Meggs' History of Graphic Design

The media could not be loaded. This book is a must have if you are taking any graphic design courses. If you are already a graphic designer this book is also a must have. My class is long over and I wont sell this book, that says something considering I am a starving student, well maybe not starving.I bought this for a class and I ended up reading it just because the information presented is both interesting and also very digestible to the average reader. It is a very interesting book that you can keep long after the class is over. One thing is it makes a fantastic coffee table book. It would not be out of place in the lobby of your design firm.Content (+)The content of this book covers from our earliest designs all the way to modern design and the impact it has on our lives. The content of this book does not shy away from the controversial to the mundane.Images (+)I made the video clip so you could see the great artwork in this book. Many full color images are wonderful references that can be used when you are designing. "Good artists copy, great artists steal", Pablo PicassoText (+)As I was saying this is not just boring text droning on and on. It, in fact is very interesting to those that are into graphic design or art. Any art is graphic design, and all graphic design is art. You really get that feeling after reading this book.Overall this book is a great value at what I paid for it which is twice what it cost now. Get this BRAND NEW and you will have this book for many years.

I needed this book for a college class & couldn’t beat the price at $12 with next day delivery. Excellent ex-library copy, exactly as described. Book is a bit dull but that’s because of college & is no reflection on the seller.

Science now tells us that within seconds of the blast which created the universe, then, too, was every element of design created, these being: space, line, form, size, light, color, texture, pattern, unity and harmony.We need look no further than our own solar system to witness the formation of design in the universe: planets round the sun in designated orbits; the planet Saturn, with its rings, a beautiful design. Meanwhile, back on Earth, we behold an atom, perfectly in balance and in harmony with itself while currently, outside my window, a full moon hangs above a horizontal plane.The words "design" and "art" are sometimes used interchangeably. However, there exist basic differences between the two. Design, as already noted, is a creation of the universe; art, on the other hand, a creation of man. Design is approximately fourteen billion years old; man's first verifiable art approximately fourteen thousand years old. Art requires the human hand; design exists without us.Whenever we design we borrow from nature using numbers and calculations born of cosmical origin. Consequently, throughout the vastness of space and time the rules of design remain categorically the same--and as my design teacher enjoyed pointing out--"that one fact should be comforting to students because if you can't land a job right here on Earth you can always try and get something somewhere else."Man DISCOVERED design; he in no way created it. Safer to say that design created man. Design is forever obligated to obey nature's laws whereas our art is under no such obligation whatsoever. Interestingly enough, when we stretch design beyond the boundaries of nature's laws we no longer have design. It suddenly becomes art.Because "art" eludes precise definition there has been growing acceptance of the opinion that anything which an artist produces is art. This, in fact, may very well be true, but not everything which an artist produces is good art, meaningful art, relevant art or significant art, and much, therefore, deservedly falls by the wayside.Man, as graphic designer, combines art and design. The ultimate goal: a message understood.Meggs' History of Graphic Design might in other respects be of significance to this industry, however, the author draws no distinction between art and design and seemingly "blurs" the two into one single entity, depicting design as a manmade concoction, possibly the work of Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble. This book, being used as a textbook in schools, I would expect a higher level of clarification from this author if only a few paragraphs somewhere at the outset. A designer need not necessarily be an artist and it would be helpful, particularly to students, for the author to note the difference.Art is something that we can design, but art can never BE design. Art begins and ends with the story of man while design lives forever in countless worlds beyond.

If you are interested in graphic design and more specifically in its history, this book is (still) the bible. I teach History of Graphic Design to postgrad students and Meggs' book is the basis of my course I know for a fact that this is also true for most of my colleagues. This book initiated the tradition that graphic design history should start with the invention of writing and a history of typography. Only the second part deals with "real" graphic design (after 1900). Nevertheless, one should keep in mind that this book was written from an American/English point of view. I would recommend you supplement this great book with books dealing specifically with French, German or Russian graphic design. Not that Meggs fails to deal with these subjects, but other authors might make you get a more balanced, more European picture.

Thank you!

I'm am very happy with the book. It's already inspired me for my school projects. It came just in time for my classes in brand new condition. The design and graphics and descriptions in the book is very detailed and descriptive about the timeline of graphic design and illustration. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about graphic design. I am sure this book will inspire you whether you are a graphic design major, or any art major for that matter. Get inspired and knowledgeable with this book!

I don't know all that much about graphic design, but the instructor of my only course on the subject recommended this book, and I don't regret buying it. It has a lot of information and a bounty of illustrations to make its many valuable points. I think this may be a cornerstone of literature on the topic in the English language.

This is one of the only texts books I've ever decided to keep after my class was over. It's a wealth of information about graphic design, the only I've found that is so inclusive.The information is wonderful, and photos are beautiful. I learned so much from this text book and I love it.

The book arrived promptly and, aside from slight wear on the cover sheet, it was like new. There was no writing inside any of the pages, and the book has that *new book* smell to it. Thank you!

needed it for school

Outstanding book.

I bought it for my daughter and have not seen it so I can not comment.