Sources for inquiry, reference, and further study.
Research takes many forms. It can begin in an archive, a library catalog, an image collection, a scholarly resource, or with a single reference that opens onto something larger.
Developed alongside Research & Development, this collection offers starting points for exploring design history, visual and material culture, local history, open collections, and design research. The resources are intended for practitioners, students, educators, researchers, and curious minds interested in developing a deeper understanding of the subjects and contexts that inform design.
*For the full interactive experience, explore this page on desktop. ✨Washington + Regional Resources
08 SOURCESDig DC
A digital portal into selected collections from The People’s Archive at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, including photographs, maps, oral histories, newspapers, and other materials documenting Washington, DC.
DC History Center Digital Collections
Explore photographs, audiovisual materials, and other digitized resources documenting Washington and its history.
National Gallery of Art Open Access
More than 60,000 images of works from the National Gallery of Art collection are available to download and use through its Open Access program.
National Gallery of Art Library Digital Projects
Explore digitized research and image collections from the National Gallery of Art Library.
Library of Congress Digital Collections
Explore digitized photographs, prints, maps, manuscripts, newspapers, recordings, films, and other primary sources from across the Library of Congress collections.
Library of Congress Prints & Photographs
A major visual collection spanning American and international photography, posters, prints, drawings, political graphics, and other forms of visual documentation.
National Museum of African American History and Culture Collections
Explore collections documenting African American history and culture across art, design, photography, music, material culture, community life, and social history.
Archives of American Art
The Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art preserves primary records of the visual arts in America, with research centers in Washington and New York and a collection of more than 20 million items.
Design History + Archives
06 SOURCESPeople’s Graphic Design Archive
A crowd-sourced virtual archive expanding the historical record of graphic design through finished work, process, photographs, correspondence, oral histories, essays, and other forms of documentation.
AIGA Design Archives
A public record of communication design spanning more than 20,000 selections dating back to 1924.
Archives.design
A digital collection that brings together graphic design materials available through the Internet Archive.
CalArts Design School Archive
A digital collection of curricular materials, exhibitions, photographs, posters, videos, articles, and other records connected to the history of the CalArts School of Design.
Herb Lubalin Study Center
An extensive collection of graphic design, typography, editorial work, advertising, sketches, and other materials centered on Herb Lubalin and a wider group of influential twentieth-century designers.
Women of Graphic Design
A project documenting and exhibiting the contributions of women in graphic design while examining questions of representation within design history and education.
Open Image + Visual Resources
03 SOURCESCurationist
Search more than 5.4 million images from the open-access collections of museums and archives around the world. Materials can be downloaded, shared, and reused according to their open-access status.
Public Domain Image Archive
A curated collection from The Public Domain Review bringing together more than 10,000 out-of-copyright historical images for exploration and reuse.
Openverse
A search tool for discovering openly licensed and public-domain images and other media across participating collections.
Research + Scholarship
03 SOURCESAIGA Design Research Resources
A curated guide from the AIGA Design Educators Community to organizations supporting design research and scholarship, including peer-reviewed conferences, proceedings, exhibitions, and workshops.
AIGA Design History Resources and Archives
An extensive directory of archives, collections, research centers, libraries, and other resources related to design history.
We Made This: Graphic Design History Resources
A curated entry point into graphic design history resources, with direct links to general design archives, national collections, individual designer archives, and subject-specific material.
