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Books: Bevi's Picks
These are my best recommendations and favorites. I've included some more obscure titles that you might not come across but which I think are valuable for digital media folks.
I have not listed traditional books for individual software programs because there are way too many and they all are decent. But my favorites for learning software include the Visual Quick Start Guides and the Wow! series from Peachpit Press. Visit Peachpit's website [www.peachpitpress.com] for its current list of titles.
And be sure to visit the DesignersBookstore below for the best collection of books on design.
Online Bookstores & Publishers for Design & Digital Media
ST Media Group, www.stmediagroup.com, specializes in books and publications for the design communities.
The Designer's Bookshelf, www.design-bookshelf.com
How Publishing (design), www.howdesign.com
Northlight Books (design & art), www.artistsnetwork.com
Watson-Guptill (design & art), www.watsonguptill.com
PeachPit Press (design & digital media), www.peachpit.com
Taschen, www.taschen.com
Thames & Hudson, www.thameshudson.co.uk
Sitepoint, www.sitepoint.com
Edward Tufte / Graphics Press, www.edwardtufte.com
Allworth Press, www.allworth.com
Bookhaus/Digital Thread, www.digitalthread.com/designbooks
Typophile Books, www.typophile.com/books
Book Distributors
- Pearson Education (computers & digital media), www.pearsoneducation.com/profPub.htm
- MacMillan Publishers (computers & digital media), www.macmillanusa.com
- Prentice Hall (computers & digital media), www.phptr.com
- Osborne (computers & digital media), www.osborne.com
- McGraw-Hill (computers & digital media), www.mcgraw-hill.com
- Addison-Wesley Longman (education, computers & digital media), www.awl.com
- Sams (computers & digital media), www.samspublishing.com
- Que Books (computers & digitalmedia), www.quepublishing.com
- Hayden (computers & digital media) now a part of Que Books, www.quepublishing.com
Online retailers
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Amazon.com, www.amazon.com
- Fat Brain Books, www.fatbrain.com
Web
Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity
First book I've found that substantiates what works, what doesn't.
Read this book. It's not BS. However, sometimes Nielsen takes things to
the extreme in usability. After reading this book, it's your job to find
the right balance between usability, accessibility and visual impact.
Jakob Nielsen,
New Riders, ISBN
1-56205-810-X
User-Center Web Design
A excellent guide about how to assess your audience and build websites
that work.
John Cata,
Addison-Wesley,
ISBN 0-201-39860-5
Don't Make Me Think: A common sense approach
to Web usability.
The subtitle of this book says it all: a common sense approach.
This is the most practical and straightforward book on GUI design I've
found.
Steve Krug,
New Riders, ISBN
0-7897-2310-7
NetResults.2: Best Practices for Web Marketing
The best book about the nitty gritty of successful websites. Read this
book, too.
Rick E.
Bruner et al, New
Riders, ISBN 0-7357-1024-4
Flash Web Design: The Art of Graphics
Step-by-step recipes for creating special effects, menus, and animations
in Flash.
Hillman Curtis, New
Riders, ISBN 0-7357-0896-7
How to Do Everything withDreamweaver MX
One of the best references for working with both Dreamweaver and Fireworks..
Michael Meadhra, Osborne,
ISBN 0-07-213369-4
Building Dreamweaver 4 and Dreamweaver UltraDev 4 Extensions
Advanced book for those who want to customize Dreamweaver with special
tools & features.
Thomas Muck, Osborne,
ISBN 0-07-219156-2
The Web Design Wow! Book
Good inspiration for website design.
Jack Davis & Susan Merritt, Peachpit
Press, ISBN 0-201-88678-2
Elements of Web Design: The Designer's Guide to a New Medium
This book helps experienced graphic designers make the transition to web
media.
Darcy DiNucci, Peachpit
Press, ISBN 0-201-69698-3
The Non-Designer's Web Book
Great for beginners. Design basics and technical details of web dev.
Robin Williams & John Tollett, Peachpit
Press, ISBN 0-201-68859-X
Graphics
The Photoshop Grayscale Book
Don't do your own b/w scans without this book. My favorite reference for
technical settings.
Jim Rich, Rich & Associates [ www.photoshopfocus.com
], ISBN 0-9647627-3-0
The Non-Designer's Scan and Print Book
Great for beginners. Covers the basics of scanning and prepress requirements.
Sandee Cohen & Robin Williams, Peachpit
Press, ISBN 0-201-35394-6
Adobe Photoshop 6.0 Studio Techniques
Excellent explanations of the myriad of technicalities of using Photoshop.
