Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it. P.J. O’Rourke
My wife likes to tease me that our book collection is designed to impress guests rather than for reading. I don’t know if that zing is more about my habit of buying pretentious looking fiction or my habit of not finishing said books. Of course there’s a reason that our book collection looks so academic—I like to be challenged by books.
For me, books are a necessary part of my life as a designer. They are a way to exercise the muscle between my ears—to push myself a little past my comfort zone or to refresh my memory. They can shift my thinking just enough to lead to a breakthrough in my work. As a web designer, I enjoy books about design and programming so I have plenty of opportunities to explore both the familiar and unknown.
Here are my top five favorite books on my bookshelf, in no particular order:
The Elements of Typographic Style
★★★★★
This is a great book for anyone that is serious about typography. It is the bible of typography, filled with working typographic principles based on visual form and historic precedence. Robern Bringhurst, the author, gives a strong foundation and reference for typography. Before you break the rules of typography, learn what they are so at the very least you know you are breaking them and can break them with purpose.
Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals
★★★★
This book is all about game theory. It is one of the first books to build a theoretical framework and vocabulary for game design, interactive systems and the science of play. Does play have a place in the user experience of websites? I think it does, even if it is subtle, and we should learn what we can from the industry of game design.
Universal Principles of Design
★★★★★
This is my favorite book on this list. In fact, click on the title now and buy this book – it’s awesome. Universal Principles of Design is a cross-disciplinary reference for designers. If you are a marketing person, ux designer, visual designer, industrial designer or anyone that does anything creative then you will probably fall in love with this book.
It contains many principles of design. Each spread outlines a principle with a description on the left and examples and illustrations on the right which is a great format for browsing. I use this book as a source for idea generation and a way to force myself to look outside the box.
Typography Essentials: 100 Design Principles for Working with Type
★★★★
I didn’t even realize it before but this book is published by Rockport, the same group that published Universal Principles of Design. As the name suggest it outlines 100 design principles for working with type. Like Universal Principles of Design, they cover one principle for each spread with many examples. This book will feel more like a review for anyone that has gone to art school but it’s still a lot of fun to refresh your memory.
Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software
★★★★
This one is the black sheep of the bunch. It is really a book for developers. But if you find yourself getting more serious about programming or even if you want to have a better idea of how developers structure code then I recommend this book. Be warned, it’s very dense stuff. If you can make it through you will have a much greater appreciation of the art of writing code even if you can’t understand all of it.
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The “gang of four” book is a curve ball. A good one, though.
Yeah, one of these things is not like the other. But I think it should be required reading for anyone trying to wrap their heads around object oriented programming, including any hybrid designer/developer or designer who wants a challenge. It’s a classic.
It’s one of the real giants of programming books.