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Design

Last Updated: 2-Mar-2015

This guide is designed to provide an introduction to the literature of graphic and product design.  It also presents a selection of key primary source holdings in design in Stanford University Libraries.

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Overview

Graphic design does not have its own, discrete curriculum at Stanford, but its principles are explored in many art history and art studio courses, and in the various learning experiences offered through the d.school.  Product/industrial design is the core discipline of the Stanford Design Program.  Both graphic and product design combine art, technology, communcations, and marketing; product design also often involves engineering and computer science.  Because of the multifaceted nature of design, it's worth exploring multiple libraries and using a variety of on- and off-line resources.

The more art-centric of these resources are covered in this guide. These include introductory textbooks, historical and theoretical works, yearbooks (a type of literature fairly specific to design), and items of special note from our Locked Stacks. The further research section includes descriptions of databases that index design-related literature.

General introductions

Köln ; London : Taschen, c2006.
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » TS171 .F54 2006
Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2005.
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Reference » NK1510 .H47 2005
Upper Saddle River, NJ : Prentice Hall Inc., c2004.
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » NK1175 .R35 2004
4th ed. Amsterdam ; London : Architectural, 2006.
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » NK1510 .L4 2006
Gloucester, Mass. : Rockport, c2003.
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » NK1165 .L53 2003

Graphic design and typography

Beverly, Mass. : Rockport Publishers, c2011.
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » eResource
1st ed. Cincinnati, Ohio : HOW Books, c2008.
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » NC1002 .L63 M33 2008
2nd ed. London : Laurence King, 2012.
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Reference » NC998 .E84 2012 F
1st ed. New York : Princeton Architectural Press ; Baltimore : Maryland Institute College of Art, c2008.
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » NC997 .L87 2008
Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Pearson/Prentice Hall, c2009.
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » NC998 .D78 2009
5th ed. Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, 2012.
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » Z246 .M43 2012
New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, c2003.
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » NC998.4 .P69 2003
Beverly, MA : Rockport Publishers, c2008.
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » NC1002 .L63 R43 2008
2nd rev. and expanded ed. New York : Princeton Architectural Press, 2010.
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » eResource
4th ed. Hoboken, N.J. : John Wiley & Sons, c2007.
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » Z246 .C217 2007

Product design

London ; New York, NY : Phaidon Press, 2006.
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » NK1320 .P48 2006 V.1
London : Laurence King, 2011.
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » TS171 .R62 2011
4th ed. Boston : McGraw-Hill Higher Education, c2008.
SAL3 (off-campus storage) » Stacks » HD31 .U47 2008
Mies, Switzerland : RotoVision, c2006.
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » TS171 .S55 2006

Yearbooks

Yearbooks and design annuals provide a snapshot of the design world. Because of their relative frequency, they can stay up-to-date; over time, as a collection, they can provide a long view of design innovations, trends, and movements. The titles listed here address the topic of graphic design rather broadly and include photography and illustration.

