Library Guides: Graphic Design: Articles and Databases

Best All-Round Starting Place

LionSearch (Advanced Search)
an integrated search of books, e-books, research articles, newspaper articles, and other publications.

Tips for using LionSearch:

try multiple search terms with the Advanced Search option
refine your search using the options on the left side of the results page to limit by...
- Discipline: architecture, engineering, geography, etc.
- Full Text Online
- etc.
see a brief video showing how to find information on designers

The following sources are not fully covered by LionSearch and can add useful publications to your research:

Art Full Text & Art Index Retrospective This link opens in a new window
Covers art of all eras and cultures and includes graphic design & illustration.
Indexes hundreds of international art magazines, including English-language periodicals, yearbooks, and museum bulletins, as well as some published in other languages. Indexing is available for publications 1929+; abstracting for 1994+, and Full Text is often available for 1997+ but keyword searches do not explore the full texts – only the titles, subject headings, & etc.. Not covered by LionSearch.

The following important sources are mostly covered by LionSearch, but sometimes searching them separately is helpful:

ARTbibliographies Modern This link opens in a new window
Art since the late 19th century including good coverage of many design magazines.
ARTbibliographies Modern (ABM) indexes publications about art from the late 19th century to the present, providing full abstracts of journal articles, books, essays, exhibition catalogs, PhD dissertations, and exhibition reviews. Approximately 12-13,000 new entries are added each year. Entries date back as far as the late 1960s.
ARTstor This link opens in a new window
Millions of pictures of cultural heritage including many design images from the Museum of Modern Art, the Cooper Union and other sources. Sized for projection.
The ARTstor Digital Library is an image database featuring works of art and other cultural heritage from some of the world's leading museums, photo archives, scholars, and artists in one easily-navigated repository. The library of 2 million images is constantly growing. All images are accompanied by extensive metadata and are rights-cleared for specified educational uses.