Lots of techniques as well as the basics of Photoshop.
Ben Willmore,
Peachpit Press,
ISBN 0-201-71612-7
Photoshop Studio Secrets
Demonstrates great techniques and effects, as well as the basics of Photoshop.
Deke McClelland
& Katrin Eismann, IDG
Books, ISBN 0-7645-3271-5
Information Visualization
How to design charts, tables, and other statistical material.
Robert Spence, Addison-Wesley [ www.pearsoneducation.com
], ISBN 0-201-59626-1
The CorelDraw Wow! Book
Good books for Corel users are hard to find. This is one of the best.
Lots of step-by-step examples.
Linnea Dayton et al, Peachpit
Press, ISBN 0-201-88632-4
The Official Guide: CorelDraw 10
Another good book for Corel users. In-depth technical reference.
Steve Bain, Osborne,
ISBN 0-07-213014-8
Desktop Publishing
Avoiding the Output Blues
Answers all the questions about resolution, fonts, file formats, and film
imaging.
Taz Tally, Prentice Hall [ www.phptr.com
], ISBN 0-13-084876-X
Print Publishing: A Hayden Shop Manual
A complete desktop reference for desktop publishing. Similar to Output
Blues above.
Donnie O'Quinn, Hayden Books [ www.mcp.com
], ISBN 0-7897-2102-3
Print Production Essentials
Excellent technical reference for desktop publishers. Filled with examples,
tips, and instructions.
Although it focuses only on Adobe software, it is applicable to all professional
DTP software.
Bruce Fraser, Peachpit
Press, ISBN 0-201-70013-1
Design
The Non-Designer's Design Book
The best little design book I've ever read! Crams 4 years of design
school into 144 pages.
Robin Williams, Peachpit
Press, ISBN 1-56609-159-4
Step-by-Step Electronic Design Techniques
Demystifies those special effects done in Illustrator, QuarkXPress and
other DTP programs.
Talitha Harper & Sara Booth, Peachpit
Press, ISBN 0-201-69672-X
Robin Williams Design Workshop
Excellent book for those who want to become better designers. The sequel
to The Non-Designer's Design Book. Great examples of the the design process.
Robin Williams, Peachpit
Press, ISBN 0-201-70088-3
How to Design Logos, Symbols and Icons
This book will walk you through the process creating logos and icons.
Perfect reference for print, digial media and web designers.
Gregory Thomas, Northlight
Books, ISBN 0-89134-915-4
Branding: The Power of Market Identity
A primer on design for marketing products and services.
David E. Carater,
Hearst Books Int'l & Watson-Guptill Publications, ISBN 0-8230-6631-2
Print's Best Logos and Symbols 5 (plus other editions)
Collection of the best from Print Magazine's annual contests. Good
"idea book" for those who are new to web design and must create
eye-catching graphics.
Print Magazine, DesignersBookstore
or Northlight Books,
ISBN 1-883915-06-6
Designer's Handbook of Booklets & Brochures
Collection of the best from Print Magazine's annual contests. Great
source of ideas.
Print Magazine, DesignersBookstore
or Northlight Books,
ISBN 1-883915-03-1
The Designer's Guide to Creating Corporate I.D. Systems
One of the best books on the entire process of creating a logo and branding
system for businesses lf all sizes. Good even for those working in digital
media.
Rose DeNeve, Northlight
Books, ISBN 0-89134-441-1
DesignersBookstore
An entire bookstore devoted to design! Wowie! A division of Print Magazine,
DesignersBookstore is noted for its thorough selection of books for the
design professions.
www.designersbookstore.com,
(800) 222-2654
Computers and Operating Systems
The Macintosh Bible, 7th edition
The Windows 98 Bible
These truly are bibles for computer users. Each has more than 1000 pages
of technical reference material that will get you out of most binds and
help you prevent problems in the future.
Mac Bible | Sharon Zardetto Aker, Peachpit
Press, ISBN 0-201-87483-0
Win Bible | Fred Davis & Kip Crosby, Peachpit
Press, ISBN 0-201-69690-8
Windows for Mac Users
For Apple devotees, using a Windows computer is akin to selling your soul
to the devil, but sometimes you just have to take a job that requires
you to know PCs. This book will make the transition to Windows a bit easier
and less painful.
Cynthia Baron & Robin Williams, Peachpit
Press, ISBN 0-201-35396-2