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Art » Design & Illustration

Browse book recommendations:

Art

  • Applied Arts & Crafts
  • Architecture
  • Art History
  • Design & Illustration
  • Fashion & Style
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Looking for books about illustration and design? Browse through our expert recommendations to find the best books on design, illustration and related fields to give as a gift to a design lover—or for your own library. Five Books is a comprehensive library of knowledge, curating book recommendations on any topic you might want to read about. Design interviews explore design-related themes in the with historians, curators, critics and practitioners. Our interviews range from engaging introductions to specialist subjects — such as the Dutch Masters, the art market, Leonardo da Vinci, the Renaissance, typeface, interior design — to in-depth explorations of more personal themes and inspirations.

Our archive covers a vast array of subjects, extending well beyond the bestseller lists. In contrast to other online reviews, Five Books content is timeless and our contributors authoritative – these truly are the best books on everything. Browse the archive, or create your own lists of the best books in any category close to your heart, to share with like-minded readers everywhere. Is there a subject that piques your interest that you don’t see on the site? Let us know by getting in contact with the editorial team.

    The best books on Typefaces, recommended by Simon Garfield

  • Read
    The best books on Typefaces - Letterform Collected by published by Grafik Magazine & various contributors

    1

    Letterform Collected
    by published by Grafik Magazine & various contributors

  • Read
    The best books on Typefaces - Typographers on Type by Ruari McLean (editor)

    2

    Typographers on Type
    by Ruari McLean (editor)

  • Read
    The best books on Typefaces - Types Best Remembered/Types Best Forgotten by Robert Norton (editor)

    3

    Types Best Remembered/Types Best Forgotten
    by Robert Norton (editor)

  • Read
    The best books on Typefaces - Signs by Phil Baines and Catherine Dixon

    4

    Signs
    by Phil Baines and Catherine Dixon

  • Read
    The best books on Typefaces - Eighty Years of Book Cover Design by Joseph Connolly

    5

    Eighty Years of Book Cover Design
    by Joseph Connolly

The best books on Typefaces, recommended by Simon Garfield

It used to be said that you could be parachuted into any country and know where you were from the typeface used on its road signs. The author of Just My Type tells us about the variety and meaning of different fonts.

    The best books on Garden Design, recommended by Arabella Lennox-Boyd

  • Read
    The best books on Garden Design - The Education of a Gardener by Russell Page

    1

    The Education of a Gardener
    by Russell Page

  • Read
    The best books on Garden Design - New Trees by John Grimshaw and Ross Bayton

    2

    New Trees
    by John Grimshaw and Ross Bayton

  • Read
    The best books on Garden Design - In Your Garden by Vita Sackville-West

    3

    In Your Garden
    by Vita Sackville-West

  • Read
    The best books on Garden Design - The Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs by Hilllier Nurseries

    4

    The Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs
    by Hilllier Nurseries

  • Read
    The best books on Garden Design - Gardens from the Air by Franco Migliorini and Luigi Latini

    5

    Gardens from the Air
    by Franco Migliorini and Luigi Latini

The best books on Garden Design, recommended by Arabella Lennox-Boyd

Trees are the backbone of any garden, says award-winning garden designer, Arabella Lennox-Boyd. She recommends some great books to get you thinking about garden design.

    The best books on Pop Modern, recommended by Stephen Bayley

  • Read
    The best books on Pop Modern - Pioneers of Modern Design by Nikolaus Pevsner

    1

    Pioneers of Modern Design
    by Nikolaus Pevsner

  • Read
    The best books on Pop Modern - Seaport by Quentin Hughes

    2

    Seaport
    by Quentin Hughes

  • Read
    The best books on Pop Modern - Theory and Design in the First Machine Age by Reyner Banham

    3

    Theory and Design in the First Machine Age
    by Reyner Banham

  • Read
    The best books on Pop Modern - The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby by Tom Wolfe

    4

    The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby
    by Tom Wolfe

  • Read
    The best books on Pop Modern - Racing and Sports Car Chassis Design by Michael Costin and David Phipps

    5

    Racing and Sports Car Chassis Design
    by Michael Costin and David Phipps

The best books on Pop Modern, recommended by Stephen Bayley

The British design guru on which book to buy if you want to know how to design a racing car in the 1960s style, American pop culture, modern architecture, and how “Liverpool in the 1960s was like Florence in the 1440s”

    The best books on Interior Design, recommended by Guy Oliver

  • Read
    The best books on Interior Design - Nancy Lancaster by Robert Becker

    1

    Nancy Lancaster
    by Robert Becker

  • Read
    The best books on Interior Design - Les Decorateurs des Annees 40 by Bruno Foucart and Jean-Louis Gaillemin

    2

    Les Decorateurs des Annees 40
    by Bruno Foucart and Jean-Louis Gaillemin

  • Read
    The best books on Interior Design - Villa Kerylos by Karl Lagerfield

    3

    Villa Kerylos
    by Karl Lagerfield

  • Read
    The best books on Interior Design - Architectural Colour in British Interiors 1615-1840 by Ian Bristow

