<p>Published on <a href="https://blog.prototypr.io/12-amazing-books-to-get-you-started-in-design-fa9c6f0df2bb?source=rss----eb297ea1161a---4">| Prototyping: From UX to Front End &mdash; Medium</a> Designlab <img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/0*D0_x2BGzyZAIc_pr.png"></p>
<p><strong>There are thousands of great books out there covering every imaginable corner of design. So, as a beginner, where should you start?</strong></p>
<p>Read on for our list of 12 essential books to kick off your learning. They include introductions to visual composition, color, typography and user experience — as well as helpful guides to working in the industry.</p>
<h3>First, get inspired.</h3>
<h4>1. Caroline Roberts — Graphic Design Visionaries</h4>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/920/0*DQ-XivdG8IKubkq6.jpg"></p>
<p>You’ll be wowed by the 75 design greats in this rich compilation. Organised chronologically, Caroline Roberts’ book doubles as a history of design, told through individual creative work.</p>
<p>Available here: <a href="http://www.laurenceking.com/us/graphic-design-visionaries-1/">Graphic Design Visionaries</a></p>
<h4>2. Paul Rand — Thoughts on Design</h4>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/900/0*7Xgw_KsOWHY4XdVq.jpg"></p>
<p><em>Thoughts on Design</em> is a classic by Paul Rand, a graphic design legend who created iconic logos and campaigns for clients including IBM, UPS, and Westinghouse. In this book, Rand explores how design can integrate the beautiful and the useful.</p>
<p>Available here: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Thoughts-Design-Paul-Rand/dp/081187544X">Thoughts on Design</a><br />Read more about Paul Rand <a href="https://www.wired.com/2015/04/paul-rand-visionary-showed-us-design-matters/">at Wired</a></p>
<h3>Next, explore visual design principles…</h3>
<h4>3. Christian Leborg — Visual Grammar</h4>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/0*TjmXJnbBjMvYiqqK.jpg"></p>
<p><em>Visual Grammar</em> presents the principles by which a visual field can be composed, and how the relationships between elements create meaning. It’s an abstract, illustrative book that conveys principles such as “influence” — the way two objects appear to act upon one another.</p>
<p>Available here: <a href="http://www.papress.com/html/product.details.dna?isbn=9781568985817">Visual Grammar</a></p>
<h4>4. Counter-Print’s Logo series of books</h4>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1000/0*WSIR1OB7xWEGO0SC.jpg"></p>
<p>British publisher Counter-Print have published this amazing series of six short books, each of which explores a different category of logo design — including “Abstract”, “Alphabet”, and “Animal”.</p>
<p>Available here: <a href="https://www.counter-print.co.uk/products/cp-logo-set">Logo Set at Counter-Print (UK)</a> and at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&amp;field-keywords=counter-print+logo">Amazon (US)</a></p>
<h3>…and don’t forget typography and color!</h3>
<h4>5. Ellen Lupton — Thinking with Type</h4>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/0*C-QujXJpcaDppRar.jpg"></p>
<p><em>Thinking With Type</em> is a practical typography resource that introduces the principles of typography, and explains how to choose and work with type across a range of projects and applications.</p>
<p>Read more at <a href="http://thinkingwithtype.com/">thinkingwithtype.com</a>. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-Second-Revised-Expanded/dp/1568989695">It’s also available in print.</a></p>
<h4>6. Sean Adams, Terry Stone, Noreen Morioka — Color Design Workbook: A Real World Guide to Using Color in Graphic Design</h4>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1000/0*Qko7xInjAXTc1w0P.jpg"></p>
<p><em>Color Design Workbook</em> gives an introduction to color theory, and presents a wide range of case studies and examples of color systems. This is a thorough, practical point of reference for using color — one of the most difficult topics for design beginners.</p>
<p>Available here: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Color-Design-Workbook-World-Graphic/dp/1592534333">Color Design Workbook</a><br />See also <a href="http://trydesignlab.com/blog/sketch-tips-building-great-color-palettes/">our 11 tips for building great color palettes.</a></p>
<h3>Then, find out about user experience design and design thinking.</h3>
<h4>7. Steve Krug — Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach To Web Usability</h4>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/0*rl8HTdyt5ivl9REf.jpg"></p>
<p>This classic text is named after “Krug’s First Law of Usability”: <em>Don’t Make Me Think</em>. If you’re interested in user experience design — how to make a user’s experience of a product or service both efficient and enjoyable — this book is a great place to start.</p>
