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.

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

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

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

Building Design Systems: Unify User Experiences Through a Shared Design Language

Learn how to build a design system framed within the context of your specific business needs. This book guides you through the process of defining a design language that can be understood across teams, while also establishing communication strategies for how to sell your system to key stakeholders and other contributors.
With a defined set of components and guidelines, designers can focus t…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Head First Design Patterns

At any given moment, someone struggles with the same software design problems you have. And, chances are, someone else has already solved your problem. This edition of Head First Design Patterns―now updated for Java 8―shows you the tried-and-true, road-tested patterns used by developers to create functional, elegant, reusable, and flexible software. By the time you finish this book, you’ll be …

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.

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.

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

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

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