The Observer Decameron—First Day

The Debate: The Legendary Contest of Two Giants of Graphic Design
In 1972, Wim Crouwel and Jan van Toorn met to debate the purpose of graphic design, and set the terms for arguments that continue to this day. Beautifully illustrated and intelligently supplemented with essays by Frederike Huygen, Dingenus van de Vrie, and our own Rick Poynor.

Neue Grafik: New Graphic Design: Graphisme Actuel: 1958–1965
You can diddle around with compilations of derivative “Swiss style” gig posters. Or, for a few dollars more, you can mainline the real thing: an impeccable facsimile edition of all 18 issues of the magazine that started it all. Choose wisely.

Earthquakes, Mudslides, Fires & Riots: California and Graphic Design, 1936–1986
Louise Sandhaus
Published in late 2014, but too good to keep off this list. The essential record of America’s most American design movement, in a form that perfectly matches its content.

Corita Kent and the Language of Pop
Susan Dackerman
With a landmark touring exhibition and this new book, the rediscovery of one of midcentury America’s most significant figures is well underway. Sister Corita Kent defined the graphic look of the 1960s and established a model for sympathetic progressive engagement that we can still learn from.

Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs
Sally Mann
A moving and unforgettable visual and verbal meditation on place, family, and creativity.

The White Road: Journey into an Obsession
Edmund de Waal
If you’re like me, a book about the history of porcelain has never been on your must read list. Well, it is now. From the brilliant artist and author of The Hare with the Amber Eyes.

Building Art: The Life and Work of Frank Gehry
Paul Goldberger
Not a coffee table book, not a lavishly-illustrated monograph, this is a true journalistic biography that provides a thoughtful look at the actual work it takes to be one of the world’s greatest living architects.

M Train
Patti Smith
The follow up to the musician’s haunting Just Kids, Smith’s story of one artist’s life has lessons for everyone from new graduates to once-creative people contemplating their 50th art-school reunion.

The Art of Typewriting
Marvin and Ruth Sackner
A beautifully conceived and designed (by Graphic Thought Facility) survey of concrete poetry, abstract manuscripts and other artifacts of the age of the manual typewriter, from two collectors who have devoted their lives to the genre.

The Making of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey
Piers Bizony
Exactly what it says on the package, but my God, what a package, designed by M/M (Paris).

See all the Top Ten Books from our contributors here

Observed