Tools of the Trade: Jan V. White Books
The author I credit with teaching me the most about design is Jan V. White. A former art director at Time-Life, he’s written more than a dozen books on visual techniques focused in publishing. The best part about his books are the sketchy images (no fancy, computer-generated pictures here)! Instead of huge, wordy paragraphs, he fills pages with hand-drawn diagrams and quirky notes. He doesn’t just tell you about design, he shows you.
Book Titles by Jan V. White:
1. Editing by Design (1974)
2. Designing Covers, Contents, Flash Forms, Departments, Editorials, Openers…(1976)
3. Graphic Idea Notebook (1980)
4. On Graphics: Tips for Editors (1981)
5. Designing for Magazines (1982)
6. Mastering Graphics: Design and Production Made Easy (1983)
7. Using Charts and Graphs (1984)
8. The Grid Book: A Guide to Page Planning (1987)
9. Graphic Design for the Electronic Age (1988)
10. Thoughts on Publication Design (1989)
11. Great Pages: A Common-Sense Approach to Effective Desktop Design (1990)
12. Color for the Electronic Age (1990)
13. Great Color (1991)
14. Color for Impact (1996)
*Most of his titles have been re-issued multiple times, so there are newer editions of many of these. I’ve found very little difference, so I usually stick with the earlier editions which can be found on Amazon or Half for a few dollars each.
The most popular and beloved of all of Jan’s books is the Graphic Idea Notebook, a collection of more than 2,000 illustrations and line art that visualize the abstract problems that page editors encounter. The images are arranged in five groups that reflect the key concepts of design: mime (body language, pointing, showing, displaying), time, place, type, and idioms. I found mine online for under a dollar and it’s a still groundbreaking book, almost 30 years after its release :
Images courtesy of You Work for Them
Jan’s books are never intimidating; they’re fun and inviting. They have a way of getting your creative juices flowing that is unparalleled. The information contained in each volume is so fundamental that it crosses the barriers of both publication and graphic design. Any visual artist can benefit from the techniques he teaches.
Get in touch: 
13 People have left comments on this post
this is kinda half embarrassing and half amazing but i don’t think i’ve ever come across Jan V. White. must rectify this soon as those books look fantastic!
p.s. i received the package on Friday and wore the shirt at least twice over the weekend. THANK YOU Nubs, i love it
also thanks for the pins etc. i couldn’t believe how many little things you fit into one parcel!
[Reply]
Ohh wow these are awesome references, must obtain some of his publications now hehe.
[Reply]
lindsey claire: Jan V. White is a design legend, but oddly enough, information online about him is super hard to come by! I discovered him by accident only two years ago. Glad you liked your winnings!!
Mae Jane: They’re SO worth it, especially when you need a quick jolt of inspiration! Each page is CRAMMED with ideas; I have no idea how he managed to output so many books!
[Reply]
Back in the 60′s I worked with Jan White before he became famous. I’m a word person, but I learned so much about design from him. He was amazing. And it’s true that there’s almost nothing online about him.
Glad to find this.
[Reply]
Susanna Opper: You’re so lucky! I love his books because the theories and layouts he features are all so accessible.
[Reply]
It is so flattering (amazing!) to read these nice comments about my books. Thank you Susanna Opper for finding me! Am I really that hard to find? I guess I should have bothered to make a website but I was too busy having fun working: consulting with publications, giving seminars, writing… all just different aspects of teaching, and there’s nothing more fulfilling. But I ought to figure out what to do to make a website. I know I am technologically so old-fashioned that it’ll take me a week of frustration. Can I do it on good old dependable paper? Any ideas? Well, thanks anyway. Jan V. White
[Reply]
I am writing on behalf of a college textbook publishing company to request permission to reprint a figure from COLOR FOR THE ELECTRONIC AGE. Please send contact info and I will submit formal written request. Thank you.
[Reply]
Graphic Design for the Electronic Age was the absolute KEY to my entire career in Marketing (where the knowledge of desktop publishing and later a web site design was a requirement). My degree in Marketing in 1988 introduced me to Apple MacIntoshes in the library, but not to the techniques to use them effectively. So many thanks to Jan for writing the right book at the right time!
[Reply]
I learned about Jan White about 3 years ago and bought “Editing by design” — wish I had known about this early in my career. Still, it was excellent information and I also gave the book to an editor/friend! Jan, if you see this post, start a FaceBook fan page (not a website).
[Reply]
Editing by Design is by far the BEST book I have come across on the subject (I have ten others).
Let me know when there’s a site!
[Reply]
Is there anything by Jan White on the web?
I teach a magazine design course and would love to refer my students there. They are not fluent in English so the book is a bit much for a start. I translated bits for them.
[Reply]
Hey i agree, white is very good teaching without confusing i just receive my copy of editon by desigh for designers… and it has a lot of useful info, it’s excellent that people like him write books like this, here in central america is very hard to find books like those.
[Reply]
1 Trackback(s)