Meggs' History of Graphic Design 6th Edition

"It is. I was lucky enough to have a history of graphic design class when I was studying. it’s always been one of my favourite classes. More than any other book that I had in school, I returned to the Meggs’ time and time again. My original, earlier edition copy is now pretty dog-eared. This new edition is a splendid update. “Turning its pages was a liberating way to break through the designer’s block that happens when you’re young and still relatively inexperienced” I will say that it is not all encompassing. It’s got a very Eurocentric perspective. It could be expanded to to embrace the great breadth of diversity of culture, I am aware of that. Nonetheless, the scope is breathtaking. It shows examples starting with cave painting in Lascaux and the earliest glyphs and following cuneiform all the way through illustrated manuscripts and books in our day. This volume is a very cohesive argument about the continuities and changes that design has undergone throughout history. The chosen examples are so beautiful in the edition that I have now, published by Wiley, in dazzling colour whereas my school copy contained merely a few colour inserts. It’s quite amazing to see these pieces rendered in colour. Anyone who worked with me early on knew that I always had this book on my desk, riffing on it as much as I could. It always presented an opportunity to play with important concepts. I would just flip through if I found myself struggling with a design problem. Turning its pages was a liberating way to break through the designer’s block that happens when you’re young and still relatively inexperienced. Simply to start thinking within someone else’s framework is always liberating, for me, at least. I credit this book for a lot of my early success. I’m grateful to Meggs for writing it. The internet makes everybody your neighbour. You can communicate with anyone, Zoom with anyone from anywhere, do a co-working session with and collaborate across time zones. I would hope that this is absolutely one of the great benefits of digital communication."