Top Design System 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 System books – and here are the answers.

Table of Contents

Fundamentals of Design System

Understanding the concepts of Design System 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.

Laying the Foundations: A book about design systems

This is real talk about creating design systems and digital brand guidelines. No jargon, no glossing over the hard realities, and no company hat. Just good advice, experience, and practical tips.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Thinking in systems

In the years following her role as the lead author of the international bestseller, Limits to Growth―the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a finite planet―Donella Meadows remained a pioneer of environmental and social analysis until her untimely death in 2001.
Thinking in Systems is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem solving on scales ranging fr…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Atomic Design

Atomic Design details all that goes into creating and maintaining robust design systems, allowing you to roll out higher quality, more consistent UIs faster than ever before. This book introduces a methodology for thinking of our UIs as thoughtful hierarchies, discusses the qualities of effective pattern libraries, and showcases techniques to transform your team's design and development workfl…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Frontend Architecture for Design Systems: A Modern Blueprint for Scalable and Sustainable Websites

Using real-world examples, case studies, and practical tips and tricks throughout, author Micah Godbolt introduces you to the four pillars of frontend architecture. He also provides compelling arguments for developers who want to embrace the mantle of frontend architect and fight to make it a first-class citizen in their next project.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Design Systems Handbook

This book guides listeners through best practices around planning, designing, building, and implementing a design system, with insights and first-hand experiences from lead designers at Shopify, Google, Apple, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

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Design Systems: A Practical Guide to Creating Design Languages for Digital Products

Not all design systems are equally effective. Some can generate coherent user experiences, others produce confusing patchwork designs. Some inspire teams to contribute to them, others are neglected. Some get better with time, more cohesive and better functioning; others get worse, becoming bloated and cumbersome.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Additional Design System Reading

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

Software Engineering at Google: Lessons Learned from Programming Over Time

Today, software engineers need to know not only how to program effectively but also how to develop proper engineering practices to make their codebase sustainable and healthy. This book emphasizes this difference between programming and software engineering.
How can software engineers manage a living codebase that evolves and responds to changing requirements and demands over the length of …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

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Hey, I’m Artem! I’ve been in tech for over a decade, building my way up from freelancing gigs to a leadership role in BigTech. I started out teaching computer science at a college, so I know a thing or two about helping people learn and grow in tech. After teaching, …

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Sid is currently a Principal Engineering Manager in Microsoft managing a distributed service. He is a result oriented engineering leader, with 20+ years of experience in leading and building high performance global distributed teams, delivering high quality software with lean, agile with continuous improvement methodologies, OKRs along with operational excellence. …

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I am a designer passionate about understanding people’s needs and crafting products for those needs. I tackle problems with care and curiosity while striving for a solution that puts a smile on the users. Previously was lead designer at Carbon Health and Amazon's global sortation technology, and head of design …

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