Reddit mentions of Thinking with Type, 2nd revised and expanded edition: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students

Just because someone can open Illustrator and arrange some faces and use textures over them, doesn't mean its being effective visual communication. Proper grid structure, typeface choices, and hierarchy would make this much more effective in getting across the message.

I dislike stuff being posted looking like a photoshop/illustrator online tutorial threw up. ಠ_ಠ

Edit: These will be very helpful, even to those not in the industry.
The Elements of Typographic Style

Thinking with Type

I feel like you've been hammered here because of the amateurish nature of your work. Honestly though, I'm pretty sure that's why you came here, knowing that it wasn't up to par, and wanting to know how to change that. Here are some things that I would focus on if I were you:

Typography: By this, I don't mean using different typefaces, but rather the study of how to structure information in a legible manner. I work as a wireframer right now, and everything that I do is Arial. Because of that, I have a maniacal focus on size, leading, value, and block shapes to create a hierarchical system on a grid. A lot of it comes from practice, but I can also recommend some books, Thinking with Type, Designing with Type, Making and Breaking the Grid, and The Mac is Not a Typewriter. Typography is one of the most requested skills by design directors because it is hard and can be very bland, but it is absolutely vital for successful work.

Balance and Rhythm: When you are designing pieces, one of the important things to consider is the structure of negative and positive space. This structure influences the way that the piece is read, and the way that people move through the information. You seem to rely on center aligning things a lot, which is dangerous because it creates no action or movement. This topic isn't as advanced as typography so it's harder to give specific resources, but you can find information on this in any basic design text. I enjoyed Alex White's fundamentals book.

Style and Illustration: The type is amateurish, but what makes the work feel dated is the illustration style. When digital illustration was younger and the tools were rougher, the sort of illustration that I see in your portfolio was very common. The most recent trend has been "Flat", but honestly, anything that can complement or hide the digital nature of its creation can work. If you really would like illustration to be a continued part of your work, I would find some tutorials to really strengthen your Illustrator and Photoshop skills, perhaps stuff from Skillshare or Lynda, or even just internet tutorials.

In General: So to be blunt, you do have a long way to go, I'm not going to sugar coat that. That being said, you do have 2 things extremely in your favor right now.

1. You produce a lot of work. You're getting practice.
   
   
2. You know something is wrong. You're looking for a way to improve.
   
   Ira Glass has a really incredible short piece about creative work that describes the place where you are caught right now. Your taste is not aligning with your skills. You have taken the first step in the right direction, so now you need to go study more and keep seeking critique (Not criticism). Whether that is on design_critiques, or from a colleague or friend doesn't matter. Find a place where someone who is better than you can tell you what isn't working and challenge your status quo.
   
   Good luck, and keep at it!

Not sure about websites, but these books are absolute must-reads for learning typography.

Thinking With Type

Designing With Type

The Elements of Typographic Style

If I could suggest one improvement it would be the typography. Some great places to start:

• http://webtypography.net
  
• http://practicaltypography.com/
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-2nd-revised-expanded/dp/1568989695

As a person with no education beyond high school, take all that I say with a grain of salt. I'm a pretty successful web designer and front-end developer, having working with four startups and done a year of freelancing.

It is not uncommon to hear industry peers criticize the education system as it pertains to web design because often the practices you learn are no longer the standard or relevant. I've heard of many stories where designers exit college (with no working experience, obviously) and have an incredibly difficult time finding work for the reasons I listed above.

Education has never been brought up at any of the companies I've worked or those that I've consulted with. I believe the reason for this is that I have a body of work to show along with whatever reputation I've garnered on Dribbble, say.

All this being said, it is entirely possible for you to develop your skills on your own, such as I did, and find work. I'm happy to list all the reading materials that I own that helped me get where I am now. I'll list what I remember but I'll have to go check when I can get a second:

Hardboiled Web Design
HTML5 for Web Designers
CSS3 for Web Designers
The Elements of Content Strategy
Responsive Web Design
Designing for Emotion
Design is a Job
Mobile First
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
The Elements of Typographic Style
Thinking with Type
The Icon Handbook
Don't Make Me Think

If you invest your money in those and actually read them, you will be well on your way. Feel free to ping me. Good luck!

Oh boy, history of graphic design was my favorite thing in college and during my thesis research. It puts so much into perspective once you go trough all the little things in history. Here are some books i would recommend:
[Graphic Design, Referenced – by Bryony Gomez-Palacio] (https://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Design-Referenced-Language-Applications/dp/1592537421/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467706816&sr=8-1&keywords=graphic+design+referenced)

The Elements of Typographic Style – by Robert Bringhurst
The Fundamentals of Graphic Design Paperback – by Paul Harris
Design Elements, 2nd Edition by Timothy Samara
Thinking with Type – Ellen Lupton

From history, great stuff on: Bauhaus, Dada, Brodovitch,Helvetika (there's even a great documentary on Helvetica), Gestalt principles, Whitespace... You could try and get some textbooks on these topics or just google.
(protip: type into google name of the book and finish the search with filetype:pdf there are many books that you can get free pdfs that way)

Thinking with Type - https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-2nd-revised-expanded/dp/1568989695

Another great book

This is just a sampling of my Amazon list, but:

• Envisioning Information
  
• The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
  
• Semiology of Graphics: Diagrams, Networks, Maps
  
• Visualize This: The FlowingData Guide to Design, Visualization, and Statistics
  
• Thinking with Type
  
• Graphic Design, Referenced: A Visual Guide to the Language, Applications, and History of Graphic Design
  
• Naive: Modernism and Folklore in Contemporary Graphic Design
  
  Every so often I try and pick up a couple books, even just for reference sake. Sometimes its a photo book, sometimes its a reference guide, doesn't really matter so long as you can see some principles within applying to your craft.

For gradients, UI Gradients is your go to

Textures? Download HK's Christmas packs, covers most of the basic texures

Fonts/Typography, dont bother with that dafont bs, lots of low quality stuff on there and the popular ones are overused. Stick to standard design fonts such as these (taken from this video) If you want more info on type check out Ellen Lupton's book Thinking With Type), very helpful stuff.

