A New Program for Graphic Design

A *New* Program for Graphic Design is the first Communication Design textbook expressly of and for the 21st century. Synthesizing the pragmatic with the experimental, this volume builds upon mid- to late-20th-century pedagogical models to convey advanced principles of contemporary design in an understandable form for students of all levels.
David Reinfurt, a graphic designer, writer, educator and one half of design collaboration Dexter Sinister, has developed a graphic design curriculum at Princeton University in which three courses provide a broad and comprehensive introduction to the field for undergraduate students coming from a range of other disciplines. These courses Typography, Gestalt and Interface are the foundation of this book.
Through a series of in-depth historical case studies (from Benjamin Franklin to the Macintosh computer) and assignments that progressively build in complexity, A *New* Program for Graphic Design serves as a practical guide for designers looking to understand and shape the increasingly networked world of information and design.
As a cofounder of O-R-G inc. (2000), Dexter Sinister (2006) and The Serving Library (2012), graphic designer and teacher David Reinfurt (born 1971) has been involved in several studios and collectives that have reimagined graphic design, publishing and archiving in the 21st century. His work is included in the collections of the Walker Art Center, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and the Museum of Modern Art, but can also be accessed on a daily basis: he was the lead designer for the New York City MTA Metrocard vending machine interface, still in use today. Reinfurt teaches at Princeton University.

Review :
Not your typical textbook, A *New* Program for Graphic Design is a sleek, no-frills volume designed like a stack of notes from the course you never took (but should have) and written in casual, everyday language. ...In viewing design as a liberal art — as a discipline that bridges disciplines, as skills that can help anyone, designer or not, make sense of this increasingly visual world — Reinfurt shows the value of design is not simply in the crafting of images, but in helping us see and read them." David Reinfurt‘s new book provides … in depth access to a historical analysis, exquisite close-focus portraits of multi-talented creative makers past and present, alongside his own research and examples of his class assignments. This intelligent book contains new insights regarding graphic design history, thought, and practice. This book is a reminder of Walt Whitman’s call for "a force infusion of intellect" to confront the future. At a moment of tremendous technological and cultural change, David Reinfurt makes the case that graphic design is not merely a craft, but a fundamental way to understand and engage with the world. Discursive, expansive, and inspiring, this book redefines its subject and provides an indispensable guide to how it might be practiced.