W.A. Dwiggins: A Life in Design

Often credited with inventing the term “graphic design,” W. A. Dwiggins was a quintessential maker—fabricating his own tools, inventing techniques, and experimenting with design in areas as wide-ranging as modular ornament, stamps, currency, books, kites, marionettes, and theatrical sets and lighting. More than any of his contemporaries, he united the full range of applied arts into a single profession—designer. Bruce Kennett’s careful research, warm prose, and inclusion of numerous personal accounts from Dwiggins’s friends and contemporaries portray not only a brilliant designer, but a truly likable character. Loaded with over 1,200 pics, this indispensable looker is totally worth reading.