This edition's historic account is a panorama of people and events, including : The Invention of Writing and Alphabets, Medieval Manuscript Books, The Origins of Printing and Typography, Renaissance Graphic Design, The Arts and Crafts Movement, Victorian and Art Nouveau Graphics, Modern Art and Its Impact on Design, Visual Identity and Conceptual Images, Postmodern Design, and The Computer Graphics Revolution

• The prologue to graphic design : the invention of writing
• Alphabets
• The asian contribution
• illuminated manuscripts
• A graphic renaissance : printing comes to Europe
• The german illustrated book
• Renaissance graphic design
• An epoch of typographic genius
• The bridge to the twentieth century : graphic design and the industrial revolution
• The arts and crafts movement and its heritage
• Art nouveau
• The genesis of twentieth-century design
• The modernist era: the influence of modern art
• Pictorial modernism
• A new language of form
• The Bauhaus and the new typography
• The modern movement in America
• The age of information : the international typographic style
• The New York school
• Corporate identity and visual system
• The conceptual image
• National visions within a global dialogue
• Postmodern design
• The digital revolution and beyond