American Graphic Design: A Guide to the Literature

(Hardback)

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Description

Graphic design is broadly interpreted in this annotated topical bibliography, covering both scholarly and applied literature, focusing on graphics printed commercially for mass consumption in the United States and Canada from colonial times to the present. Materials extend from historical studies of design to textbooks and manuals of professional practice, to theoretical works relating to design drawn from disciplines such as psychology and communication theory. The 1100 entries include reference sources, books, periodical articles, catalogues, films and electronic data. Among topics covered are general reference, design theory and history, education and career guides, professional practice, production and layout, typography, calligraphy, colour reproduction, caricature, and photo illustrations, as well as applications in advertising, publication design, corporate identity programmes, information graphics, package design, posters and signs. Literature on computer technology as used in desktop publishing and computer graphics, is also included. Appendices provide annotated listings of almost 200 relevant annuals and serials as well as a directory of associations and organizations in the field. Access to titles, authors, and a finer breakdown of subjects is facilitated by indexing. This work aims to be a valuable resource for professional designers, scholars and students of design, and librarians interested in collection development.

Reviews

There are separate bibliographies of annuals and serials that are cross-referenced from the subject sections. An appendix lists professional associations and organizations. General; faculty; community college; pre-professional; professional.-Choice
Thomson's valuable guide attempts to be comprehensive in its coverage of basic reference sources, periodicals and annuals'' and selective with respect to histories, general texts, exhibition catalogs and collections.'' Works on non-American design and schools that have influenced American theory and practice are included. . . . Graphic design, with its ability to influence and shape our daily lives by creating fads, setting styles, and cultivating our tastes, is finally receiving the recognition it deserves.-Art Documentation,
"There are separate bibliographies of annuals and serials that are cross-referenced from the subject sections. An appendix lists professional associations and organizations. General; faculty; community college; pre-professional; professional."-Choice
"Thomson's valuable guide attempts to be comprehensive in its coverage of basic reference sources, periodicals and annuals'' and selective with respect to histories, general texts, exhibition catalogs and collections.'' Works on non-American design and schools that have influenced American theory and practice are included. . . . Graphic design, with its ability to influence and shape our daily lives by creating fads, setting styles, and cultivating our tastes, is finally receiving the recognition it deserves."-Art Documentation,

Author Bio

ELLEN MAZUR THOMSON is a printmaker, graphic designer, and librarian. She is the author of Color in American Domestic Architecture 1630-1913: a Bibliography.