(Some Of) My Favorite Design Books
When it comes to books I'm pretty selective. I'm not much of a fiction person because sometimes it's hard to focus and use my imagination. I tend to like nonfiction books where I can learn about a lot of different things. One of my favorite subjects to read about is design or architecture. I've accumulated quite a few design books over the years and even my design textbook ended up being one I kept around. Of course, that's also because my professor wrote the book and my school is really keen on not buying those back at the end of the semester. At least it's a useful book to have around right?
Tangent aside, design is completely and utterly fascinating to me for so many reasons. So many reasons I think no one wants to hear on this blog (it would be the longest, most boring blog post ever). Mainly that I admire anyone who can look at an object and see something that can be made different about it. My favorite design books encompass quite a few subjects including industrial design and graphic design. There's something about the ideology of what makes certain products, designs, or brands stick and others fade away that I find very intriguing. I love that there are 6,000 unique ways to redesign objects but still make them functional. I mean how many designs for chairs have you seen in life?
The reason I chose these books is because they have a lot to offer on different subjects. Most of them provide an expansive history lesson into different aspects of the design world. They end up being really interesting crash courses almost even if you don't read the book cover to cover (which, duh, you should). I've already added three more books to my wishlist: This Brutal World (a coffee table book about Brutalist architecture), Universal Principles of Design (a how to book for all things design), and Graphic: 500 Designs That Matter (or the biggest book I've ever seen in my life).
Eames by Gloria Koenig is a glimpse into the world of Ray and Charles Eames. They introduced a multifunctional approach to objects and played with adaptable spaces like their contribution to the Case Study Homes. They have made a significant impact on the world with their furniture, textiles, architecture, photography, and film.
Ellen Lupton's Thinking With Type is one of the first design-centric books I purchased in college. It is an expansive guide to typography which includes examples, rules, and ways to be inventive with type. There are style sheets and information on everything from captions to fonts and even mixing typefaces.
Industrial Design A-Z is an encyclopedia of design from the very beginning of industrial design to now. It takes a look at individual designers, products, businesses, and brands that we have brought into our lives.
The Design of Everyday Things is a study into the reasoning why certain products satisfy our lives and others do not. It makes the case for design being a significant and important influence on our behavior as customers and consumers.
The History of Modern Design is just that. An illustrated text covering both industrial and graphic design from the 18th to the 20th centuries. It takes a look at the context in which we consume these things in our lives.