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12 Books For Design Lovers (Vol. 1)

02/04/2020
by Clara Costa

It's never late to learn!

The books that we listed here are a must of graphic design. Some of them are good to learn the fundamentals of design and some of them are great to deepen in specific aspects of design.

These books might be for you if:

  • You are a professional designer with years of experience
  • You've just graduated and you want to learn more about design
  • You are not a designer but you'd like to learn some design fundamentals. This way you'll have an accurate knowledge when making design decisions.

Here are our recommendations!

Logo Design Love

  • Author: David Airey
  • Year: 2014

We bought it many years ago but we re-read it when we have a chance. In this book, David Airey explains how a good logo has to be. He also explores the paths to follow if you want to create a good one. A practical and easy-to-read book. A great manual for those who lead a branding project and those who usually work developing brand assets and touchpoints.

Designing Brand Identity: An essential guide for the whole branding team

  • Author: Alina Wheeler
  • Year: 5th re-edition in 2017

This book reviews the five major aspects that must be dominated to create a successful brand: from the research phase, strategy and positioning, design implementation, launch and branding management.

It is a global bestseller and a complete book to understand the processes and implications that have to create a brand. A practical and easy-to-understand book to learn how to convey the importance of branding to all those involved in the company.

Graphic Design Rules: 365 Essential Design Dos and Don'ts

  • Authors: Peter Dawson, John Foster, Tony Seddon i Sean Adams
  • Year: 2012

365 tips on graphic design. A book to develop analytical criteria based on design principles. A book that's especially good for non-designers who want to learn easily what to do and what not to do to create and validate good graphic products.

More about Graphic Design Rules

The Psychology of Colour

  • Author: Eva Heller
  • Year: 2004

The colour choices shouldn't be random and this book demonstrates why.

You will discover which values each colour has. You will learn to have a criterion based on psychology when choosing the right colour palette for your clients or your company.

More about The Psychology of Colour

The book of ideas (1&2)

  • Author: Radim Malinic
  • Years: 2016 & 2018

Do the ideas come out of nowhere? How do design and creative ideas emerge and how do they become a reality? What is the process of creation?

Creative director Radim Malinic answers all these questions in his books, while he explains his professional experience with specific cases and examples.

The book explains not only what you need to know as a designer or creative person but also the mindset you need to develop when you are involved in creative projects.

More about Book of Ideas 1 More about Book of Ideas 2

The book of branding

  • Author: Radim Malinic
  • Year: 2019

A book also by Radim Malinic. It's a basic guide with the steps to follow to develop a brand identity.

A book that makes the whole process of creating a brand identity easier to understand, both for designers and business owners.

If you are not very familiar with the branding process and you are looking for an overview, this book is for you. In fact, this is another good example of a book that's best for non-designers who want to acquire criteria in graphic design, specifically in brand creation.

More info about Book of Branding

Logo Modernism

  • Author: Jens Müller
  • Year: 2014

You can spend long hours with this book! It's like the Bible of logo design.

Jens Müller makes a super-comprehensive collection of more than 6,000 logos created between the 40s and 80s. The book also provides us with some specific case studies to discover how some logos were created and how the whole brand identity was developed.

The book, which is not exactly a small one, is in English, French and German. Yes! The same book includes all three languages ?

More about Logo Modernism

How To...

How to use graphic design to sell things, explain things, make things look better, make people laugh, make people cry, and (every once in a while) change the world

  • Author: Michael Bierut
  • Year: 2015

A book/manual/Manifesto by Michael Bierut, who is well-known as a designer and partner of the famous Pentagram agency. The book presents a compilation of his three decades of experience as a designer. In the book, he covers 36 case studies in which we can see how graphic design helped to solve problems.

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Better Web Typography

  • Author: Matej Latin
  • Year: 2018

A typeface can evoke many concepts. And that's why you can not choose the right fonts or design with them without criterion.

Better Web Typography is a really practical book that even includes exercises for Sketch / Figma to practise what you have learnt. After reading it you will know how to choose fonts properly, how to combine them, and much, much, much more. A super complete essay from macro-typography to micro-typography in a 100% practical book.

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Intuition, action, creation. Graphic Design Thinking

  • Author: Ellen Lupton
  • Year: 2012

Being creative is something that has to be trained and this book will teach you the techniques and steps to do so. It's a practical guide where the author gathers design professionals from all over the world who will give you the tools to start a design project from scratch, solve possible problems and finish with the materialisation of your ideas through design.

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Don't make me think

  • Author: Steve Krug
  • Year: 2015

If you want to master digital design this book is for you. Steve Krug, a guru of usability, in this book excels the principles of web design.

It is a practical book that explains great UX content in a funny way. A book that's a must-read for those who want to become a UI/UX designer.

More about Don't make me think
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