Graphic and information design
Grid Systems in Graphic Design
An excellent book on the use of grids. This book is out of print, but Amazon can track it down for you.
The Grid
This book was written in 1982 and focuses on newspaper, book, and magazine design, but it is completely relevant to the web.
Primer of Visual Literacy
An old book (1973), but a great basic text. It attempts to provide a syntax for visual communication.
The Elements of Typographic Style
An excellent book on typography. Not only is it useful, it is beautifully designed and written.
The New Typography
A great book on typography. Though he later recanted much of this book, Tschicold‘s book is an essential on moderist typography and remains enormously influential.
Learning from Las Vegas
A controversial book when it appeared in 1972, the “father of post-moderism” uses Las Vegas to advance the notion that moderist architecture is, well, boring.
Information Anxiety
I haven't read the updated version, but the original was ground breaking and well worth reading. The book is targeted at those that are anxiety-ridden by information, rather than those who try to alleviate it.
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
The first of the trinity focuses primarily, as the title suggests, on communicating quantitative data, as in charts and graphs.
Envisioning Information
The second book goes beyond communicating numbers, and into the realm of communicating complex ideas through visual means.
Visual Explanations
The third book of this essential series focuses on how to communicate data and information that changes over time.
