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Good books on design?

Skika said:
What are some good books regarding design?
Click to expand...

What type of design?

I'll post what I listed in this thread again. Not necessarily all design books, but thoroughly invaluable in my opinion though.

• The New Typography: A Handbook for Modern Designers - by Jan Tschichold
• All That Is Solid Melts into Air: Experience of Modernity - Marshall Berman
• Lateral Thinking: A Textbook of Creativity - Edward de Bono
• Syntactic Structures - Noam Chomsky
• The End of Art Theory (Communications & Culture) - Victor Burgin
• Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus - Ludwig Wittgenstein
• Heraclitus: Translation and Analysis - Dennis Sweet
• The Design of Everyday Things - Donald A. Norman
• Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things - Donald A. Norman
• Universal Principles of Design: 100 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach Through Design - Jill Butler, Kritina Holden, Will Lidwell
• S, M, L, XL - Rem Koolhaas, Bruce Mau
• Ambition/Fear - Zuzana Licko and Rudy VanderLans (Emigre 11)
• That was then, and this is now: but what is next? - Lorraine Wild (Emigre 39)
• The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less - Barry Schwartz
• Sagmeister: Made You Look - Peter Hall
• Make It Bigger - Paula Scher
• Tibor Kalman, Perverse Optimist - Peter Hall

You can also seldom go wrong with anything with Swiss and Design in the title.

I have to say, it's been quite a while since I bought a design book, I'm struggling to think of any recent books that have truly contributed anything to the subject that either hasn't already been addressed sometime previous, or that cannot be found, in a much more interactive and engaging way on the web. Unless you're one of those perverse paper & ink fetishists of course. :p

Have to say, it's been very much to the detriment of the Design & Graphics forum here, that the likes of shecky, ATD, BlueVelvet etc no longer seem to post here on the subject. Many years of fascinating discussion, debate with those, and many others too. :(
 
Good timing on the question, I myself just picked up a bunch of books (Print/Identity/Typography and some for Inspiration)
So I can share the list with you. Mind you, the books are yet to reach me, so I cannot give you a first hand opinion on them, but rather these are what my colleagues recommended/ ones I thought I'd like.


  • Pentagram Marks by Pentagram Design
  • Thinking With Type: A Critical Guide For Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students by Ellen Lupton
  • Symbol by Angus Hyland, Steven Bateman
  • Sagmeister: Made You Look by Peter Hall, Stefan Sagmeister
  • The Art Of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher
  • The Modernist by Robert Klanten, Hendrik Hellige
  • Impressive: Printmaking, Letterpress And Graphic Design by R. Klanten, H. Hellige
 
iGav said:
What type of design?

I'll post what I listed in this thread again. Not necessarily all design books, but thoroughly invaluable in my opinion though.

• The New Typography: A Handbook for Modern Designers - by Jan Tschichold
• All That Is Solid Melts into Air: Experience of Modernity - Marshall Berman
• Lateral Thinking: A Textbook of Creativity - Edward de Bono
• Syntactic Structures - Noam Chomsky
• The End of Art Theory (Communications & Culture) - Victor Burgin
• Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus - Ludwig Wittgenstein
• Heraclitus: Translation and Analysis - Dennis Sweet
• The Design of Everyday Things - Donald A. Norman
• Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things - Donald A. Norman
• Universal Principles of Design: 100 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach Through Design - Jill Butler, Kritina Holden, Will Lidwell
• S, M, L, XL - Rem Koolhaas, Bruce Mau
• Ambition/Fear - Zuzana Licko and Rudy VanderLans (Emigre 11)
• That was then, and this is now: but what is next? - Lorraine Wild (Emigre 39)
• The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less - Barry Schwartz
• Sagmeister: Made You Look - Peter Hall
• Make It Bigger - Paula Scher
• Tibor Kalman, Perverse Optimist - Peter Hall

You can also seldom go wrong with anything with Swiss and Design in the title.

I have to say, it's been quite a while since I bought a design book, I'm struggling to think of any recent books that have truly contributed anything to the subject that either hasn't already been addressed sometime previous, or that cannot be found, in a much more interactive and engaging way on the web. Unless you're one of those perverse paper & ink fetishists of course. :p

Have to say, it's been very much to the detriment of the Design & Graphics forum here, that the likes of shecky, ATD, BlueVelvet etc no longer seem to post here on the subject. Many years of fascinating discussion, debate with those, and many others too. :(
Click to expand...

Some really great suggestions here.
Also agree an area of design would be helpful - otherwise its general theory book suggestions.
 
The Elements Of Typographic Style - Robert Bringhurst
A MUST read.
How to be a graphic designer, without losing your soul - Adrian Shaughnessy
LOGO - Michael Evamy
Paul Rand - Steven Heller
 
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