Presets: The only preset I avidly use and recommend is Google's Nik Collection, very powerful stuff and not only that, its FREE.

I think it's not bad, I would say the biggest things are around typography.

1. Add more padding around some of the typography.
   
   
2. On the second image that "intro paragraph" is kind of weird, its two paragraphs I think, but in it's own style? Usually those type of things are one headline sentence which leads into the content.
   
   
3. Fix what is called a "widow" basically one word on the last line of a paragraph.
   
   
4. If you are using InDesign, select your text, go to paragraph styles and uncheck "hyphenate" to remove all the hyphenated words.
   
   
5. Some of your text is just oddly aligned, the yellow box quote, each line starts more and more to the left
   
   
6. Look at the "Working in the industry" page, I would redesign to be left aligned, the "rivers" pattern (white space between words) as we call them in typography looks more like lakes in these pages.
   
   
7. I like the fifth image, but add more padding around the text so it's not to the edge of the bounding box.
   
   
8. Pros & Cons page, I like the title design, nice job here; But the box below again with justified text, not working too well.
   
   
9. On the note of the above, make sure your paragraphs have a clear space between the previous paragraph.
   
   
10. You've got a lot of different font types, and styles going on each page, which is fine, but you should come up with a look and feel, that makes it so if each page were looked at separately (like we are here) someone could say "Yes these pages are from the same magazine."
    
    
11. On the contents page (last screenshot) left align the text, it's generally not a good idea to right align text as it makes it difficult to read. (the numbers can stay right aligned)
    
    And Finally:
    
    If you can - try to learn more about grid systems and typography, there are some great books out there that if you have cash or can ask your parents to buy you a couple books, here are some recommendations (even to just look at for inspiration):
    
    Grid Systems in Graphic Design: A Visual Communication Manual
    
    Thinking with Type - This one is one of my favorites
    
    The Typography Idea book
    
    I hope this helps :) And keep at it!! Definitely better than I was doing in high school!

• The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst
  
  
• Stop Stealing Sheep & find our how type works 3rd Edition by Erik Spiekermann, this one is a super easy read but a great book.
  
  
• Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton, I have the 2nd Edition
  
  
• Making and Breaking the Grid by Timothy Samara
  
  
• Typographic Design: Form and Communication by Rob Carter, Ben Day, Philip Meggs. I have the 4th edition but I think most are okay. This is a good general typography textbook.
  
  
• Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks by Keith Houston
  
  I can't give suggestions on hand-lettering books yet as the few I have read weren't good...so I'm trying to find better ones. But check out Louise Fili and Jessica Hische for inspiration and of course Paula Scher and Sagmeister.
  
  There are many other books so I welcome others to chime in and add their suggestions.

Ellen Lupton's book is the first recommended reading for my degree I guess thats a place to start will update when I get home and see the full list if you want to know what a uni recommends?

Link to amazon copy:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1568989695/

Thinking With Type by: Ellen Lupton: http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-2nd-revised-expanded/dp/1568989695

This is really misleading.

A Graphic Designer can work across fields including (but not limited to) advertising, and:

• medical - scientific illustrations, product info, packaging
  
• environment - wayshowing, signage, installations
  
• publication - typesetting, layout, production
  
• branding - logotype, look/feel, brand extension
  
• motion - multimedia, film/television, flash
  
• web - user interface, site development
  
• gaming - inhouse graphics, promotions
  
  Just to name a few.
  
  For your instance I would suggest it's worth developing any skills that are going to help you and give your work an edge, and understanding design and how it's made will definitely give you that.
  
  That said, the label 'Art Director' could be used in more than one way. Typically a Senior Designer (so a graphic designer with lots of experience and talent) might go on to become an Art Director, and this role would see her responsible for interpreting the creative given to them by the ad folk. On the flip side, within ad firms there's a term 'Art Director' that doesn't necessarily require design skills, but would almost always require a solid appreciation and knowledge of art and design and the market being targeted.
  
  Check out these:
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typography
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-2nd-revised-expanded/dp/1568989695/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292171536&sr=8-1

Another good book that surveys typography and introduces lots of general concepts:
Thinking With Type

A book you may find useful for color theory - it is about the relationships between colors, and was originally a book that came with colored paper to follow along with. It helps with seeing these relationships, not what good color combinations would be (this is some more like Kuler)
Interaction of Color

Without going into a lot of details, I would really suggest taking some time to study design fundamentals. A lot of your work looks like it stems from quick experiments with filters and various online tutorials. A better understanding of type, space, hierarchy, etc. will take you far.

Books like Thinking with Type, [Don't Make Me Think] (http://amzn.com/0321965515), and Making and Breaking the Grid would be a great place to start. Buy those—or get them from a library—and read them cover to cover.

Firstly, drawing, Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop are just tools. Learn how to use them well but they are only tools. Design is more psychology than it is software expertise. Learning the tools is important of course, just don't confuse the two. Design is the "why" and "what" you are trying to communicate, the function. Art, illustration, type, etc is the "how" you create the form. Form follows function.

With that said. Keep drawing. Everyday. Look into illustration as an art discipline, it's very closely connected to graphic design as far as purpose and mindset. Far more so than traditional studio arts. (painting, sculpture, etc).

Learn typography. Really learn the difference between typeface and font and families. Learn why serifs work for body copy generally better than sans. Learning how to hand render type, and do it well, is an invaluable skill especially paired with illustration.

In my view these are essential to add to your reading list:

• Die Neue Typographie by Jan Tschichold
  
  
• History of Graphic Design by Meggs
  
  
• Thinking with Type by Lupton
  
  
• Essays on Graphic Design - Bierut, editor
  
  There are about a hundred others I could add. Look beyond "Best Design Of The Year" kinda crap and seek out critique and theory. These skills far outweigh the ability to look at what's popular and ape it.
  
  Finally, remember that graphic design is communication above all else. Think about who you are trying to reach, what you are trying to say, and why you are trying to say it. Be true to yourself and your audience, and you will do good work.
  
  Good luck!

