''The Story of Graphic Design'' is a comprehensive illustrated history of the development of graphic styles in the West, from the origins of the alphabet itself, through the invention of printing in the Renaissance, and the subsequent major styles (with emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries), to the recent impact of digital technology on design. This authoritative history places major developments in the context of social, cultural and technological change and, at the same time, exposes the reader to a comprehensive selection of the greatest work by book makers and graphic designers since the invention of writing.