Does A Logo Designer Really Need Books?
Many logo designers will have a list of books that they would recommend but does a Logo Designer really need to have lots of books about logo design to do what they do?
Design books are often quite pricey due to the expensive full colour quality printing required to present the featured work as professionally as possible, so purchasing a long list of logo design books might leave a designer with very light pockets!
So the question is, will the purchase be good value for money for me? If you intend to read through the book cover to cover and really look at the details of the work presented with the intent of learning something new then a book may well be worth it. If however you would just like to flick through a few pages, put the book on the side to collect a little dust and then put it away in a draw then it may not be such a worthwhile purchase. You will only get something out of a design book if you invest some time and enthusiasm into reading it.
Some designers like to have lots of books so that they can flick through them when they are feeling a little less than inspired and this is certainly useful but I believe that this inspiration is quite costly if that is all the books are used for especially when inspiration can quite easily be found on the internet for free. It could also be considered to be a waste of resources if many of those full colour pages are barely glanced at.
I feel I should say at this point that I am not saying that books on logo design are a waste of money as I have read many excellent books on logo design and have been inspired by the excellent work they feature but I do believe that you will only get your money’s worth if you read through and investigate the details of the content of a book pretty much cover to cover. If you read through a book cover to cover and then later use the book for flick through inspirational purposes then you can be sure that you have done all that you can to make your purchase worthwhile.
So to summarise my approach to purchasing books on logo design is to first read some reviews about the book and then ask myself if I would actually read the book. I believe that books on logo design can be most useful and informative for logo designers and can also help them to develop their own style further as well as to keep a designer informed and aware of the latest popular styles and trends being produced by other designers. There is always more to learn about design and books are full of information that can aid this learning process but it is up to the individual to make this effort to read and investigate the content.
The above is only my opinion on logo design books so I would like to hear from other logo designers what their own feelings are towards design books and the way they should be used. If you have something to say please feel free to submit a comment and thank you for reading.