New York, N.Y. : Abrams, c1982-
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » NC975 .A46 F V.33 2014
American Illustration presents the results of an annual competition (jury members are listed at the beginning of each volume) open to illustrators working commercially or on personal projects. While the Art & Architecture Library holds volumes only from 2000 to present, other illustration annuals in the collection help provide a view of illustration trends in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. See Illustrators: The Annual of American Illustration and Annual Exhibition: National Academy of Design.
New York, N.Y. : Graphis Inc., c1998-
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » NC997 .A1 G75 F 2011
Graphis is a commercial publisher that, through its own annual competitions, presents what it describes as "the best in design, advertising, photography and illustration." The Design Annual features work ranging from logos and packaging to book design and annual reports. The Art & Architecture Library holds volumes dating from 1999 to the present.
Frankfurt am Main : Verlag Form, c1998- Basel : Birkhauser
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » NK1449.6 .D47 F 2012/2013:V.2
Rather than publishing the results of design competitions, Designer Profile lists, alphabetically, the leading designers and firms in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The page spread dedicated to each designer/firm includes contact information and highly browseable portfolio examples. As with the Graphis yearbooks, the editorial board is not listed. Designer Profile is published once every two years and includes two volumes, one for graphic, corporate, and multimedia design, and one for industrial and exhibition design.
Basel ; Boston : Birkhauser, c2009-c2011.
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » P91 .I41 2011
iF is a German-based design organization that hosts three annual awards, in product design, communication design, and packaging design. Unlike Graphis, which does not share the names of its editorial board or jury members, iF's yearbooks feature profiles of all jury members; this gives the awards an important transparency. The Communication Design Award Yearbook features entries in digital and print media, packaging, advertising, photography, and what it terms "crossmedia," a fusion between print and digital, product design and participatory environments. Each entry includes a paragraph describing the project. The yearbook's coverage is international, though the coverage of German design is, not surprisingly, somewhat disproportionate. The Art & Architecture Library holds volumes dating from 2009 to the present. It also holds volumes dating from 2007-2008 under the publication's previous title, iF Yearbook Communication.
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » TS171.4 .I4 2011:V.2
Basel ; Boston : Birkhauser
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » TS171.4 .I4 2009:V.2
New York : Abbeville Press, [1985-2007].
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » NK1160 .I57 V.21 2007
Tokyo : Rikuyo-sha Pub., 1985-
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » TS195 .A1 P245 F V.16 2015
New York, NY : Graphis,
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » NK1160 .G73 F 2015
Graphis is a commercial publisher that, through its annual competitions, presents what it describes as "the best in design, advertising, photography and illustration." The New Talent Design Annual features work created by students enrolled in design programs at colleges and universities (almost exclusively in the United States). The Annual covers advertising, editorial, and poster design, as well as photography and typography. The Art & Architecture Library holds volumes dating from 2000 to the present. It also holds volumes dating from 1996-1997 under the publication's previous title, Graphis Student Design.
New York, NY : Graphis Inc., c1998-
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » NC1800 .G7 2011
Graphis is a commercial publisher that, through its annual competitions, presents what it describes as "the best in design, advertising, photography and illustration." The Poster Annual features posters whose functions range from advertising to social commentary. The Art & Architecture Library holds volumes dating from 1998 to the present. It also holds volumes dating from 1973-1997 under the publication's previous title, Graphis Posters.
Essen : Red Dot Edition, c2005-
Art & Architecture Library (Bowes) » Stacks » TS171 .A1 D47 F 2014/2015:WORKING

Primary sources

Wendingen archive, 1918-1931

Amsterdam : MHCHIJ De Hooge Brug
8 linear feet (12 clamshell boxes of original journals, 2 flat boxes of manuscript material, 1 original artwork of cover, framed
Special Collections Manuscript Collection M1671

The title of this early twentieth-century journal, Wendingen, is based on a phrase from Friedrich Nietzsche, "Umwälzung aller Werte" [upheaval of all values]. Hendrik Theodorus Wijdeveld, the journal’s founder, translated the term "Umwälzung" into Dutch as "omwentelen" [revolve], then as "wentelen" [turn about], and, finally, as "wending" [turn]. "Wendingen" is the plural of "wending." Hence, Wendingen implied a sense of turnings, as in turning away from the past and toward the future. To this end, Wijdeveld, who designed and edited most of the one hundred sixteen issues himself, oversaw the journal’s adoption of graphically innovative covers that opened to reveal beautifully gridded and typeset pages. Inspired by the notion of socially engaged contemporary Dutch architecture, the journal’s focus quickly expanded to include such topics as printmaking, non-Western artifacts, puppetry and stage design, and ancient building construction—a topical (and geographical) range very unique for its time.

Wendingen includes seven issues devoted solely to Frank Lloyd Wright (one of whose covers was designed by El Lissitzky), as well as issues on Josef Hoffmann, Erich Mendelsohn, Eileen Gray, Jan Toorop (two issues), Gustav Klimt, and Lyonel Feininger. The archive includes all issues published, dated 1916-1931. It also includes a collection of related material: the finished original drawing by Jesserun de Mesquita for one of the covers (vol. IX, no. 1, 1928), two original drawings for page layouts, and other ephemeral items.
[AMF]