Grab the typography manual from The Futur for free to start with:
https://www.thefutur.com/resources/typography-manual-vol-1/

Then I'd check out Thinking With Type:
https://smile.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-2nd-revised-expanded/dp/1568989695/

Typography and layout are the two most important things. You need to understand information hierarchy and how to properly arrange your information on the page. I recommend two little books that will help you immensely.

Thinking with Type


Geometry of Design

You can go deep into the weeds in either subject, but these two books are short and sweet and will give a nice foundation of knowledge.

On the software front, you need a vector-art program. Obviously the entire Adobe Suite would be great, but if you can only buy one, I'd get Illustrator. If you can buy two, I'd then get Photoshop as well. If you're doing a lot of multi-page print work, then you're going to need InDesign.

Good luck.

Aside from making things look nice they also have to function well too. Design should go hand-in-hand with user experience. I suggest reading the book Don't Make Me Think to get an understanding of why things are laid out. You can have a nice website but if it doesn't function well your users will opt out in coming back.

Start going to your other favorite websites and find what they have in common and what's different and keep notes that you could back to and reference; you'll start to notice a common theme in layout. There's Behance, Awwwards, Dribbble (though don't take too much away from here), Smashing Magazine, A List Apart, and more.

Learn color theory and typography -- I suggest Thinking with Type. Like another user said: draw inspiration not only from web design, but take inspiration from other sources.

I own Making and Breaking the Grid and Thinking with Type. Both came highly recommended.

I recommend the following books:

Thinking With Type by Ellen Lupton.
This book is the essential introduction to typography and probably should be the first type book you get.

Lettering and Type by Bruce Willen and Nolan Strals.
This book provides an introduction to different types of lettering and typographic work, as well as a brief introduction to designing your own typeface.

Designing Type by Karen Cheng.
This book covers the intricacies and design considerations of each letter one by one. It's a great reference when designing your own type, or even if you just want a more in-depth look at letterforms.

Generally speaking, your typography needs work. If you want to get serious about design, I'd highly recommend picking up either Thinking with Type or A Type Primer

1. Illustrator is a very useful tool, it would serve you well to know how to use it. Illustrator also uses a very similar skill set to other applications you will end up using like indesign for example.
   
   
2. No not at all, I think people love to complain no matter what industry they are in. However it is very competitive, there are plenty of very very successful designers out there and lots of really unsuccessful ones. No where is it more immediately obvious how "good" or "bad" you are at something than with a visual portfolio, people can see at a glance exactly how competent you are, that's pretty intimidating. For instance you might be able to escape notice as a mediocre insurance claims adjuster for much longer than a mediocre designer. If you can find a handful of solid clients and build good relationships with them it can go a very long way to having a long and comfortable career.
   
   
3. Pay varies dramatically and theres a reason that very few people can give you a straight answer, your dealing with at least 3 variables at any given time if not more. What you are worth, what your client is worth and what the client is asking you to do. So for instance if your doing a multi million dollar marketing campaign and rebranding of a huge corporation while sitting in your manhattan office expect to be paid a little differently than if you are doing the CD cover for your friends band (that they recorded in garageband), the skill set, stakes and experience are dramatically different in those scenarios.
   
   Graphic design is everywhere and at all levels, expect to be paid accordingly. Understand too that $1000 for a logo is completely relative and doesn't by any means reflect the work that goes into it. You may have a someone who whips something together in a few minutes or have a team of designers slaving away iterating on an identity for weeks to make sure it's perfect, to make sure it becomes a household/highly recognizable piece of branding.
   
   
4. One of the toughest and most technically challenging things I feel like you will have to deal with is typography. Having a good understanding of how to wield it's awesome power can go a very very long way. I think as far as learning your tools goes, for me at least the internet has been a far more valuable resource than any book, if you need a problem solved google can do that pretty quickly, theres also a ton of good tutorials or articles on design process out there, I have yet to see any books that come close.
   Now on the typography I can make a few suggestions, some of these are pretty dry and not so flashy but have very solid fundamentals in them. If you go to art school (and I highly suggest you do if you can afford it, it can be a phenomenal experience) then these are the kind of books you will be reading in the first year or two.
   
   Typographic Systems of Design ~Kim Elam
   
   Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Type ~Kim Elam
   
   Thinking with Type ~Ellen Lupton
   
   Elements of Typography ~Robert Bringhurst
   
   
5. I started doing some design work and drawing in high school. Both my parents are designers so I'm sure that helped, from there I went and got a BFA in illustration. While my first love is drawing and most of my work is illustration I still end up doing lot's of design work because it is (in my experience at least) very frequently in demand.
   
   Hope that was helpful and I'm sure lots of other people have had very different experiences and will share their stories and opinions. It's a very diverse field.
   

Thinking With Type by Ellen Lupton is a fantastic little book that teaches the basic principals of typography for use in publication and print design. It's a brilliant guide and is always handy whenever I'm looking for some guidelines.

For more typography I'd also recommend Just My Type by Simon Garfield. It's an excellent collection of stories about typefaces and the history behind them.

I'd say the largest "mistake" I see is not knowing how to use a grid effectively before going without one. Here are a couple of books that helped me figure things out a bit regarding this:

Grid Systems In Graphic Design - Josef-Müller-Brockmann

Thinking With Type - Ellen Lupton

Both great resources for getting started.

Thanks for the reply! I can safely say I would like to focus on web/digital. I've started collecting/bookmarking resources to the principles you mentioned but is there any particular path you would recommend? I don't mind throwing down some money for a learning resource (such as Lynda) and some books. My current list of books I have in my cart:

• Thinking with Type
  
• Don't Make Me Think
  
• The Non-Designer's Design Book
  
  Also, since you're a designer and developer, what is the ratio of work like for you at your current job? Do you end up doing more development or design?

I will post some of my favorite books in a second for you as soon as my computer gets turned on. :)

Here are a couple of my favorites from my school "Hey, I actually like these.. I'm going to purchase them!" collection.

