he didn't do it! the steven heller book quiz
Heller yeah?
Heller nah?
It wasn’t so long ago that designing for digital was the futuristic exception, not the norm. This book helped guide print designers to a whole new world.
2001
Published
Steven Heller
edited by
The Education of an E-Designer
Heller lists this as an all-time favorite. “I was happy to show that the tools of branding are neither benign nor innocent,” he told us.
2008
written by
Iron Fists: Branding the 20th Century Totalitarian State
How can educators take design learning beyond the memorization of dates and places? Here, Heller consults with experts to examine the practice more deeply.
1989
Teaching Graphic Design History
This is one of many collaborations between Heller and Chwast, whom he describes as his best friend.
Steven Heller & Seymour Chwast
Sourcebook of Visual Ideas
You’re right! This isn’t Heller, but this graphic exploration of the 20th century artistic movement is as captivating as the art itself.
2006
Chris Rodrigues & Chris Garratt
Introducing Modernism: A Graphic Guide
Which of these did steven heller no.t work on?
NOT
Sorry! Try again.
“This was my first book of collected essays,” Heller says, “recast to flow as a history of ‘object lessons.’”
2014
Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design
Heller and Anderson turn to the design titans—Tibor Kalman, Paula Scher, and Herb Lubalin— for inspiration and wisdom.
2016
Steven Heller & Gail Anderson
The Graphic Design Idea Book
This compilation of 60+ graphic design syllabi helps educators get a sense for the most pressing topics in design classrooms today.
2017
Teaching Graphic Design
Bold 3-D lettering was all the rage at the turn of the 20th century, and today, it’s back in style. Explore popular and rare examples from around the world.
2013
Steven Heller & Louise Fili
Shadow Type
Not a Heller! This introductory book makes use of puzzles and other visual challenges to demonstrate design concepts in an engaging way.
2019
Sophie Cure & Aurélien Farina
Graphic Design Play Book
Good Job! Not a heller. Click for Next question.
People love to say it, but does that make it true? Here, Heller and Fink explore addition by subtraction with expert insight.
1999
Steven Heller & Anne Fink
Less Is More: New Simplicity in Graphic Design
This book takes a look at how artists use type in supersized ways, including on buildings, sculptures, and outdoor displays.
Steven Heller & Mirko Ilic
Lettering Large: Art and Design of Monumental Typography
This one wasn’t Heller’s! But that doesn’t make this book about punctuation marks and typographic symbols any less interesting.
2015
Adriana Caneva & Shiro Nishimoto
Glyph*
Heller described this collaborative effort with his wife, graphic designer Louise Fili, as “a family affair. A family passion. And an historical eye candy sampler.”
2005
Euro Deco
This anthology of essays also includes intros from other design books because of course, Heller has written enough intros to make a collection.
2022
essays by
For the Love of Design
not one of Steven Heller’s?
?
Solve row 1 to reveal more
Solve row 2 to reveal more
Good Job! Not a heller. Next question.
Solve row 3 to reveal more
Not a Heller! Reinfurt’s textbook, originally designed for students at Princeton University, serves as a comprehensive introduction for a design beginner.
David Reinfurt
A *New* Program for Graphic Design
This book, an anthology from the AIGA Journal of Graphic Design, takes a closer look at how graphic design has shaped our everyday lives.
1997
Steven Heller & Marie Finamore
Design Culture
The swastika once marked good fortune, but its use by Nazis renders it unredeemable today. Heller examines it and other symbols of hate here.
The Swastika and Symbols of Hate: Extremist Iconography Today
Understand a century of graphic design with this book, which features work from influential artists from each year back to 1900.
Icons of Graphic Design
Heller’s book was one of the first to examine the use of sex and innuendo in mainstream media.
2000
Sex Appeal: The Art of Allure in Graphic and Advertising Design
Biography
Solve row 4 to reveal more
Solve row 5 to reveal more
Heller
Genuine
A prestigious committee of editors selected this collection of practical, theoretical, and funny essays on design.
