This page lists assigned texts and other relevant articles, and provides PDFs to many key articles. Updates will be posted regularly throughout the semester.
Armstrong, Helen, ed. Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Field. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2009.
*Helen Armstrong, Introduction to Graphic Design Theory: Writings from the Field: ArmstrongIntro
*Rudolf Arnheim, Gestalt and Art, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 2, No. 8, Autumn, 1943: Arnheim_GestaltandArt
*Arnold M. Barban, The Dilemma of “Integrated” Advertising, The Journal of Business, Vol. 42, No. 4, Oct. 1969: Barban_DilemmaOfIntegratedAdvertising
Barthes, Roland and Stephen Heath. Image-Music-Text. New York: Hill and Wang, 1977.
Barthes, Roland and Annette Lavers. Mythologies. New York: Hill and Wang, 1972.
*Barthes, Roland. Rhetoric of the Image, 1977: Barthes-Rhetoric-of-the-image
*Herbert Bayer, On Typography, 1967: Bayer_OnTypography
*Denise Scott Brown, Steven Izenour & Robert Venturi, Learning from Las Vegas: The Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form (1972): Venturi_LasVegas
Davis, Meredith. Graphic Design in Context: Graphic Design Theory. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2012.
*Karl Gerstner, Designing Programmes, (1964): Gerstner_DesigningProgrammes
*Walter Gropius, The Theory and Organization of the Bauhaus (excerpts), 1923: Gropius_Bauhaus
*Jessica Helfand, Dematerialization of Screen Space (2001): Helfand_ScreenSpace
Jones, John Chris. Design Methods: Seeds of Human Futures. New York: Wiley-Interscience, 1970.
Kepes, György. Language of Vision. New York, Dover, 1995.
*György Kepes, Language of Vision, excerpt: Kepes_Language_of_Vision_exc
Klein, Naomi. No Logo. New York, Picador, 2000.
*Naomi Klein, No Logo, Chapter 12: Culture Jamming: KleinNoLogoExcCh12
*El Lissitsky, Our Book, 1926: Lissitsky_OurBook
Lupton, Ellen and J. Abbott Miller. Design Writing Research: Writing on Graphic Design. New York: Kiosk, 1996.
*Ellen Lupton, Designer as Producer, 1998: Lupton_Producer
*Lev Manovich, Import/Export, or Design Workflow and Contemporary Aesthetics, 2008: Manovich_ImportExport
*F.T. Marinetti, Manifesto of Futurism, 1909: Marinetti_Manifesto_Futurista
McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964.
*Marshall McLuhan. Understanding Media, 1964 (excerpts): McLuhan_UnderstandingMedia_exc
McLuhan, Marshall, Quentin Fiore, and Jerome Agel. The Medium is the Massage. New York: Bantham Books, 1967.
Moholy-Nagy, László. Painting, Photography, Film. New York: MIT Press, 1969.
*László Moholy-Nagy, Typophoto, 1925: MoholyNagy_Typophoto
*Josef Müller-Brockmann, Grid and Design Philosophy (1981): MullerBrockmann_Grid_Des-Phil
Neurath, Otto. International Picture Language. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Tubner & Co., 1936: Neurath_Otto_International_Picture_Language
Poyner, Rick. No More Rules: Graphic Design and Postmodernism. New Haven, Yale University Press, 2003.
*Paul Rand, Good Design is Goodwill (1987): Rand_Goodwill
*Aleksandr Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova, Aleksai Gan. Who We Are: Manifesto of the Constructivist Group, c. 1922: RodchenkoStepanovaGan_WhoWeAre
Aleksandr Rodchenko, Slogans, 1921 (from Experiments for the Future…): RodchenkoSlogans1921
Rodchenko, Aleksandr; Lavrentiev, Alexander; Gambrell, Jamey. Aleksandr Rodchenko: Experiments for the Future, Diaries, Essays, Letters and Other Writings. New York, Museum of Modern Art, 2004.
Saussure, Ferdinand, Charles Bally, and Albert Sechehaye. Course in General Linguistics. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966.
*Ferdinand de Saussure, Course in General Linguistics, 1916 (excerpt): Saussure_GeneralLinguistics_exc
*Jan Tschichold, The New Typography (1928): Tschichold_NewTypo
*Beatrice Warde, The Crystal Goblet, Or Why Printing Should Invisible, 1930: Warde_CrystalGoblet
