Here is a collection of all the most essential download ready books.  Most of these are usually only be available in printed format, but now are being offered in PDF and web format. Majority of these I end up owning anyway because they are such great books. check them out, and if you like them, buy a copy!

Making and Breaking the Grid

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author: Timothy Samara

This is an absolutely necessary read, I would even recommend having this in hard copy. That it’s on google books really amazes me because it is such a high quality book. It is no light read, the first few pages will convince you of that. However it gives you amazing information necessary for understanding how the grid works in application, it does assume you have some knowledge of how to use grid though. This applies to Print, web, mobile and every extension of graphic design you can think of. One of my favorite books I own. A must read!

About the Author

Timothy Samara is a graphic designer and educator based in New York City, where he teaches at the School of Visual Arts and the Fashion Institute of Technology. He’s also the author of Typography Workbook (Rockport 2004). He lives in New York’s Chelsea district.

Graphic Design for the 21st Century

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authors: Charlotte Fiell, Peter Fiell
Covering a vast range of cutting-edge graphics, with politically charged anti-commercial work placed in the same context as Nike’s latest ads, this book presents a sweeping look at today’s most progressive graphic currents – from signage at packaging to branding and web design. [1]

About the Author

Charlotte and Peter Fiell run a design consultancy in London specializing in the sale, acquisition, study and promotion of design artifacts. They have lectured widely, curated a number of exhibitions, and written numerous articles and books on design and designers, including TASCHEN’S Decorative Arts series, 1000 Chairs, Design of the 20th Century, Industrial Design A-Z, Designing the 21st Century, and Scandinavian Design.

Vignelli: From A to Z

Vignelli: From A to Z
author: Massimo Vignelli

If you live in America you have probably seen work by the famous Massimo Vignelli, make sure you check out our master study on him if you haven’t already. This book is an amazing look into his work and the reason for it. He explains how/what and why he does things the way he does. He says you should be able to design everything from a city to a spoon as a graphic designer, his work is evidence of this.

about the author

check out our article

Swiss Graphic Design

Swiss graphic design: the origins and growth of an international style
author: Richard Hollis

An oldie but a goodie. Swiss graphic design and “the Swiss Style” are crucial elements in the history of modernism. During the 1920s and ’30s, skills traditionally associated with Swiss industry, particularly pharmaceuticals and mechanical engineering, were matched by those of the country’s graphic designers, who produced their advertising and technical literature. These pioneering graphic artists saw design as part of industrial production and searched for anonymous, objective visual communication. They chose photographic images rather than illustration, and typefaces that were industrial-looking rather than those designed for books.

Written by noted design authority Richard Hollis, this lavishly illustrated volume looks at the uniquely clear graphic language developed by such Swiss designers as Theo Ballmer, Max Bill, Adrian Frutiger, Karl Gerstner, Armin Hoffman, Ernst Keller, Herbert Matter, Josef Müller-Brockmann, and Jan Tschichold. The style of these artists received worldwide admiration for its formal discipline: images and text were organized by geometrical grids. Adopted internationally, the grid and sans serif typefaces such as Helvetica became the classic emblems of Swiss graphic design.
Showcasing design work across a range of media, including posters, magazines, exhibition displays, brochures, advertisements, books, and film, this essential book shows how many of the Swiss designers’ modernist elements remain an indispensable part of today’s graphic language.

about the author

(born 1934) is one of the most influential figures in British graphic design. Hollis has worked as a printer, a magazine editor, a print-production manager, a book writer, a teacher and a graphic designer. Hollis was born in London and studied art and typography at Chelsea School of Art, Wimbledon School of Art and Central School of Art and Craft in London before moving to Paris in the early 1960s.

Time Management
for Creative People

Time Management for creative people
author: Mark McGuinness

If you’ve worked in the industry then you know that time management is essential, there is always something new to learn and never enough time. This book helps you understand how to put time management into motion. A must read for all professionals.

the most amazing free fonts of 2010. No more sifting through massive collections were 99% of them are awful, we hand picked the best ones of 2010.

Museo

http://www.josbuivenga.demon.nl/museoslab.html

Anivers

http://www.josbuivenga.demon.nl/anivers.html

232 MKSD

http://www2.wind.ne.jp/maniackers/232mksd.html

Vegur

http://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/Vegur

QuickSand

http://www.typophile.com/node/50437

Zag

http://fontfabric.com/zag-free-font/

Gordala

http://stereoplastika.com/plastika/index.php?/ongoing/gordala/

Pincoya Black

http://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/Pincoyablack

Coppepan

http://www2.wind.ne.jp/maniackers/coppepan.html

Advent

http://inde-graphics.deviantart.com/art/advent-font-57338302

Stahlbeton

http://www.neuefabrik.de/blog/stahlbeton/

Public Gothic Square

http://www.a2591.com/2009/10/type-for-you.html

Chunk

http://www.theleagueofmoveabletype.com/fonts/4-chunk