Process

This book won’t teach you how to be a graphic designer, but it will teach you how to survive as one. Shaughnessy includes great tips on self-promotion, finding work, managing and maintaining client relationships, and sound advice on some of the philosophical dilemmas designers encounter on the job.

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Written in 1955, Dreyfuss’ book is no less poignant today than it was then. Though Dreyfuss was an industrial designer, his book amounts to a quintessential manual for user centered design and showcases how he pioneered many of the same practices we use today in interaction design.

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A relatively thin volume, with incredibly dense language, on the role of the designer, individually and in the global community. Potter can be harsh and demanding at times in his unwavering views of the design industry and the duties of its members, but this is a rich work with much wisdom to impart. Also includes a good model for a creative process.

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A thoroughly enjoyable history of interaction design, from the first glimmers of man and machine interfaces to modern day sci-fi, that describes not only how we interact but why we interact. The book centers around interviews with interaction design luminaries who all offer up their insightful experience in the field. Required reading for any designer. Also doubles as a hefty doorstop or burglar deterrent.

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An analysis of usability, or sometimes more importantly, the lack of usability in objects. Norman seeks to expose the dangers of not considering how people interact with the things we make, as well as the hurdles to comprehending interfaces and functionality of technology. Includes some great material on complexity vs simplicity in interfaces.

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The Bauhaus School focused on bringing design to the people, reducing everyday things to their simplest, most functional forms. It encompassed many different types of art, of which graphic design was just a part, from architecture to industrial design. The lasting effects of the schools ideals and principles can still be seen today. This is as basic as it gets, useful and informative for anyone starting out.

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A ground-level course in basic design principals like rhythm, pattern, focal point, and contrast presented as assignments from a design class complete with creative thinking exercises and real solutions from the authors’ students. Solid advice and examples to help you walk before you can run. These principals are so fundamental, yet are so easily overlooked daily.

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Your basic course in grid work. Though I will probably be dragged outside and beaten, I have to say that this book is not the bees’ knees. While it is an incredibly worthwhile book in grid systems, there are many more, newer volumes that are, I dare say, easier to digest. Many designers find this book to be the end-all-be-all, most of that is due praise because Müller-Brockmann was pretty much the first guy to synthesize this information. All I am saying is every designer should read at least one grid design book, and this is the daddy of them, but do some research, you may find one that works better for you (even if they are just presenting the same information a little differently).

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Even though I thought this would be a cheesy self-help book, my opinion was quickly changed and became a very important tome. Whack teaches you just how to free up your imagination and think out of your proverbial, self-imposed box, altering your line of thinking to allow you to get to more innovative ideas and conepts. Also very worthwhile is Roger von Oech’s follow up, A Kick in the Seat of the Pants.

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