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 โ€“ 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.

Designing Type

Designing Type

Designing Type is a comprehensive guide to type design is hailed as a 'must-have' for typographers, graphic designers and students. Now fully refreshed and updated with the introduction of more contemporary typefaces and diagrams!

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 last hundred years.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

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

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

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-class brands, this Fourth Edition brings readers up to date with a detailed look at the latest trends in branding, including social networks, mobile devices, global markets, apps, video, and virtual brands.

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

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

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