Top Design books recommended by experts

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

Table of Contents

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.

Logo Modernism

This unprecedented TASCHEN publication, authored by Jens Müller, brings together approximately 6,000 trademarks, focused on the period 1940–1980, to examine how modernist attitudes and imperatives gave birth to corporate identity. Ranging from media outfits to retail giants, airlines to art galleries, the sweeping survey is organized into three design-orientated chapters: Geometric, Effect, an…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Know Your Onions: Graphic Design

It is like having a graphic design mentor who will help you come up with ideas, develop your concepts, and implement them in a way that is engaging and humorous. It gives readers the experience and ability that normally comes from years of on-the-job training.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People

100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People combines real science and research with practical examples to deliver a guide every designer needs. With it you'll be able to design more intuitive and engaging work for print, websites, applications, and products that matches the way people think, work, and play.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

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 last hundred years.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

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.

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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 structural systems beyond the traditional ordering systems of the grid – including random, radial, modular…

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.

Designing design

A good design description works as a convincing add-on for your entries. It convinces your clients and improves your chances of winning the contest. In addition, explaining your entry or design clarifies the hidden meaning behind it and its purpose.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team

From research and analysis through brand strategy, design development through application design, and identity standards through launch and governance, Designing Brand Identity, Fourth Edition offers brand managers, marketers, and designers a proven, universal five-phase process for creating and implementing effective brand identity. Enriched by new case studies showcasing successful world-cla…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

The New Designer: Rejecting Myths, Embracing Change

The choices made by designers have a significant effect on the world. Yet so much of the discourse on design focuses on aesthetics rather than ethics. In The New Designer, acclaimed author Manuel Lima aims to change this by challenging common myths and preconceptions about what comprises good design.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

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

Design As Art

One of the last surviving members of the futurist generation, Bruno Munari's Design as Art is an illustrated journey into the artistic possibilities of modern design translated by Patrick Creagh published as part of the 'Penguin on Design' series in Penguin Modern Classics.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

The Laws of Simplicity

The Laws of Simplicity (2006) by John Maeda is a guide that explores the power of simplicity in our complex world. Here's why this book is worth reading: Provides practical strategies to simplify our lives, allowing us to focus on what truly matters.

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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