Books

The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst. The bible, that no designer should be without

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte. The first of his ground-plowing series on efficient information design. Start with this one. (BTW, if you happen to have been at The Washington Post and find David’s original copy, really appreciate its return. Signed, first edition. David’s fault for lending it out)

The Shape of Design by Frank Cimero. Inspiring thoughts on creativity—reinforced by its beautiful design. Also set up as a website for those who don't feel tactility is an impactful aspect of reading. (Unfortunately the hardcover edition looks to no longer be in print, thus can't reliably vouch for the softcover)

Road to Seeing by Dan Winters. Most auto-biographical books by photographers are too often a slog. This one is not. Inspiring and a beautiful object befitting the craftsman who is its author

Self-Portrait, U.S.A. by David Douglas Duncan. Masterpiece coverage of the 1968 political conventions and my inspiration to pursue the black (and white) arts of photojournalism. Long out of print, but available online here and there

Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clark, and the Making of a Masterpiece by Michael Benson. If you want to read about the obsession of a visual genius

Web sites/newsletters

Coverjunkie.com. If you need inspiration, this is the go-to site for the very best of contemporary magazine covers. Obsessively and lovingly (same thing, right?) curated by Jaap Biemans, art-director of Volkskrant Magazine

PetaPix.com for keeping abreast of photo-related news

Typewolfe.com, an inspiring site created by Jeremiah Shoaf, is a spot-on take following contemporary typographic trends. If you are looking to find fonts for clients, such as tight-budget non-profits, Jeremiah's "Definitive Guide to Free Fonts" is well worth the cost

Subtraction.com. Digital designer Khoi Vinh's, now at Adobe, was a great take on digital design, but now has downshifted into—still worthy—critiques of cinema

Resources

Maps: For base maps, Freevectormaps.com. They are free with credit, but we always buy them. They’re a great starting point for building very simple maps. For more complex mapping, we hire a pro!

Icons: Go-to set are from Streamline Icons, a massive number of expertly drawn icons. Some are free, but bought the entire set and it has been worth every penny. Plus they keep expanding it, and have—so far—offered these updates free for those who own a license. Also, The Noun Project, where individual artists make their work available for purchase and some for free.

Fonts & background images: Design Cuts is a decent site for various graphic design files and fonts, particularly textured backgrounds and clip art, but the best part is their Friday newsletter "Freebie" offer. Every now and then there are some very useful files or font offerings provided for free or at very low cost.

Our tools

Adobe CC suite. Indesign being the centerpiece for design. Lightroom and Photoshop for photo editing

Slack for projects with multiple participants and many parts to keep track of. (E-mail is not the place to manage projects.) Well-integrated apps for iOS

Dropbox for routine file sharing; Wetransfer.com for one-off, big file delivery; Google-docs/sheets for open editing with teams

Backblaze for off-site back up

SquareSpace, for website design and Network Solutions for site backend and email

Our stuff

Article by David: Why I Like This Photo, about David Douglas Duncan for PetaPixel

Article by David: Trust in the Age of Digital Manipulation, for those entering contests such as World Press Photo

Article by David: 10 Tips for a portfolio review, for emerging photographers

Article by David: Cotton Colson: 'Keep going' on the loss of an inspiring photographer

TED Talk by David: The Power of Photography