read some books on graphic design and typography

Typography.
Here are some suggestions:

‘The Alphabet and Elements of Lettering’ by Frederic Goudy
‘Stop Stealing Sheep’ by Erik Spiekermann
‘The New Typography’ by Jan Tschichold
‘The Form of the Book’ by Jan Tschichold
‘An Essay on Typography’ by Eric Gill
‘The Elements of Typographic Style’ by Robert Bringhurst
‘How to Spec Type’ by Alex White

I highly recommend The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte.

I am not a designer by vocation, nor am I given to hyperbole, but this book is a joy in my life. I hope it will be for you, too.

I think I can safely say that I’ve done this. I have been bitten by the design/typography bug:)

...once I got to New York (April 1960) and saw the level of work the designers were doing – in magazines and advertising, in posters you would see around the city, at exhibitions I attended, the entire aggregate impression – I was made forcefully and abruptly to realise that I knew nothing.

...I felt I could have been dishonest enough to return to England and say I hadn’t seen great design. But I couldn’t somehow pretend that I hadn’t heard the John Coltrane Quartet.

An amusing film made in the 80s by Erik Spiekermann on typomania may be found at TypeCulture.

Thinking with Type

...type: The Secret History of Letters by Simon Loxley

...thinking with type, appendix (p 172)

Density is the new white space.
In an era of exurban sprawl, closely knit neighborhoods have renewed appeal. So, too, on page and screen, where a rich texture of information can function better than sparseness and isolation.

...Ellen Lupton’s thinking with type form the Fine Art Library. Good reviews at Amazon, so looking forward to reading it.

...Stop stealing sheep

which seems like a popular introduction to the subject.

...I’m very drawn to books on type. Should get some from the library.