General Graphic Design:

Graphic Design: The New Basics

This publication does a great job of showing "relationships between formal elements of two-dimensional design such as point, line, plane, scale, hierarchy, layers, and transparency." If you are looking for a general overview on a lot of subjects within graphic design I think this is a great way to upgrade your vocabulary and general knowledge about graphic design.


Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Field

I feel like this book really can help you improve your vocabulary and general knowledge of the graphic design world offering "primary texts from the most important historical and contemporary designthinkers." It's also nice that it offers a bit of history too, analyzing the early 1900s through today.


Making and Breaking the Grid: A Graphic Design Layout Workshop

Great. Absolutely great publication for all designers showing effective use of the grid system and how to layout your compositions. "Effective layout is essential to communication and enables the end user to not only be drawn in with an innovative design but to digest information easily."


Typography: <3

30 Essential Typefaces for a Lifetime

I loooooove this book. It gives a bit of history and usage examples of 30 amazing typefaces you should know and love.


Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, and Students

Another great typography book. This publication was one of my favorites because, at the end of the day, I'm a visual person and this book has SO many visual examples to compliment it's copy it's beautiful. "This revised edition includes ... the latest information on style sheets for print and the web, the use of ornaments and captions, lining and non-lining numerals, the use of small caps and enlarged capitals, as well as information on captions, font licensing, mixing typefaces, and hand lettering."


Typographic Systems of Design

This is a very good resource for learning, as the title states, typographic systems. It "explores eight major structural frameworks beyond the gridincluding random, radial, modular, and bilateralsystems." Overall, I feel like this book helped me to improve my positioning and creative use of type in designs.

It seems like you're interested in UX design but not entirely sure what it entails. The role of a UX designer varies between companies and has changed over time. You can think of UX designer as someone who is skilled in interaction design, creating wireframes & protypes, user research, information architecture, etc. A bunch of skills smashed into one job title. Some skills of a UI designer includes visual design, color, layout, typography, etc.

From what I've seen, what companies are looking for these days when they say what a UX designer is that they want someone who can do both UX & UI to define, maintain, and grow a product with Product Managers. Product Managers are driven by business goals, you are driven by user goals. A Product Designer is becoming a popular term for this type of job. It's hard to find a UX job where all you do is wireframes, user research, and information architecture (as least with the big companies).

First, you need to think like a designer. Time to start reading some material. I took a class on Design Thinking at my university, and it has really helped me put into words what designers do. Link to the course materials.

You can find a bunch of lists of UX design books out there on the web. I started out by reading The Design of Everyday Things, a classic. Other books on my shelf are Design is Storytelling and Value Proposition Design. Not related to design, but during one of my internships I was given Everybody Writes and I recommend it because, well, everybody writes.

After you have a better understanding of what UX design is, start thinking about what it means for you and what you want to focus in. If you ask a bunch of designers why they do UX, you will get different answers.

From there, you need to start practicing. You can look up examples of side projects you can do as a UX designer. The most important thing here is to get critique from other people, learn from it, and iterate on it.

One common side-project is to redesign an app like Yelp. One thing I personally don't like about these projects is that they are typically "blue-sky" redesigns, or designs without constraints. This is fine to do when you're starting out, but to think like a Product Designer, you need to think about the business goals, make assumptions on why it's the way it is, and create constraints for your re-design. What's the user problem? What are the business goals? What are some ways I can solve these problems? What assumptions am I making for these designs?

Lastly, I think all UX/Product designers need to have some visual fundamentals down. Typography, layout, color, etc.--visuals are a huge part of the experience (along with copy, but thankfully I've had the chance to work with great copywriters). To get you started, Thinking with Type is a great book. I'm constantly looking at designs on Dribbble and Medium - Muzli for design inspiration. See something you like? Steal it and make it work for you.

Look at design blogs from big companies like Facebook, Google, and Airbnb. Stay up to date on what's happening like Mailchimp's redesign. Look at works from famous agencies like Collins. Watch YouTube videos from channel like The Futur.

Notice that I never mentioned any tools in this post. You won't become a UX design by learning html or js, those are for front-end devs. It may be nice for you to know, but not critical. You won't become a UX designer because you learned how to use Sketch or Adobe XD. Tools are constantly changing and are easy to learn. It's everything I mentioned above that's hard.

https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-2nd-revised-expanded/dp/1568989695

This is definitely a good one to start with

Hi there. You are really asking how to be graphic designer, so there is no quick or easy answer. The first and best advice is to stop looking at "motivation" or "quote" posters. Your instincts are correct, and forgive my gross generalization, but they lack any design standards. The next step would be to look at better stuff. You can search for inspirational sites and the like in this subreddit and get excellent recommendations. A site like typo/graphic posters might not be immediately helpful, but it is the kind of work you should be looking at. While looking at good things you can also read about good things Reddit Reading List is a good place to start. You can't go wrong with Ellen Lupton's Thinking with Type or Kimberly Elam's Typographic Systems of Design.

Specifically with what your are doing now should look at typeface selection and heirarchy. Do all of the words in the quote have the same importantance, the same "weight"? Are "everybody" and "window" the most important words, and of such importance that they drown out everything else?

Hope that answers your question a little. Best of luck.

> You're using both serif and sans serif fonts. This is very tricky to pull off as they rarely look cohesive together.

This is terrible advice. Every piece of typographic literature I’ve ever read strongly disagrees with this (like this or this). Serif fonts pair wonderfully with sans-serif fonts, but they must complement each other.

If you’re looking for quick-and-dirty examples of successful, free font pairings, check out this guide. If you’re looking for more science / rationale to expand your typographic knowledge, this article is wonderful.

On typography:

• The Elements of Typographic Style, the Bible of Typography.
  
• Thinking with Type, a nice overview of how type works.
  
• Detail in Typography, on the finer points of type.
  
  On grids:
  
  
• Raster Systeme, by the eminent expert of the Swiss School.
  
• Making and Breaking the Grid, a modern update on the timeless grid.
  
  On colour:
  
  
• The Art of Color, a classic on color.
  
• Interaction of Color, another classic text on color (theory).
  
  On usability:
  
  
• Don't Make Me Think, a classic on web usability.
  
