[gomes]

After lurking around these parts for a while (quite a while actually...) I've finally manned up and decided to start contributing. And what a better way to do that, than to flood you fine gentlemen with a thousand questions?

Anyway, I'm not another asian bloke looking for design-in-a-box-add-some-water-and-you're-done (sorry to let you down..) and I know better than to say a designer is a photoshop user (okay...he's not completely daft, you say). What I do need is some guidance...I've searched around the forum and have found loads of books referred to as good, but I dont know which ones to take a look at first, or have any idea which ones are appropriate for someone who is rather new to this. If you could help me sort it out I'd be greatful

As I'm sure you know, I'm still not allowed to post urls, and that makes it a bit tricker...

So, before jumping into the design part, lets talk a bit about programming.

CSS
Beginning CSS Web Development: From Novice to Professional
Transcending CSS: The Fine Art of Web Design
CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions

I reckon PHP might also be helpful, but that is a subject for another thread.

Now, actual design books.

Typography
The Elements of Typographic Style
Stop Stealing Sheep and Find Out How Type Works
Typographie (Emil Ruder)

Graphic Design
Grid Systems in Graphic Design
Swiss Graphic Design
Less Is More: The New Simplicity in Graphic Design

Color Theory
The Elements of Color (Johannes Itten)
The Art of Color: The Subjective Experience and Objective Rationale of Color (Johannes Itten)
Interaction of Color (Josef Albers)

I know this list is far from complete, but I have either not found any info on good books, or cant really remember it right now (had a long long day...)

Oh, I was also looking for random articles/websites on usability and many other related/unrelated subjects (usability was the only thing that came to mind)...feel free to copy+paste your two million bookmarked links

Finally, whose work should I pay close attention to?

Thanks a lot for taking the time to read all this (I know its long)

[Mandy Moo]

Typography
Letterhead

Graphic Design
Graphics Agitation
A Smile in the Mind

[gomes]

Originally Posted by Mandy Moo

Typography
Letterhead

Graphic Design
Graphics Agitation
A Smile in the Mind

thanks for the reply...3 more books added to my wishlist

(btw, what would be the best place to get them? Amazon or other online bookstore?)

[Mandy Moo]

Originally Posted by gomes

thanks for the reply...3 more books added to my wishlist

(btw, what would be the best place to get them? Amazon or other online bookstore?)

Amazon. Firstly don't take people's words for books and buy them straight away. You should get yourself in a book shop or Art college Library and check the books out first (make sure you want them) then get it on the cheap at Amazon.

Since you are building your collection you may want to join Arts Guild.
You buy 2 books at dirt cheap price (I brought Rankin Works for £4) and choose 4 books free + you get a free Mini Art Book. After that you have to purchase 1 book every 3 months for 1 year. After year 1 you can cancel your membership. They sell good design and art books too.

www.artsguild.co.uk

[gomes]

Originally Posted by Mandy Moo

Amazon. Firstly don't take people's words for books and buy them straight away. You should get yourself in a book shop or Art college Library and check the books out first (make sure you want them) then get it on the cheap at Amazon.

Since you are building your collection you may want to join Arts Guild.
You buy 2 books at dirt cheap price (I brought Rankin Works for £4) and choose 4 books free + you get a free Mini Art Book. After that you have to purchase 1 book every 3 months for 1 year. After year 1 you can cancel your membership. They sell good design and art books too.

Indeed. I was trying to get a whole lot of references so there would be a good chance of me finding at least some of the books in a Fnac megastore (dont know if you have those in the UK). Hadnt thought about paying a visit to the local fine arts faculty library...thanks for the tip

Tried to check if I could join Arts Guild from abroad, but they're not accepting new members