Research Guides: Graphic Design: Get Started

Are you helping? with salvage, by the Works Progress Administration, 1941-1943. Public domain reproduction provided courtesy the Library of Congress.

Graphic Design Research Guide

Welcome to the CCA Libraries guide to graphic design research. This site helps students and faculty find the resources they need for their academic and creative practices, including links to subscription databases and other research tools. This guide directs you on how to find the best books, articles, design materials, and images, plus examples of how to cite sources in your work. If you have any research questions, ask one of CCA's librarians -- we're here to help.

Research Databases for Graphic Design

These resources are our best bets for graphic design research. They represent just a few of the databases licensed by the CCA Libraries for students, faculty, and staff. You can also check out our complete list of online resources.

Articles from Journals and Magazines (see more options)

Art & Architecture Source
Full-text articles and citations from journals and books related to fine, decorative, and commercial art, as well as architecture and architectural design.
Design and Applied Arts Index
Citations for research on design and craft.
Information on all aspects of design and crafts, from textiles and ceramics to vehicle design, advertising and sustainability. Covers journal articles, exhibition reviews and news items from 1973 to the present.
JSTOR
Scholarly articles from hundreds of journals in a wide range of academic subjects, including art and design.

Online Encyclopedias (see more options)

Reference sources are the best place to start your research. They . . .

offer introductory information
define key terms
help you focus your research topic

Bloomsbury Design Library
A wide-ranging set of materials on the history of various design disciplines, includes an Encyclopedia of Design, ebooks, and profiles of specific designers.
"From Alvar Aalto to virtual reality design, and from authoritative reference information to innovative scholarly research, the Bloomsbury Design Library provides unrivalled coverage of design and crafts worldwide, from 1500 BCE to the present day.

Including a fast-expanding range of full-text content and images, underpinned by a specially developed taxonomy, the Bloomsbury Design Library is an invaluable resource for students, academics and researchers in Visual Arts and Design."
Encyclopedia Britannica
The complete academic encyclopedia, related articles, images, and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.
Oxford Art Online
Art encyclopedias and dictionaries online, including full-text access to the fundamental Grove Dictionary of Art.
Oxford English Dictionary
A guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of 600,000 words from across the English-speaking world.

Books and Videos (see more options)

Images (see more options)

Artstor
High-resolution digital images for the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences. As of 2024, all Artstor content is now hosted on JSTOR.
A digital library of more than two million images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences with a set of tools to view, present, and manage images for teaching and research. The collections include contributions from international museums, photographers, libraries, scholars, photo archives, and artists -- including CCA.