• The Design of Everyday Things, a general usability Urtext.
  
• Understanding Comics, a great primer from an unlikely field.
  
  On information design:
  
  
• The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, the master at work.
  
  On inspiration:
  
  
• How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer, inspiration from the field.
  
• How to Be a Graphic Designer without Losing Your Soul
  
  On theory:
  
  
• What is a designer, philosophical musings, existential questions.
  
• Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Field, theoretical backgrounds on the craft.
  
  On history:
  
  
• Meggs' History of Graphic Design, a canonical classic.
  
• Graphic Design: A New History, an alternative narrative.
  
  Monographs:
  
  
• From Lascaux to Brooklyn, the inimitable Paul Rand.
  
• Saul Bass: A Life in Film & Design, the art of Saul Bass.
  
• Tibor Kalman, Perverse Optimist, the exceptional work of Mr Kalman.

Hey thanks! I seriously just bought this book last week. Along with these two:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568989695?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300075707?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

The two by Richard Hendal are really great for some perspective on how to look at a page with a design-eye.

Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton

I just finished reading this and it's great if you're just learning about type or if you're a few years into your design career.

These are all really great books:

Grid Systems in Graphic Design

Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Type

Thinking With Type

Meggs' History of Graphic Design

Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits

Don't Make Me Think

The Design of Everyday Things

How To Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul

one of the best books on type out there: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-2nd-revised-expanded/dp/1568989695

This PDF will give you a pretty basic understanding of print design, and creating a portfolio, and it's free!
http://www.portfoliohandbook.com/PortfolioHandbook_UCID12.pdf


i've grabbed a stack off my shelf, i'll list a few here

[Thinking with type] (http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-2nd-revised-expanded/dp/1568989695) (Typography)

[Layout Workbook] (http://www.amazon.com/Layout-Workbook-Real-World-Building-Graphic/dp/1592533523/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374116370&sr=1-1&keywords=layout+workbook+a+real-world+guide+to+building+pages+in+graphic+design) (Typography & Page Layouts)

[Production for Graphic Designers] (http://www.amazon.com/Layout-Workbook-Real-World-Building-Graphic/dp/1592533523/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374116370&sr=1-1&keywords=layout+workbook+a+real-world+guide+to+building+pages+in+graphic+design)
(This one is more technical, Printing, Final Art Production, Etc.)

[Designing with Type] (http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Type-5th-Essential-Typography/dp/0823014134/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374116474&sr=1-1&keywords=designing+with+type) (Typography)

[Type & Image] (http://www.amazon.com/Type-Image-Language-Graphic-Design/dp/0471284920/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374116510&sr=1-1&keywords=type+and+image) (Combining Typography & Imagery)

[Color & Type for the Screen] (http://www.amazon.com/Color-Type-Screen-CD-ROM-Digital/dp/2880463297/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374116649&sr=1-1&keywords=color+and+type+for+the+screen) (Web Typography)

[The Element of User Experience] (http://www.amazon.com/Elements-User-Experience-User-Centered-Design/dp/0321683684/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374116686&sr=1-1&keywords=elements+of+user+experience+by+jesse+garrett) (User Experience/Web Design)

[Don't Make Me Think] (http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Me-Think-Usability/dp/0321344758/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374116719&sr=1-1&keywords=dont+make+me+think) (User Experience/Web Design)

There are also a ton of threads here on Reddit about Design books alone, and there is still the rest of the internet!
These are most of the books I got from my first two years at well respected design program, some are more helpful than others. But it doesn't hurt to read!

Also if you really want to give this a shot, work your ass off! Know that there is someone out there that is willing to (and probably is) working harder at it than you! Design is just like any other field of business, you gotta put in the work to get what you want.

If you had to read one single book on typography I would say this one

thanks for posting. I think you have a great attitude, and honestly, attitude counts for more than you think.

I'll not critique the website, but, knowing you're new to the fundamentals, try to share some more general thoughts.

1. do more. I think you're starting this already with some of your sketches for mini cooper. but always, always, do more. 50 iterations, 100 iterations. Keep pushing beyond the obvious, and use sketching as the tool to do that. I read an old design book, from the 70s, that said "only one solution is the symptom of an inflexible and untrained mind." /r/52weeksofdesign
   
   
2. Time to get up on the basics. That means the basics of drawing (if you so please). It's not a requirement as a designer (I'm a piss poor artist), but it definitely helps sometimes. http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Definitive/dp/1585429201/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419898682&sr=8-1&keywords=right+hand+drawing
   
   What sketching is important for is flexing ideas and testing compositions before going to the computer.
   
   
3. Learn the basics of typography:
   http://www.amazon.com/Stealing-Graphic-Design-Communication-Courses/dp/0321934288/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419898490&sr=1-1&keywords=stop+stealing+sheep
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Typographic-Style-Version-Anniversary/dp/0881792128/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419898879&sr=1-1&keywords=robert+bringhurst
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-2nd-revised-expanded/dp/1568989695/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419898800&sr=1-2&keywords=typography
   
   
4. Grids
   http://www.amazon.com/Grid-Systems-Principles-Organizing-Design/dp/1568984650/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419898762&sr=1-1&keywords=kimberly+elan
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Systems-Graphic-Systeme-Visuele-Gestaltung/dp/3721201450/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419898837&sr=8-1&keywords=grid+systems
   
   
5. Photography (if you like)
   http://www.amazon.com/Black-White-Photography-Manual-Revised/dp/0316373052/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1419898921&sr=8-2&keywords=black+and+white+photography
   
   and
   
   
6. remember that this is detail work. So things like spelling errors in this post, and on your website, should be resolved.
   
   Above and beyond the basics, I see your passion is impacting the world through design. So the question becomes HOW can graphic design impact the world, and does it at all? and what can you make or do directly? I think above all, a designer is an entrepreneur these days. Especially with that main driving passion.
   

Since you want to mainly do logo and branding, focus on Illustrator first. There are tons of YouTube tutorials on everything you need to know.

I would highly suggest checking out Lynda.com and Skill Share. They're paid services, but you might be able to get them for cheap or even free while you're a student. I know my university had free sign-up for Lynda. (My favorite videos are from Aaron Draplin on Skill Share, there are also a few short videos for free on YouTube.)

