An incomplete but forever growing compendium

Designer reading list

Oct 14, 2023 — Browse products curated by @bobby featuring brands like Amazon, Mothchicago, Wob and more

Books for designers - 18  suggestions curated by @bobby

Bobby Ghoshal

Braun: Designed to Keep: Klemp, Klaus: 9781838663896: Amazon.com: Books

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Amazon

Design As Art: Bruno Munari

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A Poor Collector's Guide to Buying Great Art

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Where Architects Sleep | Travel | Store | Phaidon

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Phaidon

New in paperback, this book presents Dieter Rams' aesthetic philosophy through highlights from a forty-year career designing iconic consumer products that enhance our daily lives. For decades, anyone who cared about product design looked to the Braun label when choosing their appliances, radios, and other consumer items. Dieter Rams, the guiding force behind the Braun look, breaks down his design principles and processes in this elegant new paperback edition. Enumerating each of his ten principles such as "good design is innovative"; "good design is aesthetic"; "good design is useful", etc., this bestselling book presents one hundred items that embody these guidelines. Taken together, the images and texts offer the most comprehensive overview of Dieter Rams' work to date and will serve as both a reference and an inspiration for anyone interested in how and why good design matters.

Dieter Rams: Ten Principles for Good Design a book by Cees W. De Jong, Klaus Klemp, and Erik Mattie

Bookshop

Mast Books is a bookstore and gallery space located in New York City’s East Village.

On The Necessity of Gardening – Mast Books

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Mastbooks

Ten laws of simplicity for business, technology, and design that teach us how to need less but get more.Finally, we are learning that simplicity equals sanity. We're rebelling against technology that's too complicated, DVD players with too many menus, and software accompanied by 75-megabyte read me manuals. The iPod's clean gadgetry has made simplicity hip. But sometimes we find ourselves caught up in the simplicity paradox: we want something that's simple and easy to use, but also does all the complex things we might ever want it to do. In The Laws of Simplicity, John Maeda offers ten laws for balancing simplicity and complexity in business, technology, and design--guidelines for needing less and actually getting more.Maeda--a professor in MIT's Media Lab and a world-renowned graphic designer--explores the question of how we can redefine the notion of improved so that it doesn't always mean something more, something added on.Maeda's first law of simplicity is Reduce. It's not necessarily beneficial to add technology features just because we can. And the features that we do have must be organized (Law 2) in a sensible hierarchy so users aren't distracted by features and functions they don't need. But simplicity is not less just for the sake of less. Skip ahead to Law 9: Failure: Accept the fact that some things can never be made simple. Maeda's concise guide to simplicity in the digital age shows us how this idea can be a cornerstone of organizations and their products--how it can drive both business and technology. We can learn to simplify without sacrificing comfort and meaning, and we can achieve the balance described in Law 10. This law, which Maeda calls The One, tells us: Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful.

The Laws of Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life a book by John Maeda

This primer is designed to teach students the interconnected arts of visual communication. The subject is presented, not as a foreign language, but as a nati...

A Primer of Visual Literacy

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“White” is not a book about colors. It is rather Kenya Haras attempt to explore the essence of “White,” which he sees as being closely related to the origin of Japanese aesthetics – symbolizing simplicity and subtlety. The central concepts discussed by Kenya Hara in this publication are emptiness and the absolute void. Kenya Hara also sees his work as a designer as a form of communication. Good communication has the distinction of being able to listen to each other, rather than to press one’s opinion onto the opponent. Kenya Hara compares this form of communication with an “empty container”. In visual communication, there are equally signals whose signification is limited, as well as signals or symbols such as the cross or the red circle on the Japanese flag, which – like an “empty container” – permit every signification and do not limit imagination. Not alone the fact that the Japanese character for white forms a radical of the character for emptiness has prompted him the closely associate the color white with emptiness.

White | Lars Müller Publishers

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Lars Mueller Publishers

This book showcases detached houses designed by architects in Japan since 1945. It is the publication from an exhibition at the Barbican, London in 2017.
A beautiful book, showcasing 75 houses, designed by over 50 architects, divided into 13 themes such as: "Japaneseness", "Earthy Concrete", "A House is a Work of Art" and "Play".
Since the end of World War 2 the Japanese have pursued their day to day business amid a plethora of social and environmental changes encompassing the post-war recovery period, rapid economic growth of the  50's and 60's, pollution, the bubble economy and its  collapse, and natural disasters. Commissioned by individual homeowners, Japanese architects have responded to these changes by offering potential solutions to social issues, and ideas for new ways of living, via the small architecture of the house.
Soft Cover, English + Japanese, 22 x 30 cm, 256 pages.
Afterpay payment method is only available for orders over $200.

The Japanese House, Architecture & Life After 1945

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KLAY

The best of Japanese graphic poster design, from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics to the Issey Miyake logo.
Hardback, 8.25 x 11.5 in. / 500 pages / 700 color.

Contemporary Japanese Posters | Books

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Mothchicago

An essay on aesthetics by the Japanese novelist, this book explores architecture, jade, food, and even toilets, combining an acute sense of the use of space in buildings. The book also includes descriptions of laquerware under candlelight and women in the darkness of the house of pleasure.

In Praise of Shadows a book by Junichiro Tanizaki

How to Revised and Expanded Edition a book by Michael Bierut


Design: Vignelli: Graphics, Packaging, Architecture, Interiors, Furniture, Products
Written by Beatriz Cifuentes-Caballero
The definitive monograph on a master of modern design.The graphics, interiors, and products designed by Vignelli Associates are internationally recognized for their refined aesthetics, evolving modernity, and crisp execution. This landmark volume is devoted to Massimo and Lella Vignelli's influential work produced from their New York headquarters since the 1960s, as well as rarely seen early work produced in their native Italy. Design: Vignelli presents the brilliant multidisciplinary approach of the Vignellis, from designs for corporate identity programs including American Airlines, Bloomingdale's, and Benetton, to world-famous signage for the New York subway system. Their firm was also notable for its interior and furniture design, designs for magazines and newspapers, glassware and tableware, and an exhaustive collection of book designs. Many of these works have been cited as masterpieces of twentieth-century design and are included in the design collection of the Museum of Modern Art as well as in many other important museum collections.
About The Author
Beatriz Cifuentes is a principal at Waterhouse Cifuentes Design and was the longtime vice president of design at Vignelli Associates.


Publish Date: October 23, 2018


Format: Hardcover


Category: Design - Graphic Arts - Typography


Publisher: Rizzoli


Trim Size: 10 x 10


Pages: 408


ISBN: 978-0-8478-6184-2



Design: Vignelli | Books

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Actualsource

The Design Of Everyday Things: Norman, Don: 9780465050659: Amazon.com: Books

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Phaidon Book by HAY


Published by Phaidon coinciding with HAY’s 20th anniversary, this inspiring book explores the brand’s origins and astronomical trajectory – starting back in 2002 when husband and wife Rolf and Mette Hay founded the company together; including collaborations with an ever-growing stable of brilliant international designers like Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Muller Van Severen, Doshi Levien and GamFratesi, along with brands including COS, IKEA, and SONOS, among others; and the aesthetic alchemy that makes HAY’s products and retail environments so distinct.
Featuring a foreword by John Hoke, Chief Design Officer of Nike; 600+ images; interviews with key collaborators; and an illustrated timeline of key milestones and collaborations over the years.










HAY | Phaidon Book | Art, Design & Fashion Books

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Gestalten

Atlas of Furniture Design: Kries, Mateo, Eisenbrand, Jochen, Kries, Mateo, Eisenbrand, Jochen, Bassi, Alberto, Ferrari, Fulvio, Máčel, Otakar, Pavitt, Jane, de Roode, Ingeborg, Rossi, Catharine, Rüegg, Arthur, Sparke, Penny, Sudjic, Deyan, Tegethoff, Wolf, Thau, Carsten, Vindum, Kjeld, Ward, Gerald W.R.: 9783931936990: Amazon.com: Books

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Ogilvy on Advertising: Ogilvy, David: 9780394729039: Amazon.com: Books

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As one of the most recognizable brands in the world, Marvel has spent the last 80-plus years inspiring generations of creatives through its approach to visual storytelling. Marvel's comic books, in particular, established a distinct graphic language that has found its way into mainstream culture, including 1960s Pop Art, and present-day digital culture, gaming, advertising, and more. Marvel By Design will celebrate the company's visual language with an in-depth exploration of the design process behind the brand's most recognizable graphical elements including logos, covers, lettering, layout, and color palettes. Readers will learn how the renowned Marvel Method established a unique approach to the creative process and how that process can serve as a template for creatives working beyond comics. Throughout the book, Marvel by Design will connect the dots between comic culture and its undeniable influence in every creative field including the evolution of graphic design, editorial design, movies, and visual culture at large. Highlights include:
 

An expansive, five-part visual encyclopedia, highlighting examples of Marvel's exceptional approach to logos, layout, lettering, cover design, and color palettes. This section will feature insights from some of Marvel's most renowned contributors including artist Klaus Janson and letterer Todd Klein, among others.
Essays from famous graphic designers including Mike Essl and Paul Sahre, as well as from well-known Marvel contributors including letterer Chris Eliopolous and designer/editor Carl Potts. An oral history of the making of House of X, featuring Jonathan Hickman, editor Jordan D. White, and designer Tom Muller.
Case-studies that trace the visual evolution of ten iconic characters.
Hundreds of images from Marvel's past and present.

1.3" H x 13.2" L x 9.9" W
320 pages
Hardcover
