It’s almost fall, which means everyone is headed back to school again. Even if you graduated long ago, continuing to learn is what makes you a valuable asset to any company. If you’re a designer, you’ll need this comprehensive list of books to buoy your design knowledge. (See original article http://blog.invisionapp.com/reading-list-for-designers/.)
We picked out a few highlights from the list to share.
Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton
This is the definitive guide to using typography in visual communication, from the printed page to the computer screen. Throughout the book, visual examples show how to be inventive within systems of typographic form—what the rules are and how to break them. Thinking with Type is a type book for everyone: designers, writers, editors, students, and anyone else who works with words.
Designing for the Digital Age: How to Create Human-Centered Products and Services by Kim Goodwin
Serves as an excellent guide and reference for new and experienced human centered design practitioners. Kim Goodwin (VP of Cooper) does a great job translating her goal-oriented design processes into clear and understandable terms. Human/user centered design books can easily be littered with heavy jargon or unintelligible references that make it difficult or impossible to understand or practice. Goodwin makes a conscious effort to explain and visualize many of the concepts introduced in each chapter and keeps the research lingo within reason. (Excerpt from a review on Amazon.com)
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.
The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life by Twyla Tharp
One of the world’s leading creative artists, choreographers, and creator of the smash-hit Broadway show, Movin’ Out, shares her secrets for developing and honing your creative talents—at once prescriptive and inspirational, a book to stand alongside The Artist’s Way and Bird by Bird.
The Icon Handbook by Jon Hicks
The go-to book for the modern designer, starting at the basics and taking you right the way through to being able to create stunning iconography.
Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug
In this classic handbook on information design, Krug shares why intuitive navigation is vital for the success of any web-based product.
Check out the full list of books: http://blog.invisionapp.com/reading-list-for-designers/.