    4

    Architectural Colour in British Interiors 1615-1840
    by Ian Bristow

  • Read
    The best books on Interior Design - Roomscapes by Renzo Mongiardino

    5

    Roomscapes
    by Renzo Mongiardino

The best books on Interior Design, recommended by Guy Oliver

Managing Director of design and decoration company says British interiors in 1615 were bright and colourful. Plus a bit of trivia: “lamp black” got its name because burning porcelain over a lamp produced the colour

    The best books on Architecture and Aesthetics, recommended by Timothy Hyde

  • Read
    The best books on Architecture and Aesthetics - Georgian London by John Summerson

    1

    Georgian London
    by John Summerson

  • Read
    The best books on Architecture and Aesthetics - Architectural Judgement by Peter Collins

    2

    Architectural Judgement
    by Peter Collins

  • Read
    The best books on Architecture and Aesthetics - Concrete and Culture by Adrian Forty

    3

    Concrete and Culture
    by Adrian Forty

  • Read
    The best books on Architecture and Aesthetics - Architecture's Historical Turn by Jorge Otero-Pailos

    4

    Architecture's Historical Turn
    by Jorge Otero-Pailos

  • Read
    The best books on Architecture and Aesthetics - Obsolescence: An Architectural History by Daniel M. Abramson

    5

    Obsolescence: An Architectural History
    by Daniel M. Abramson

The best books on Architecture and Aesthetics, recommended by Timothy Hyde

What’s at stake when we call a building beautiful or denounce it as ugly? MIT professor Timothy Hyde, author of Ugliness and Judgment, explores five books about the social, political and economic dimensions behind debates that often masquerade as arguments about style, but which deal with matters at the very heart of civil society.

    The best books on Garden Photography, recommended by Andrew Lawson

  • Read
    The best books on Garden Photography - The English Garden (World of Art) by Edward Hyams and Edwin Smith

    1

    The English Garden (World of Art)
    by Edward Hyams and Edwin Smith

  • Read
    The best books on Garden Photography - A Gardener's Labyrinth by Tessa Traeger and Patrick Kinmonth

    2

    A Gardener's Labyrinth
    by Tessa Traeger and Patrick Kinmonth

  • Read
    The best books on Garden Photography - Karl Blossfeldt (TASCHEN Icons Series) by Hans Christian Adam

    3

    Karl Blossfeldt (TASCHEN Icons Series)
    by Hans Christian Adam

  • Read
    The best books on Garden Photography - Gardens in Perspective by Jerry Harpur

    4

    Gardens in Perspective
    by Jerry Harpur

  • Read
    The best books on Garden Photography - Garden Photographer of the Year, Collection 1-3

    5

    Garden Photographer of the Year, Collection 1-3

The best books on Garden Photography, recommended by Andrew Lawson

One of the world’s leading garden photographers talks us through the many different styles employed in his field

    The best books on The Context of Architecture, recommended by Jeremy Till

  • Read
    The best books on The Context of Architecture - How Buildings Learn by Stewart Brand

    1

    How Buildings Learn
    by Stewart Brand

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    The best books on The Context of Architecture - S,M,L,XL by Rem Koolhaas and Bruce Mau

    2

    S,M,L,XL
    by Rem Koolhaas and Bruce Mau

  • Read
    The best books on The Context of Architecture - City of Quartz by Mike Davis

    3

    City of Quartz
    by Mike Davis

  • Read
    The best books on The Context of Architecture - Hungry City by Carolyn Steel

    4

    Hungry City
    by Carolyn Steel

  • Read
    The best books on The Context of Architecture - Modernity and Ambivalence by Zygmunt Bauman

    5

    Modernity and Ambivalence
    by Zygmunt Bauman

The best books on The Context of Architecture, recommended by Jeremy Till

Architecture depends at the building stage on money and politics, and later on users, time and weather. Jeremy Till picks five books to allow you behind the scenes of the building sites.

    The best books on John Berger, recommended by Tom Overton

  • Read
    The best books on John Berger - The Success and Failure of Picasso by John Berger

    1

    The Success and Failure of Picasso
    by John Berger

  • Read
    The best books on John Berger - A Fortunate Man: The Story of a Country Doctor by John Berger and Jean Mohr

    2

    A Fortunate Man: The Story of a Country Doctor
    by John Berger and Jean Mohr

  • Read
    The best books on John Berger - A Seventh Man by John Berger

    3

    A Seventh Man
    by John Berger

  • Read
    The best books on John Berger - Pig Earth by John Berger

    4

    Pig Earth
    by John Berger

  • Read
    The best books on John Berger - To the Wedding by John Berger

    5

    To the Wedding
    by John Berger

The best books on John Berger, recommended by Tom Overton

The biographer and editor of John Berger reveals how Berger’s self-characterisation as a storyteller is visible across the numerous genres he writes in.

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We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

This site has an archive of more than one thousand interviews, or five thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.

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