<p>Available here: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Think-Revisited-Usability/dp/0321965515/">Don’t Make Me Think</a><br />Find out more at <a href="https://www.sensible.com/">Steve Krug’s website</a></p>
<h4>8. Tim Brown — Change By Design</h4>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/850/0*pH-u4A6aOtYwVP0u.jpg"></p>
<p>In <em>Change By Design,</em> IDEO CEO Tim Brown explains design thinking — a collaborative, human-centered approach to innovation — and how it can help to transform products and organisations.</p>
<p>Available here: <a href="https://www.ideo.com/post/change-by-design">Change By Design</a><br />Read our write-up: <a href="http://trydesignlab.com/blog/great-design-thinking-tim-brown-ideo/">Great Design Thinkers — Tim Brown On Design Thinking</a></p>
<h3>Get different perspectives on the industry.</h3>
<h4>9. Aaron Draplin — Draplin Design Co.: Pretty Much Everything</h4>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/0*DZOWyIF7_EEjttLt.jpg"></p>
<p>Aaron Draplin’s first book, <em>Pretty Much Everything</em>, tells the story of his career so far. Inspiring, fun, and brutally honest, he explains how he got started in the industry — completing small design gigs, working on a snowboarding magazine, and even creating the Field Notes brand of notebooks.</p>
<p>Available here: <a href="http://www.draplin.com/ddc_book/">Pretty Much Everything</a><br />Check out <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PMK1M7ZxJc">Aaron Draplin’s awesome TED Talk</a></p>
<h4>10. Phil Cleaver — What they didn’t teach you in design school</h4>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/0*CVr2gjpJ_Xj10Qlj.jpg"></p>
<p><em>What they didn’t teach you in design school</em> is packed with practical advice from Phil Cleaver, a designer with over 40 years of industry experience. His tips range from putting together a portfolio and what to wear to interview, to exporting documents for handoff and managing relationships with external contractors.</p>
<p>Available here: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/What-didnt-teach-design-school/dp/1781571465">What they didn’t teach you in design school</a></p>
<h3>And finally, take a look at these manifestos — and remember not to let all this reading inhibit your own creativity.</h3>
<h4>11. Michael Bierut — 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</h4>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/0*H_VhDlyOyL020f-u.png"></p>
<p>Pentagram partner Michael Bierut presents a retrospective of his career, offering deep insight into his process through preliminary drawings, models, as well as finished work.</p>
<p>Available here: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Design-Things-Explain-Better/dp/0062413902/">How To Use Graphic Design</a></p>
<h4>12. Frank Chimero — The Shape of Design</h4>
<p><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1000/0*811RgMuscWCLy-Ve.jpg"></p>
<p>Frank Chimero describes himself as a multi-disciplinary designer, accidental writer, and lapsed illustrator. He’s best known for <em>The Shape of Design</em>, this beautiful and insightful meditation on the designer’s vocation. It’s available to read online for free.</p>
<p>Available here: <a href="https://shapeofdesignbook.com/">The Shape Of Design</a><br />Read our take: <a href="http://trydesignlab.com/blog/frank-chimero-design-thinkers-shape-of-design/">Great Design Thinkers — Frank Chimero on The Shape of Design</a></p>
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<h3><em>Learn the fundamentals with Designlab</em></h3>
<p>We offer mentor-led short courses like Design 101, as well as an immersive UX Academy program to prepare you for a career as a professional user experience designer. <a href="http://trydesignlab.com/courses/">Find out more over on our Courses page,</a> and drop us a line at <a href="mailto:hello@trydesignlab.com">hello@trydesignlab.com</a> with any questions. Our next courses start in early August, so don’t delay!</p>
<p><strong><em>The Designlab Promise: </em></strong><em>We believe that education should be both rigorous and affordable — you shouldn’t have to break the bank to get the skills you need to take the next step in your life.</em></p>
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<p><a href="https://blog.prototypr.io/12-amazing-books-to-get-you-started-in-design-fa9c6f0df2bb">12 Amazing Books To Get You Started In Design</a> was originally published in <a href="https://blog.prototypr.io">prototypr</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.</p>


12 Amazing Books To Get You Started In Design

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