While learning the technical skill is good, the biggest part is learning the principles and theory of design. Look into the Gestalt Theory and learn as much as you can about typography. Read this book, it's a perfect resource for typography. The Vignelli Canon is also a great read from one of the best designers ever.

If you have anymore questions, let me know.

It's sloppy. I would definitely recommend reading up more on typography: http://www.amazon.com/Type-Matters-Jim-Williams/dp/1858945674

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568989695/

Some of your design decisions I don't see a purpose behind. Check out the Work section of your home page. You have your tabs and thumbnails in these dark grey boxes, but the tabs are actually separated from the thumbnails container. Why? They are connected, wouldn't you want to show that they have a relationship here? Going back to type, your header and tabs are pretty much the same size, yet one should be secondary to the other. Even ignoring that, the header may as well not be there because it's dwarfed by the boxes.

The pseudo bar chart of your software proficiency tells me nothing about your actual skills in these programs.

The level of execution here is not something I would expect from a creative with a degree. Keep polishing it up.

I seem to get asked this a lot, but here is my list, posted here:

http://www.reddit.com/r/graphic_design/comments/1uq58s/good_graphic_design_books_for_a_beginner/ceklj3y



> These are all books that I absolutly love, and bought for either personal use or to accompany different courses while I was getting my BFA in GD. I have seen some of them both are brick and mortar book stores, and college book stores. If you get a chance to see them in person before buying, leaf through them to get a feel.
>
> Megg's History of Graphic Design, absolutely essential to understanding where graphic design comes from historically. IMO the best GD history book on the market, at least the most encompassing. One of my favorites, was very helpful writing different papers and researching historical styles.
>
> Graphic Design School. Another great book, focuses more on design process and stuff like that. This one more walks you though being a designer. Gives tutorials on different things too, which is useful.
>
> Graphic Design Referenced is a really great book that is a bit of a hybrid. This book describes a lot of design terms, styles, and general knowledge while referring to historical and modern examples.
>
> Those three for me are really essential books for new graphic designers, I learned more from those three than I can express. Below are a few more books I really like, but might be a bit more advanced than someone just getting started might want.
>
> Another book I have used a lot, and almost included with those three is above. Thinking with Type. Really great intro into typography.
>
> More advanced even.
>
> How to be a Graphic Designer without Losing Your Soul
>
> A Graphic Design Student's Guide to Freelance
>
> Hope this helps!
>

Keep in mind this is just a starting point. There are tons upon tons of inspiration books out there for graphic design stuff, not to mention educational books on all sorts of specialties. I love graphic design books, the hard physical copy of them. When I'm stuck on a project I like to flip through them, read a bit, and then revisit my work again.

Here are the books currently in my amazon wishlist, so I can't vouch for them, but I do plan on eventually owning them.

Wish List:

• Graphic Design Solutions
  
• Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills
  
• 100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design
  
• Graphic Design Thinking
  
• Burn Your Portfolio: Stuff they don't teach you in design school, but should
  
• Making and Breaking the Grid

Honestly. Grab some books from Amazon. (you can pick them up fairly cheaply 2nd hand)

Logo Design Love - First edition is the same as the 2nd edition, except you can pick it up for a quid.

Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits

A Smile In The Mind

Thinking with Type

LDL and A Smile are two books I still find myself going back and reading through + referencing even after 5 years as a professional.

They're most branding based, but the fundamentals they speak about absolutely translate to other facets of design.

I have several books actually because they were course material in school. The one I always go back to is Thinking With Type 2nd Edition by Ellen Lupton, which you can find here. If you're interested in learning about print design there's From Design into Print by Sandee Cohen, which you can also find here. Both books are excellent reads and super handy to have on your bookshelf. Hope they help!

I would actually start off with some typography since it's such a huge part and foundation of graphic design. "Thinking with type" is a good little book. Messing up your type is an easy way to break a layout.

I've found all of these books to be helpful. I think you mainly would find the Grid Systems book useful.

Grid Systems by Kimberly Elam is a pretty good reference for using grids and better understanding composition. It has alot of examples of works that are accompanied by transparent pages that have grids to lay over them.

Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton helped with just understanding typography better.

Designing Type by Karen Cheng is good for understanding the intricacies of type and the differences between different typefaces by using grids.

Just because something is regularly used does not mean that it is good or appropriate. Besides, free fonts are seldom used in newspapers, television, movies, and music videos (and almost never used by reputable organizations). Free fonts are almost always terrible because of: kerning, x-height, letterforms, glyphs, ligatures, leading, etc. A good typeface has a family, not just a single font. Here's a primer, but I would recommend this book and this one.

My critique remains the same as my initial comments: far too many typefaces, and avoid using free fonts. Buy them if you can, steal them if you have to, or be much more diligent in finding well designed free typefaces. Start here.

For the choice in typography, I would suggest doing some research on different logotypes, the designer's decisions to use those fonts, and really what typography is in general. Many people have ideas about it (myself included, I am admittedly a little lacking when it comes to this topic vs branding), but Thinking With Type by Ellen Lupton is a great place to start. Another great way of choosing a proper typeface (and this is merely for inspiration) would be to look around for competing brands. If there is a common pattern between other brands and thier then ask yourself why that pattern exists. Is there a reason? Should you go along with it or create something different?

THIS is my current portfolio. It still needs a lot of work, I'm still in college (Canadian college at that, which is not the same as America). But if you want to see some of my works with branding, I suggest looking at Friendly and XABY. Both of them still need to be worked on, but I'm busy with other projects right now. Feel free to criticize me too. Give me a slap in the face, my contact page is in the navigation bar above. :D

Good book: https://www.amazon.ca/Thinking-Type-2nd-revised-expanded/dp/1568989695/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=thinking+with+type&qid=1566501150&s=gateway&sr=8-1

I like these books as a starting off point.

Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton

The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst

The Language of Graphic Design by Richard Poulin

Megg's History of Graphic Design

So many choices! I've become sort of a typography fan since discovering in high school that different fonts + kerning could stretch my papers out without being noticeable (even if they required a certain font). Thinking with Type is a fantastic book but the website is also good too. I like the more refined look of the characters and not something that sticks out like a sore thumb.

Use Google Fonts to find open source fonts to download and use. There are others like dafont, ect.

On to my personal favorites:

I have a bias towards type that have a wide variety of weights/styles and sans serif:

Segoe UI - developed for "metro" and installed on every 7+ Microsoft Computer

Droid Sans - especially for the Mono variant. Developed for Android. I think large platforms are indicative of having large font families for a wider standardized use and look.

Lato - This is my main portfolio font for descriptions.

Roboto - The Slab variant is my project title font.

Book Antiqua - For a nice refined serif font.

Atipo has some nice fonts. They give you the bold/regular/italic for free in hopes that you buy the rest of the family.

Abduzeedo does free font fridays

There's a few books that are good for understanding how design works; John Berger's Ways of Seeing, Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton, and anything by Stefan Sagmeister, Steven Heller, Michael Beirut, Jessica Hische, Adrian Shaughnessy...

Check out publications like Eye magazine and Creative Review.

No doubt from looking up any of these you'll find oodles more too.

Also, the best way to learn is to work with designers, ask them questions, find out why they do something. Have a critical mind though, there's some awful designers out there.

I'm afraid I don't have many resources specific to UX/UI. I studied graphic design at university so I really just apply my understanding from that, but there's loads out there.

Thinking with type is a good read.

Ellen Lupton has a little bit about the importance of white space and typography in her book Thinking With Type.

There are the books I was recommended:


1 2 3 4 5 6 7.

Great! Thanks for the quick reply. I also found this book > https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-2nd-revised-expanded/dp/1568989695

Course book list from my first year of graphic design, I found them all really helpful and interesting, especially the first one. It explains not just how to make things look good, but WHY certain things look good and some things look like crap.

Design Elements: A Graphic Style Manual

Understanding Color: An Introduction for Designers

Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students

There's another really small, short book that is on the process of design, or rather "how to produce creative ideas." I can't remember the title, but I'll find my copy when I get home. PM me if you have any questions!

La design nu pot sa zic ca ma pricep prea tare, dar domeniul ma preocupa din ce in ce mai mult. Thinking with type si The Elements of Typographic Style, The Design of Everyday Things, Grid Systems in Graphic Design, Making and Breaking the Grid: A Graphic Design Layout Workshop si Don't Make Me Think sunt cartile care mi-au placut/din care am invatat cel mai mult, dar sunt clasice asa ca banuiesc ca stii de ele.

Gotta ask the extremely obvious question, are you using a grid?

I was designing my (print) portfolio recently, and [this book](Thinking with Type, 2nd revised and expanded edition: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students https://www.amazon.com/dp/1568989695/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_gfAyyb1X1NJWM) has been of terrific help. You'll find useful ideas there for web design as well.

There are also some hard limits on how wide a line is compared to the font size. As in, the maximum number of letters on a single line. I think it's about 45-60 letters, but I could be mistaken. But this is the sort of thing that could be researched when "deciding widths".

Any sort of design fundamental course will be greatly beneficial (and necessary). However, I think the most useful thing you could do is to develop a good eye for typography. Developers who understand the nuances of proper type are extremely rare and sorely needed.

Learning about type will also teach you about many other aspects of graphic design (grids, negative space, scale, etc...).

Most designers tend to skip right to the flashy stuff and they don't have a sound foundation in typography. There is a reason why you can type something out in Photoshop, set it in Futura, and it looks like shit while a skilled designer can type it using the same font and it looks professional.

EDIT: Almost forgot to link a great resource: Ellen Lupton's Thinking with Type

https://www.amazon.com/Making-Breaking-Grid-Graphic-Workshop/dp/1592531253

https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-2nd-revised-expanded/dp/1568989695/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1480520404&sr=1-3&keywords=ellen+lupton

I always recommend these two. They aren't going to tell you how to design a newpaper, but it will explain structure and how grids, hierarchy, content and information work together in composition.

Sorry for the late reply.

Here is a short list of books I keep around for reference (some better than others).

http://www.amazon.com/Forms-Folds-Sizes-Details-Designers/dp/1592530540

http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-2nd-revised-expanded/dp/1568989695/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418263515&sr=1-1&keywords=ellen+lupton+thinking+with+type

http://www.amazon.com/Making-Breaking-Grid-Graphic-Workshop/dp/1592531253/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418263563&sr=1-1&keywords=breaking+the+grid

http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Workshop-Challenges-Sharpen-Design/dp/1600617972/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418263563&sr=1-2&keywords=breaking+the+grid

http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Creative-Design-Second/dp/2940411611/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418263761&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Fundamentals+of+Creative+Design

For HTML, CSS, and Javascript, the O'Reilly series of books is a good teacher / skill sharpener.

See if your boss will spring for a subscription to Lynda.com. There are just bazillions of things in there that can not only teach you, but provide exercises and practical lessons. I can't commend this highly enough.

https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-2nd-revised-expanded/dp/1568989695

Thinking with Type

Graphic Design: The New Basics

Layout Essentials


Read them. Lacking graphic design history isn't your problem. You're lacking quite a few fundamental skills, and these books are good places to start - they're required texts in many design programs.


Again, read them, don't just give them a 'cursory glance'.

Basics Design: Layout


Basics Design: Typography


Basics Design: Design Thinking


Basics Design: Image


Basics Design: Colour


Basics Design: Grids


Thinking With Type


Making and Breaking the Grid


Grid Systems Principles


The next few aren't so much technique books but are good reads.

Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design

Damn Good Advice: For People With Talent

The Vignelli Canon

It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be

Wow, I have no idea honestly. Well you've got to start somewhere and that has to be with graphic design obviously. Knowing everything about typography & design fundamentals is key before moving onto web design. Web Design will help get you introduced to UI/UX design. Obviously there's a lot of things I can't really give you advice on. It's something an instructor or teacher is best suited for.

If you're just starting with graphic design I recommend this book.

