A Primer of Visual Literacy, The MIT Press, 1st Ed., 1973 [Design: Muriel Cooper]

A Primer of Visual Literacy by Donis A. Dondis, 1973. 1st ed., The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 6 x 9, pp. 248. Design by Muriel Cooper, Dondis and The MIT Press Design Department.

The celebrated, elementary design textbook presents a system “for teaching and learning how to express and interpret ideas visually.” Its thoughtful subject matter is a convergence of three equal parts; explanation, method and exercise — a functional toolkit to help establish and assign meaning to design (visual communication).

This book awards readers with new perspectives and guidance on what it means to be visually literate. We’ve always been impressed by the book’s accessibility and constraints — heavily illustrated with simple and practical black and white (only one page with page) examples with an unfussy cover and interior design by pioneer designer, educator, and researcher, Muriel Cooper; Dondis and the MIT Press Design Department. The book was set in IBM Composer Univers. With a Preface, (9) Chapters, Bibliography, Illustration Credits and Index.

A very good or better hardcover with a slight smell of smoke (from previous owner); foxing to the top edge and toning to the white cloth covers. Interior pages appear unread. A very good lightly foxed dust jacket with light wear and a chip to the upper corner ... folded incorrectly; so the spine text is off–center. An important book; the last time we handled this volume was in 2020. Highly recommended!