Top Design books curated by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we have connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favouriteDesign books – and here are the answers.

  • Curated by industry experts
  • Proven learning resources
  • Updated annually
Top Design books recommended by experts
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Fundamentals of Design

Understanding the concepts of Design starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

Decolonizing Design: A Cultural Justice Guidebook

Decolonizing Design: A Cultural Justice Guidebook

Decolonizing Design first asks how modernist design has encompassed and advanced the harmful project of colonization—then shows how design might address these harms by recentering its theory and practice in global Indigenous cultures and histories.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Typographic Systems of Design: Frameworks for Type Beyond the Grid (Graphic Design Book on Typography Layouts and Fundamentals)

Typographic Systems of Design: Frameworks for Type Beyond the Grid (Graphic Design Book on Typography Layouts and Fundamentals)

Typographic organization has always been a complex system in that there are so many elements at play, such as hierarchy, order of reading, legibility, and contrast. In Typographic Systems, Kim Elam, author of our bestselling books, Geometry of Design and Grid Systems, explores eight major struct…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction

Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction

Take a tour through the horror paperback novels of two iconic decades . . . if you dare. Page through dozens and dozens of amazing book covers featuring well-dressed skeletons, evil dolls, and knife-wielding killer crabs! Read shocking plot summaries that invoke devil worship, satanic children, …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Christmas Coloring Book For Kids: Cute And Easy Christmas Stocking Stuffer Coloring Book For Kids With Santas, Christmas Trees, Reindeer, Snowmen, Toys And Ornaments (Xmas Coloring Book For Kids)

Christmas Coloring Book For Kids: Cute And Easy Christmas Stocking Stuffer Coloring Book For Kids With Santas, Christmas Trees, Reindeer, Snowmen, Toys And Ornaments (Xmas Coloring Book For Kids)

This fun and easy Christmas coloring book is designed for kids, toddlers and preschool girls and boys. It includes over 50 beautiful festive and cheerful designs with cute Christmas Santas, snowmen, Christmas trees, ornaments, gifts, toys and other seasonal images for kids fun and increase creat…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Branding Michael Johnson

Branding Michael Johnson

In Branding, Johnson strips everyday brands down to their basic components, with case studies that enable us to understand why we select one product or service over another and allow us to comprehend how seemingly subtle influences can affect key life decisions.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Typographic Systems of Design: Frameworks for Type Beyond the Grid  Kimberly Elam

Typographic Systems of Design: Frameworks for Type Beyond the Grid Kimberly Elam

In Typographic Systems, Kim Elam, author of our bestselling books, Geometry of Design and Grid Systems, explores eight major structural systems beyond the traditional ordering systems of the grid – including random, radial, modular, and bilateral systems.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Additional Design Reading

These books are not required for you to learn Design, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

Thinking with Type

Thinking with Type

Thinking with Type is divided into three sections: letter, text, and grid. Each section begins with an easy-to-grasp essay that reviews historical, technological, and theoretical concepts, and is then followed by a set of practical exercises that bring the material covered to life.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Universal Principles of Design: 100 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach Through Design Jill Butler

Universal Principles of Design: 100 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach Through Design Jill Butler

Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated is a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary encyclopedia covering 125 laws, guidelines, human biases, and general considerations important to successful design. Richly illustrated and easy to navigate, it pairs clear explanations of every design con…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

How to Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul

How to Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul

How to Be a Graphic Designer offers clear, concise guidance along with focused, no-nonsense strategies for setting up, running, and promoting a studio; finding work; and collaborating with clients.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation

Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation

This book introduces the idea of design thinking‚ the collaborative process by which the designer′s sensibilities and methods are employed to match people′s needs not only with what is technically feasible and a viable business strategy. In short‚ design thinking converts need into demand.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

The Design of Everyday Things

The Design of Everyday Things

The Design of Everyday Things is a best-selling book by cognitive scientist and usability engineer Donald Norman about how design serves as the communication between object and user, and how to optimize that conduit of communication in order to make the experience of using the object pleasurable…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design

100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design

100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design is an accessible and compact book which demonstrates how ideas influenced and defined graphic design, with stunning visual examples. It is both a great source of inspiration and a provocative record of some of the best examples of graphic design from the las…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

This list is curated by MentorCruise and can include Amazon affiliate links. Have any other suggestions? Add here.

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