Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon, Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan.
What books are similar to Meggs' History of Graphic Design by Philip B. Meggs?
Meggs' History of Graphic Design centers on graphic design history, typography, visual communication. Books with a similar feel include The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman, Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug, Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon, Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan, The New Typography by Jan Tschichold, Grid Systems in Graphic Design by Josef Müller-Brockmann — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
