Get inspiration from books, not (only) from Instagram

Because you want to stand out right?

Hello everyone,

I took a 2 weeks break and I still feel exhausted. But these 2 weeks have not been really of a break as almost everyone at home got sick. Autumn/Winter is here and we all get viruses. I hope wherever you are, you are healthy and can adapt yourself to these radical weather changes in spring and autumn.

Here, I took the time to read. To read a lot. I did read about ego, wanderlust, design and photography. I discovered the whole story around photographer Vivian Maier. Her story is a perfect scenario for a Hollywood blockbuster. Also how she got famous after passing away is crazy. If you are fond of great documentaries, please check out “Finding Vivian Maier” from John Maloof. Here is the trailer:

After watching the documentary, I searched for books about her. I also searched for other street photographers from the same period. And I got lost into the history of street photography. I also got lost in these beautiful pictures of the 60s with great portraits, but also great environnements with old cars and signs everywhere.

I decided to go on Instagram and try to find some great actual street photographers. And mostly what I found was most of the time too edited, not natural, and sometimes made for likes. And interestingly, the same day, I watched that video of Faizal Westcott, a photographer who explains why he searches for inspiration in books and not on Instagram. And I really relate to it:

For a long time, I was scrolling Instagram for great inspiration. I found a lot actually, and sometimes even too much (even overwhelming). But after some time, I realised that the inspiration was mostly the same. I mean styles and trends did tend to go in the same direction. You end up doing that same style and find yourself kind of trapped in it.

As I am “attracted” by 50s to 70s lettering and illustration, I did turn pretty quickly to Art History books and especially to designers and illustrators from this period. And with the time, I did tend to check less my feed and spend more time to learn from people who were masters of their art in the 50s and above.

Pretty often people ask me how I did get my style. And every time I answer “in books”. I don’t think I would be where I am today if I would have kept my inspiration flow coming only from Instagram. I mean there are great people I follow and it is still a great resource, but at the end I wonder if it helps you to stand out.

I started to learn a lot from Saul Bass’s work. You can see it in what I do. I then learned from Jim Flora which helped me to destructure my letters, and then it was Sandro Symeoni. And all these people did draw imperfectly. They all had their own signature. And I think this is what I learned the most from it. Going away from perfection to express a more vibrant, emotional or personal style.

So today I can say my work is what it is and stand out because I found it in books and also away from some kind of community. When you look at an illustration from Jim Flora in a book, it is just you and the picture, or you and the artist. No likes, no comments, no description.

And the more I go deeper in my style, the more I look for legends in books. I lately discovered the work of Miroslav Šašek, a famous Czech illustrator. It did give me ideas about how I could eventually work with a fountain pen and markers. Or try something similar using Procreate. Why not!!

Again, I don’t say this is what you should do 100% but this is what works best for me and this is also how I got to where I am now with my style. There is so much to learn from people who were working in times where letters were dancing more, where lettering was more vibrant and in times when people were working analogically.

Writing this, I wonder if what helps me a lot searching inspiration in books is that it is not screen or social medias related. At a time where I feel like everything looks the same, I wonder if I did not jump in Graphic Design history to escape the game. Food for thought.

So if you are interested in learning from great designers that had an impact on my work, here is a list of books you should check out:

1. The History of Graphic Design vol 1 & 2

This is the first book I would recommend to check out. This is to me the best resource of everything graphic design since the 1900s. This is such a great inspiration. This is also how I discovered some artists and designers I fell in love with. There are 2 volumes.

2. Custom Lettering of the 60s & 70s by Ryan Hughes.

This is THE book who has taken me on my journey into lettering. This is the book that started everything for me when I was feeling bored by perfect ornamented and vectorised lettering. This is 4000 examples of great work made by people mostly unknown now. The book is not easy to find and can be really expensive in some places. But if you can get a copy, this is a must have!

3. Herb Lubalin: American Graphic Designer

If you are looking for great vibrant bold letters, check out Herb Lubalin’s work. I had the chance to visit the foundation made out of his work and I was so impressed by all these sketches he or his colleagues made. By that time all was analog and getting curves perfect could be tricky. But wow his work really stand out.

4. Miroslav Sasek

I talked about him above but his work is so vibrant, natural, expressive, imperfect but true. I mean this is what I love by searching these people. And Sasek is so good at drawing people, buildings, cars, etc. He had such a creativity and vitality.

5. Mid Century Modern Graphic Design

Theo Inglis made a great collection of Mid Century Modern Graphic Design works and is today the best book about it. It is a bit like the History of Graphic Design books I talked above but focused on Mid Modern Century style and then gives you the opportunity to dig deeper in the people who created the style.

6. Saul Bass: a life in film and design

Of course, I could not write that post without talking about Saul Bass’s book. This is such a great book, full of great work. Another great example of vibrant style, dynamism in movie credits, great use of lettering.

I could share so many good books here… Some times I think I should set up a list of everything I read or I have on my shelves, but man I am too lazy haha :D

One more thing…

But I have a little surprise for you still. Great artist Emma Bers, which I talked about already, did set up a great Google Docs with plenty of links. It is called “Design Inspiration Archives”:

This is such an incredible resource for inspiration. So check it out and bookmark it!

The Membership corner

I just started the Practicatype program to learn more about Type Design in details. Starting next week, I will send a weekly post for paid members on how it goes and what I learn. I will also share sketches and teasers of what I work on.

Also, the atelier is now set up and my brand new typographic press is ready to print. So in each weekly update, I will share details on how it goes learning letterpress.

So if you are interested in going deeper in my process and daily work life, don’t hesitate to become a paid member. Check out the subscription page to find out all the benefits you can get:

This is it for today. With this post I don’t want you to think Instagram is crap. I just share my views and also share the importance of books and Graphic Design history for me. As Austin Kleon says “Everything you need to know is in the books” and I really believe in that. This is great to look for inspiration on social medias, but there is so much to learn from the past and from great designers who did change the game and the history of graphic design. I really think that if you want to stand out, there is a lot to learn from them :)

Have a nice end of the week.

Take care,

Francis