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.

What Design Can't Do: Essays on Design and Disillusion

A new book released by Set Margins press, titled What Design Can’t Do: Essays on Design and Delusion by Lisbon-based designer and writer Silvio Lorusso expresses the broken nature of design, gives a platform to represent the frustrations of designers and creatives, and elaborates on why good design is about inhabiting chaos.

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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…

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Centered: People and Ideas Diversifying Design

As the design industry reexamines its emphasis on Eurocentric ideologies and wrestles with its conventional practices, Centered advocates for highlighting and giving a voice to the people, places, methods, ideas, and beliefs that have been eclipsed or excluded by dominant design movements.

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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, and haunted real estate!
Horror author and vintage paperback book collector Grady Hendrix offers …

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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.

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Grid systems in graphic design: A visual communication manual for graphic designers, typographers and three dimensional designers (German and English Edition)

A grid system is a rigid framework that is supposed to help graphic designers in the meaningful, logical and consistent organization of information on a page. It is an established tool that is used by print and web designers to create well-structured, balanced designs. Rudimentary versions of grid systems existed since the medieval times, but a group of Swiss graphic designers, mostly inspired…

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Additional Design Reading

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

Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities David Airey

In Logo Design Love, David shows you how to develop an iconic brand identity from start to finish, using client case studies from renowned designers. In the process, he reveals how designers create effective briefs, generate ideas, charge for their work, and collaborate with clients.

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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

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

Very Demure Very Spooky: Coloring Book for Adults and Teens Featuring Creepy Adorable Characters in Cozy and Spooky Vibes, Cute and Easy Designs for ... Stress Relief (Spooky - Cute - Easy Coloring)

A coloring book that blends elegance and charm with a touch of spookiness. Featuring cute and easy designs, this collection of illustrations offers a unique mix of cozy and weird with mystical yet adorable creatures.

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The Elements of Typographic Style

The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst (Book Summary) This book contains more than I've ever wanted to know about typography. It describes not only how to use fonts, but also how to create them, explaining the math and science involved in font design.

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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

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

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