A few months ago I was sent the Graphic Design: The New Basics* by Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips to have a read of and then review for you guys! 

The book sets about to try and explain the basic terminology and understanding of graphic design. Throughout the entire book it covers a total of 22 topics including the likes of Formstorming, Color, Layers and Pattern. Each topic has an introduction to that terminology and then further using visual examples of student and professional work to explain how these tools can be used. 

Throughout reading the book I thought it was great tool for designs, whether that's those just starting out, in the midst of studies or those already professionally working. Personally for myself being someone who is in the middle of studying it is a great tool to have to give a bit of a refresher for all the knowledge and also be able to have a reliable source of information if I need to reference something related it in my dissertation this year. 

One problem I had with the book was that I did find it hard to continue reading for long periods of time, usually reading a chapter at a time. However, with this book mainly focusing on the visuals it still doesn't take too long to get through. So I also could look back and either reread certain sections again or look up the designs created I used marker tabs to keep track of these and trust me it's pretty full of them now! 

Obviously this book is aimed towards those wanting to gain knowledge about graphic design but a large amount of the information in the book also relates to the same terminology used within fashion design, art and surface pattern so would also recommend it to anybody studying/working in those fields as well as graphic designers. 

*Disclaimer: I was sent this book free of charge by the . This does not in any way affect my opinions. All views and thoughts are my own