Best Desktop Publishing Books of 2025

Design for How People Learn is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to improve their teaching and communication skills. This book provides insights and techniques for creating engaging and effective learning experiences that help the audience gain and retain knowledge. The second edition features new chapters on designing for habit and evaluating learning, as well as updated research on how people learn and remember. The author uses accessible visual metaphors and concrete examples to explain the fundamental concepts of instructional design. Overall, Design for How People Learn is a must-read for anyone who wants to create meaningful and impactful learning experiences.

Thinking with Type, 2nd revised and expanded edition by Ellen Lupton is the ultimate guide to using typography in visual communication. The book offers clear and focused guidance on how letters, words, and paragraphs should be aligned, spaced, ordered, and shaped. The new edition includes forty-eight pages of new content with the latest information on style sheets, lining and non-lining numerals, font formats, and licensing. The book is a must-read for designers, writers, editors, and students who work with words. The book is informative and well-organized, making it a valuable resource for anyone looking to improve their typography skills.

slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations by Nancy Duarte, CEO of Duarte Design, is a must-read for anyone looking to improve their presentation skills. This book provides practical approaches to visual storytelling, with insightful case studies from the world's leading brands. Duarte challenges traditional approaches to creating slides by teaching readers how to be visual thinkers. With slide:ology, readers will learn how to connect with specific audiences, turn ideas into informative graphics, and develop truly influential presentations. This book is a valuable resource for professionals at any level and is a unique addition to the communication skills book genre.

Adobe InDesign Classroom in a Book (2023 release) is a project-based learning guide that teaches graphic design using Adobe InDesign. It covers the basics and goes beyond, providing numerous tips and techniques to help users become more productive with the program. The book is suitable for both beginners and experienced users, and it offers an official training series from Adobe, developed with the support of Adobe product experts. This book is a must-have for anyone looking to improve their typographic, page layout, and document-construction skills.

Hand Bookbinding: A Manual of Instruction by Aldren Watson is a comprehensive guide to traditional bookbinding techniques. With over 270 illustrations, the manual covers materials, tools, and equipment, as well as rebinding old books and making slipcases. Additionally, it provides step-by-step directions for eight binding projects. The book is easy to follow and will be useful for those who want to create high-quality handcrafted bindings themselves. It is also a valuable reference for students and professionals in publishing and its allied trades. Overall, Hand Bookbinding is an excellent resource for anyone interested in the art and craft of bookbinding.

The Sketchnote Handbook by Mike Rohde is a beautifully illustrated guide to visual note-taking. Rohde introduces sketchnote techniques that can help you better process information and remember key points by incorporating drawing into your note-taking process. The book features step-by-step instructions for drawing out notes and addresses common fears of drawing. This book is a great introduction to visual note-taking and a useful how-to guide for anyone looking to improve their note-taking skills. Overall, it is an entertaining and memorable read that will leave you itching to attend a meeting just so you can draw about it.

This book, titled "100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People," is a must-have guide for designers who are looking to apply psychology and behavioral science to their work. The author, Susan M. Weinschenk, combines real science and research with practical examples to help designers create more intuitive and engaging products, websites, and apps that align with how people think, decide, and behave. The book answers important questions such as what grabs attention, what makes memories stick, and what motivates people. It's an incredibly well-written, researched and designed book that designers will find invaluable.

Adobe Photoshop: A Complete Course and Compendium of Features is a comprehensive guide for anyone looking to enhance their image and design skills in Adobe Photoshop. The book includes a complete course with step-by-step lessons and projects, and a compendium for in-depth knowledge and reference. The author, Steve Laskevitch, an Adobe Certified Instructor, provides practical contexts and best practices for optimal workflows. The book covers all of Photoshop’s features from setting up an ideal workspace to working with type and brushes. The book's unique feature is the cross-referencing between the Course and Compendium, making it a valuable resource for months and years to come.

The 2nd edition of Logo Design Love by David Airey is a comprehensive guide to creating iconic brand identities. With more case studies, practical information, and insider stories, Airey shows designers how to develop effective briefs, generate ideas, collaborate with clients, and charge for their work. The book features the work of renowned designers such as Paula Scher and Lindon Leader, as well as leading design studios. What sets Logo Design Love apart is its reader-friendly, concise language with a minimum of designer jargon. Anyone involved in creating visual identities will find this book invaluable.

Adobe Illustrator: A Complete Course and Compendium of Features is a comprehensive guide to building vector graphics for print, web, video, or mobile. This desktop publishing book offers a complete course with dozens of lessons and projects that cover Illustrator's features and best practices. Additionally, the compendium provides greater depth of knowledge and serves as a reference for Illustrator's key features and concepts. Written by Adobe Certified Instructor Jason Hoppe, who has over 20 years of experience in teaching graphic design and production, this book is a must-have for anyone looking to master Illustrator.