[[✨ Don't Get Distracted — Make Mocks and other reminders to myself on how to become a better designer]] # My Favorite Books a Designer Should Read Created on 2021-09-18 Some of these are design books but many will make you a better designer without being about design at all. Most books in this list are somewhat timeless rather than focused on a specific how-to approach appropriate only for a particular short period in time. Many of these will be fascinating, if not more, for non-designers as well. Related: [[Book Wishlist]] ## Defining Design 1. [The Politics of Design](http://thepoliticsofdesign.com/about-the-book) by Ruben Pater 2. [Every/any book](https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_vdqi) by Edward Tufte 3. [The Shape of Design](https://shapeofdesignbook.com/chapters/00-introduction/) by Frank Chimero 4. [Understanding Comics](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/102920.Understanding_Comics?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=2q1eDcVjNN&rank=1) by Scott McCloud 5. [Picture This](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/910352.Picture_This?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=i4BwReh4L7&rank=1) by Molly Bang 6. [The Death and Life of Great American Cities](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30833.The_Death_and_Life_of_Great_American_Cities?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=D8mGWvhexS&rank=1) by Jane Jacobs ## Humanity & Art 1. [Are We Human?](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30281180-are-we-human-notes-on-an-archaeology-of-design) by Colomina & Wigley 2. [The Tree](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/256020.The_Tree?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=oKGOjumOtx&rank=1) by John Fowles 3. [Silence in the Age of Noise](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36243813-silence?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=7G2YcJlTPf&rank=1) by Erling Kagge 4. [Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/316362.Operating_Manual_for_Spaceship_Earth?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=DhhY3ZVELM&rank=1) by Buckminster Fuller 5. [Dying: A Memoir](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29894007-dying?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=NsGPrcxRoc&rank=1) by Cory Taylor 6. [Good Muslim Boy](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25574366-good-muslim-boy?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=tya4yRMOjD&rank=1) by Osama Sami ## History & Computers 1. [The Information: A History, A Theory, a Flood](https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780007225736) by James Gleick 2. [Men, Machine and Modern Times](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54698719-men-machines-and-modern-times-50th-anniversary-edition?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=TNlqplXJi4&rank=2) by Elting E. Morison 3. [User Friendly](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41940285-user-friendly?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=s7Tg0zFhUw&rank=1) by Cliff Kuang 4. [The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic—and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36086.The_Ghost_Map?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=87EFr6XKVB&rank=1) by Steven Johnson 5. [Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35574990-wonderland?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=Lg9uoIAC4w&rank=1) by Steven Johnson ## Sci-Fi, Fiction 1. [1984](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40961427-1984?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=4qFOds18Au&rank=1) by George Orwell 2. [Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/629.Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=BiNRI5iDMu&rank=1) by Robert Pirsig 3. [Vision of Home: Issue One](https://www.readvisions.com/) 4. [Book of Hope](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25620781-the-book-of-hope?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=kC5sgLGiI9&rank=1) by Tommi Musturi ## Tech & Ethics 1. Everything Published by [Logic Magazine](https://logicmag.io/#books) 2. [Where am I Wearing](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4857693-where-am-i-wearing?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=YTw98LtKp5&rank=1) by Kelsey Timmerman 3. [Invisible Woman: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41104077-invisible-women?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=fTUnwKVXqo&rank=1) by Caroline Criado Perez 4. [How to Be Less Stupid About Race](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37823717-how-to-be-less-stupid-about-race?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=goOFxkswlh&rank=1) by Crystal Marie Flemming 5. [Race After Technology](https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Race+After+Technology%3A+Abolitionist+Tools+for+the+New+Jim+Code-p-9781509526406) by Ruha Benjamin (Haven't read this one yet but very excited to) ## Business 1. [Strategic Thinking Skills](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31654261-strategic-thinking-skills?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=OhccQZqCHs&rank=1) by Stanley Ridgley 2. [Nickled & Dimed](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1869.Nickel_and_Dimed) by Barbara Ehrenreich 3. [Life on the Line](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2463284.Life_on_the_Line?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=WXqzM4tTao&rank=1) by Solange De Santis 4. [Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/760025.Positioning?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=UxTUgkBtj3&rank=1) by Al Ries, Jack Trout 5. [Ego is The Enemy + The Obstacle is the Way](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43350146-the-obstacle-is-the-way-ego-is-the-enemy?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=beo6hNeZVX&rank=2) by Ryan Holiday 6. [The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/316767.The_Box?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=ePSwy8RNgy&rank=1) by Marc Levinson