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.

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.

Know Your Onions: Graphic Design

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.

The User Experience Team of One: A Research and Design Survival Guide

The User Experience Team of One: A Research and Design Survival Guide

The User Experience Team of One prescribes a range of approaches that have big impact and take less time and fewer resources than the standard lineup of UX deliverables. Whether you want to cross over into user experience or you're a seasoned practitioner trying to drag your organization forward…

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.

Designing design

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.

Feminist Designer: On the Personal and the Political in Design

Feminist Designer: On the Personal and the Political in Design

A bold and timely collection that brings feminist theory and critical thinking to life through vital, approachable design methods and practices. Feminist Designer brings together a constellation of voices and perspectives to examine the intersection of design and feminist theory.

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.

Design As Art

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.

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

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.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Grid Systems in Graphic Design

Grid Systems in Graphic Design

In visual design, a grid system helps you align screen elements based on sequenced columns and rows. Like making a map, you apply the column-based structure of a grid system to guide your design, structuring your text, images and functions consistently throughout it so they can appear instantly …

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.

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.

Centered: People and Ideas Diversifying Design

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.

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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