1994
Michael Bierut, William Drenttel, Steven Heller, & D.K. Holland
Looking Closer: Critical Writings on Graphic Design
Heller is an advocate for socially responsible design, and here, he and Vienne stir debate with more than 70 essays and interviews.
2018
Steven Heller & Véronique Vienne
Citizen Designer: Perspectives on Design Responsibility
Heller and Anderson dive into examples that showcase typography as integral to its message or its speaker.
Type Tells Tales
“I got my start in avant-garde papers and mags. This gave me a chance to historically chronicle from my perspective,” Heller told us.
Merz to Emigré and Beyond: Progressive Magazine Design of the 20th Century
Nothing to do with Heller! This collaborative effort from a diverse team of design pros offers a new take on the design canon.
2021
Ellen Lupton, Farah Kafei, Jennifer Tobias, Josh A. Halstead, Kaleena Sales, Leslie Xia, & Valentina Vergara
Extra Bold
“My favorite historical collab,” says Heller. “This was a chance to meld minds with our knowledge and tastes for design idioms and dialects.”
Graphic Style: From Victorian to Hipster
Dive in, type nerds: This anthology about the history, aesthetics, and practice of type design contains over 50 important texts.
Steven Heller & Phillip B. Meggs
Texts on Type: Critical Writings on Typography
Though not a Heller publication, this book about racial and ethnic stereotypes in design was indeed a Heller idea! He had a contract for the book, but at this point, he says he’ll never write it.
????
from the mind of
Victims of the Image
This compilation of interviews shows a more colorful side of a few notable designers and artists. In their stories, you’ll better understand the visual world all around us.
Steven Heller & Elinor Pettit
Design Dialogues
In this book, Heller conducted interviews with his BFF that helped to expose Chwast’s artistic motivations and processes.
2020
text by
Seymour Chwast: Inspiration and Process in Design
You might not expect an alum of the underground mags Screw and Mobster Times to be America’s authority on graphic design, but over a 40-year career, Steven Heller has authored, edited, compiled, or contributed to over 200 books about design. It’s a collection so expansive that it’s pointless to ask if a given book is a Heller project. A better question might be: Which of these books is not one of Steven Heller’s?
Screw
Mobster Times
Good Job! You're a heller Expert.
Milton Glaser: POP
The Daily Heller
Start oveR
“I come up with some pretty lame ideas on a regular basis, but if you come up with enough lame ones, you’ll hit on a good one every so often.”
speaking to OnCreativity
—STEVEN HELLER
Steven Heller is an art director, lecturer, curator, critic, and design historian based in New York City. At the age of 17, Heller became the art director of the New York Free Press (despite having never received a formal art education), going on to become the art director for the New York Times Book Review just nine years later. In addition to his prolific writing, Heller serves as the co-chair of the MFA Design Department at the School of Visual Arts. In recent years, Heller has amassed a loyal following on Twitter, where he shares his daily musings on The Daily Heller. His next book, Milton Glaser: POP, will be released in March.
the heller book quiz
start the quiz
You might not expect an alum of the underground mags Screw and Mobster Times to be America’s authority on graphic design, but over a 40-year career, Steven Heller has authored, edited, compiled, or contributed to more than 200 books about design. It’s a collection so expansive that it’s pointless to ask if a given book is a Heller project. A better question might be: Which of these books is not one of Steven Heller’s?
Heller*
which of these did steven heller n.ot work on?
Try again!
question
these books
about
Learn more
Go to next
Still Cool
Not a Heller
Essays by
Edited by
Winner!
Written By
tap for more
Which of these books did Steven Heller NO.T write?
written
*
watch video
In addition to his prolific writing, Heller serves as the co-chair of the MFA Design Department at the School of Visual Arts. In recent years, Heller has amassed a loyal following on Twitter, where he shares his daily musings on The Daily Heller. His next book, Milton Glaser: POP, will be released in March.
book cover design tk (not forgotten!)
Steven Heller is an art director, lecturer, curator, critic, and design historian based in New York City. At the age of 17, Heller became the art director of the New York Free Press (despite having never received a formal art education), going on to become the art director for the New York Times Book Review just nine years later.
