Anyone who knows me will know that I love reference material. There is just too much information out there in the world for one brain to retain. Forms Folds Sizes, by Poppy Evans and Aaris Sherin is a wonderful book full of “all the details graphic designers need to know but can never find.” (That was from the front of the book).

Some of the chapters included in this book give details regarding: papers and envelopes; bindings and folds; packaging; postal standards; and printing and finishing. There’s also a handy measurement conversion chart, a list of websites for postal companies around the world, a glossary of terms that a designer will often come across, as well as a process colour finder. (CMYK swatches in increments of 5% of each colour.)

I find this book to be amazingly handy. Rather than having to go online and google what I’m looking for, it is in one convenient location together. However, with that being said, there is one downside: the book is American-based. I decided it was still worth it for me to purchase because, being in Canada, many of the details are similar. Some of the sections, such as postal standards, would not apply to me since I am in Canada. If you live somewhere outside of North America, this book may prove to be even less relevant to you.

A couple months ago I interned at Carte Blanche Creative. While I was there, I worked on a project which involved meeting with a representative from Spicers. She introduced to us the Ed Series, a promotional piece by Newpage.

The Ed Series is a series meant to educate about everything to do with papers, printing, as well as design. There are 12 books in total:

1. Metallics
2. Quadtones
3. Stochastic and Conventional
4. Protective Coverings
5. Enhancing Colour
6. Embossing and Foil Stamping
7. Retouching
8. Digital Variables
9. Understanding Inks
10. Prepress
11. Print It
12. Standards

Each book not only has reading material about the topic, but has printed examples for you to touch and see. In book 6, Embossing and Foil Stamping, there are pages of embossed icons for you to touch. Fun!

I looked around online and it turns out you can get your own copy of the Ed series from the Ed Lives Here website. It is a great resource for students and I definitely recommend it. Best of all, it’s free!

Stock’s book outlines the complete step by step process of creating web site. What I particularly enjoyed was that he begins at the very beginning – how to do the research before beginning a website. While most would begin at simply looking at the design of a site, Stock begins with looking at what kind of information the designer should be looking for from the client. He even gives an example of how to write an email to the client.

Speaking of examples, the entire book is one big example. In order to explain web design to the reader, Elliot goes through the entire process of building a website using a hypothetical client and project. I find that learning by example is one of the best ways to learn, so this was an excellent read.

Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think was a great starter book on web usability. The tagline “A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability” is a most suitable one. I would recommend this book for anyone who has anything to do with web design: designers, developers, marketing managers, even company CEOs.

Krug goes through the reasons why web usability is important, specific ways to improve a site’s usability, examples of live sites and how they can be improved, ways to perform user tests, and more.

Last month, I decided to start building my personal design library by purchasing one design related book a month. Why only one? Simple answer, design books can be quite pricey. Anyways, I’m going to try and read each book within the month and before I purchase a new one. If that works out, I’ll give my thoughts here.

So this month, I read Rockport’s Really Good Logos explained. As I was flipping through a number of books at Chapters, this one really stood out to me. I find it hard for any designer not to judge a book by its cover, and this one certainly caught my eye. Rockport’s use of embossing and spot UV combined with the beautifully contrasted colours drew me in instantly. Really Good Logos explained differs from other “showcase” books (books that simply showcase a variety of work from a number of designers), but it includes commentary as well. Design professionals Margo Chase, Rian Hughes, Ron Miriello and Alex White give their critique on the logos within the book.

I personally don’t find that all of the logos featured in this book are “really good” logos, but I did enjoy learning from the criticisms that the authors had to give. Being a student, I find that the best way to learn is through mistakes and critiques, so this book was very enlightening.

Here are a few of my favourite logos featured in the book: