Design books

Design books to start from. Open one to see books like it, or tell BookSense what you loved for four picks made for you.

• The Psychology of Everyday ThingsDonald A. Norman

  The Psychology of Everyday Things

  Donald A. Norman

  Introduces affordances, signifiers, and the idea that bad design is usually a failure of communication between object and user. Later reissued as The Design of Everyday Things.

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• Don't Make Me ThinkSteve Krug

  Don't Make Me Think

  Steve Krug

  A short, practical account of web usability built on the idea that users should understand a page without effort. Widely used as an introduction to interface design.

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• The Elements of Typographic StyleRobert Bringhurst

  The Elements of Typographic Style

  Robert Bringhurst

  A detailed guide to typographic practice, covering proportion, spacing, and the history of type. It is a standard reference for typesetters and designers.

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• Graphic DesignMilton Glaser

  Graphic Design

  Milton Glaser

  A designer's account of graphic design as a practice and a discipline, written by one of the best-known American poster and identity designers of his generation.

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• Learning from Las VegasRobert Venturi

  Learning from Las Vegas

  Robert Venturi

  With Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour, Venturi argues for studying commercial vernacular forms such as signs and strip architecture. It is a key text of postmodern architectural theory.

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Chosen and described with AI from our notes on the genre.

Reading lists

• Graphic design
• Typography
• Product design
• Interior design

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