Over the years, we've assembled quite the home-library of reference books - things you'd expect, like books on Japanese history, language, and culture, and specific books about anime and its history, but also books about world religions, food, fashion, and literature.
I'd like to share some of my favorites with you all, starting with the most recent addition: The Complete Commercial Artist: Making Modern Design in Japan, 1928–1930, by Gennifer Weisenfeld
This book is a (selected) compilation of a series, originally published in 24 volumes, from 1928-1930. It actually reminds me of similar but much older volumes that were created by print-makers like Unsodo - collections of designs for artists to adapt and use for inspiration in their own work.
And to be completely honest, that's what I bought it for - I'm designing some new MSB t-shirts (and have no formal design training), and like the idea of doing some interesting fonts for them...
... BUT this book doesn't just compile the images from a series of books for commercial artists, it also includes commentary, history, and information about influential designers.
While these volumes were originally published before Tomino was born, the artists, their design sensibilities, and their work, would have been influential for the generations of visual artists that followed - and many manga artists (probably animators, too), worked as commercial artists/commercial illustrators at one time or another. Not an obvious choice for gaining insight into Gundam, but by the time I'm done reading it I'd be very surprised if I hadn't learned anything relevant.
What genre of book should I write about next time? Another art-book? Something Gundam specific? History, religion, anime? Let me know in the comments!