This book was definitely my intro to web design years ago, but it's even dated now. So much changes so fast. These guys are super helpful too.

Obviously, these things aren't going to be teaching you coding, but it'll definitely get you acclimated to UI/UX Design. But it's still a very complicated path. Everyone has their own ways. The best way is to learn is through fantastic instructors which I was super lucky to have.

I'm currently reading Design for the Real World and Thinking with Type and they're both excellent.

If you have "a large amount of time and experience under [your] belt with graphic design," I'm curious as to how you've never learned about bleeds, color spaces, and typography? They're fairly fundamental. You're also going to need to learn more than Photoshop. If you want to seriously do print design, you're going to need to know indesign and illustrator as well.

The Elements of Typographic Style

Thinking with Type

Making and Breaking the Grid


Stuff like color spaces and bleeds I learned in design school. I'm not sure if there would be books that cover it because it's so basic. You're probably better off finding out about that kind of stuff online...or going to school to study graphic design.

Here's a basic explanation:

Bleeds: When you print a document commercially, if you want images to go all the way up to the edge of the page (bleed), you need to set up your files properly. If you're printing a document with "bleed," you're printing a size that's actually larger than the final product will be, then trimming off the excess. This ensures that you don't end up with little white edges on your paper where the trim wasn't exactly precise. The industry standard for bleed is .125 inches, though if you're using a lower quality printer, you may want to use more.

Color spaces: Light has three primary colors: Red, Green, and Blue. Therefore, devices which process light (such as digital cameras, smart-phone displays, computer monitors, etc) do so in RGB. If you are creating a file that is going to be consumed digitally, you're going to want to set it up in RGB.

Printers interpret color in CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key [Black]). They do this by breaking images down into halftone screens, which are in essence a configuration of dots of CMYK. From a distance, our eyes perceive these dots as a wide range of colors. If you are setting up a file that you intend on printing, it should be in CMYK.

Thinking with type is a must for anyone who wants to improve their typography. It may be a little basic if you have already studied type but there is a lot of good inspiration and tidbits you might not know

I recommend this one: http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-2nd-revised-expanded/dp/1568989695/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1323405933&sr=8-2

I guess just chalk it up to making jokes about something you were unprepared for. Shit happens.

Check out this book. Y'know, if you're interested at all. Or even just wikipedia typography. Or look up the names of fonts you've already got installed. Like Copperplate, or Linotype, or Bauhaus. There's usually some really interesting history to them.

You'll probably be able to avoid pissing off a wild bunch of graphics designers next time. ;P

http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-2nd-revised-expanded/dp/1568989695/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1320103677&sr=8-3

http://www.amazon.com/Interaction-Color-Expanded-Josef-Albers/dp/0300115954/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320104020&sr=8-1


http://www.amazon.com/Power-Center-Composition-Visual-Anniversary/dp/0520261267/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320103713&sr=8-1 (this one can be a bit esoteric but if you stick with it, its good)

There are also roughly 6 elements to keep in mind when making compositions and you will have to read more about them and seek out examples. they vary depending on where you look but this has some: http://www.wiu.edu/art/courses/handouts/princdesign.html

This also has some good material: http://photoinf.com/General/Robert_Berdan/Composition_and_the_Elements_of_Visual_Design.htm

None of those links are perfect, and they are not quite the way I learned it either, but you should just do exercises to work on them. For example, In a 5x5 square, do compositions using just 10 dots of the same size. Make each composition represent a word such as unity, variety, movement, stillness, and others like that. Thats just a quick example.

I wish you very much luck, but I sincerely recommend that you take a look at the following books:

Design Basics Index

Thinking with Type

Working through these books, along with creating an actual portfolio site with either Cargo Collective or on your own will make a much bigger impression on potential clients. Sell yourself and the work will come.

You have the rhythm in, that’s for sure. What you should learn is a little bit more on how to use fonts, how to pair fonts, and quite a bit about grids. There is no reason to use 10 different typefaces, especially when so many of them are so similar.

I recommend you read the book Thinking with Type, as this book gives great insight into all these topics.

DKNG has some awesome videos about poster design process. Check out their Vimeo page You should definitely ditch PowerPoint. Have you played around w/ Illustrator at all?

There used to be a really killer site called gigposters.com that shut down last year. Not sure what the best place on the web is for poster inspiration now. A few good design books to check out:

Thinking With Type

Hand Job: A Catalog of Type

Making and Breaking the Grid

Gig Posters

It is an improvement!

If you are interested in learning more about this topic, Thinking With Type provides a useful foundation. I'm sure that, in 2016, there are other publications that have eclipsed the popularity of this one; I just haven't gone book shopping in a while.

Design at it's core is the marriage between content and form. Some marriages are calm, stable, and reassuring while others are codependent, paranoid, and toxic. Both can have amazing results when you know what you're doing.

Thinking with Type was my favorite intro textbook in school. It has a straightforward approach to theory with examples that are both beautiful and inspiring.

My advice would be to exhaust yourself of ideas. Put as many quick attempts together as possible with each as different from the previous as possible. Often the best ideas come after this moment of frustration.

Also, think to space god's quote from futurama. Design is invisible, reactions are implicit.

Here's some links of books I put on my wish list. Its a lot of stuff about grids, which is something you should learn.

Grid Systems in Graphic Design

Universal Principles of Design

The Grid: A Modular System for the Design and Production of Newpapers, Magazines, and Books

The Elements of Typographic Style (A dry read, but very valuable knowledge)

Thinking with Type

I learned most of my composition skills from Drawing and Painting classes. I've heard photography is a great way to learn composition too.

Aside from that use Lynda.com and learn your color theory. You should also learn stuff like using CMYK vs RGB. Common sizes for print material in your country.

If you go Freelance, use this book: Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines

If you haven't discovered this site and you're feeling frustrated, just remember it could be worse: Clients From Hell

And just for fun: How a Web Design Goes Straight To Hell, Why You Don't Like Changes to Your Design

I recommend hiring a designer or getting serious and doing some self education.

Thinking with Type

The Non-Designer's Design Book