Books

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Design Strategy

Design thinking, design strategy, and applying the design process to your work.

Creative Strategy and the Business of Design

by Douglas Davis

Hands down, this is the best book on translating all of the business terms and marketing jargon into actionable design strategy. This is important for anyone on teams, freelancers, agency owners.

Pricing Design

by Dan Mall

This e-book is a must-read for anyone who has to price design. Use this book as a springboard to introduce yourself to the world of value-based pricing.

Value Proposition Design — How to Create Products and Services Customers Want

by Alexander Osterwalder

Take what you know about designing products and services and pair that with what you need to learn about basing that work off of real-world data.

The Decision Book — 50 Models for Strategic Thinking

by Mikael Krogerus

We're some of the most indecisive departments as designers when it comes to making decisions on important things. This book goes through summaries of popular strategies to choose directions.

Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation

by Tim Brown

A really holistic view of design thinking along with the design process and methods. A look into the reasons why every department should apply design thinking.

101 Things I Learned in Business School

by Michael W. Preis

Really interesting book on business terms and philosophy. These are things you'll be designing for. It's best to get knowledge of these business terms.

The Invention of Design: A Twentieth-Century History

by Maggie Gram

2024. Intellectual history of how 'design' evolved from aesthetics to function to design thinking. New Yorker Best Book, Fast Company Best Design Book of the Year.

Design Management

Books to help you become a better design manager and leader.

Org Design for Design Orgs: Building and Managing In-House Design Teams

by Peter Merholz

The definitive guide to structuring and scaling in-house design teams. Covers hiring, team composition, career ladders, and org models.

Articulating Design Decisions: Communicate with Stakeholders, Keep Your Sanity, and Deliver the Best User Experience (2nd Edition)

by Tom Greever

Essential for getting stakeholder buy-in. Covers presenting designs, understanding stakeholder perspectives, listening skills, responding to feedback, and documentation.

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration

by Ed Catmull

Pixar co-founder's book on building creative culture and managing creative teams at scale. Frequently cited by design leaders as essential reading for nurturing innovation.

Design Leadership Handbook

by Aarron Walter

InVision has done a lot to understand the guiding thoughts behind design leadership and management within a company. A good resource for learning how to support and approach a team with design leadership.

DesignOps Handbook

by Kate Battles

This book contains contributions from various leaders in the field, providing insights on operationalizing workflows, hiring, and team alignment.

Design Leadership Ignited: Elevating Design at Scale

by Eric Quint

Research-backed guide based on interviews with 59 design executives at Fortune 500 organizations. Covers CDO roles, scaling design impact, and organizational strategy.

Liftoff!: Practical Design Leadership to Elevate Your Team, Your Organization, and You

by Chris Avore

Playbook covering hiring, scaling teams, diversity, performance management, critique processes, and solidifying design's organizational role.

The Design Conductors: Your Essential Guide to Design Operations

by Rachel Posman

2024. The most recent comprehensive DesignOps guide. Covers 8 career competencies for DesignOps practitioners, advocating for and scaling design organizations.

Good Services: How to Design Services that Work

by Lou Downe

15 principles for good service design from the former Director of Design for UK Government. Bridges product design and service design thinking.

Ethics and Inclusivity

Books on designing ethically and inclusively for all people.

Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design

by Kat Holmes

Kat Holmes explores how to shift design practices to focus on inclusivity as a core principle, ensuring design decisions don't exclude or alienate anyone.

Ruined by Design: How Designers Destroyed the World, and What We Can Do to Fix It

by Mike Monteiro

Mike Monteiro critiques the role designers play in shaping the world and calls for accountability in product design.

Inclusive Design for Accessibility: A practical guide to digital accessibility, UX, and inclusive web and app design

by Dale Cruse

Packt Aug 2025. Practical guide covering foundations, seven principles of universal design, user research, embedding accessibility across web, mobile, AI, VR/AR.

Inclusive Design for a Digital World: Designing with Accessibility in Mind (2nd Edition)

by Regine M. Gilbert

Apress/O'Reilly. Updated guidance on WCAG 2.2, European Accessibility Act, AI/ML impacts, assistive tech, inclusive design across websites, apps, games.

HERE: Where the Black Designers Are

by Cheryl D. Holmes-Miller

2024. Groundbreaking historical memoir combining personal narrative with advocacy for recognition of Black designers. Recounts 50 years of collective efforts to celebrate Black designers.

DESIGN {H}ERS: A Celebration of Women in Design Today

by Victionary

This book highlights the accomplishments of women in design and brings attention to the issues surrounding gender equity in the design industry.

Game Devs & Others: Tales from the Margins

by Tanya DePass

A collection of stories from marginalized communities in creative fields, encouraging empathy and inclusivity within the creative industry.

Freelance Design

Books to help you run your agency or freelance business better.

Win Without Pitching Manifesto

by Blair Enns

Strategies on how to approach your business as a professional and position yourself as an expert in your field.

Show Your Work!

by Austin Kleon

A guide on how to promote your creative work, especially for those who struggle with self-promotion.

Design is a Job

by Mike Monteiro

A practical guide on the business side of design, emphasizing the importance of treating design as a profession.

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative

by Austin Kleon

NYT bestseller. 10 practical rules for creative work in the digital age. Complements Show Your Work!.

Freelance, and Business, and Stuff

by Amy and Jennifer Hood

Insights from Amy and Jennifer Hood on life lessons learned from running their design agency, including tips on budgeting, client handling, and raising rates.

Run Studio Run: How to Operate and Grow a Small Creative Studio

by Eli Altman

Practical advice on running a small design studio, including how to grow your client list, bill clients, manage teams, and plan for the future.

You're My Favorite Client

by Mike Monteiro

Practical advice for building better client relationships and effectively navigating client work.

How to Win Friends & Influence People

by Dale Carnegie

This classic book focuses on building meaningful relationships in business by being genuinely interested in others.

How to Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul

by Adrian Shaughnessy

A guide for graphic designers on balancing creativity and professionalism while maintaining personal integrity.

Brutally Honest: No Bullshit Strategies To Evolve Your Creative Business

by Emily Ruth Cohen

Actionable strategies and 20 real-world case studies. Covers positioning, marketing, new business development, client qualification, pricing, retainers, and proposals.

Designing Together — The Collaboration and Conflict Management Handbook for Creative Professionals

by Dan Brown

A helpful resource for solo designers managing large-scale projects, offering advice on collaboration and conflict resolution.

Damn Good Advice (For People with Talent!)

by George Lois

A collection of inspirational quotes and advice for navigating the creative industry and building a successful career.

Product Design

Books to help you become a better product designer.

Sprint — How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days

by Jake Knapp

An excellent book on design sprints and how to get from idea to MVP/prototype within 5 days.

INSPIRED: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love (2nd Edition)

by Marty Cagan

Product management classic. How top tech companies structure product teams and discover/deliver products customers love. Team composition, discovery, delivery, scaling.

Continuous Discovery Habits: Discover Products that Create Customer Value and Business Value

by Teresa Torres

2021. Evidence-based guide for product trios. Opportunity Solution Tree, customer interviews, assumption testing. Endorsed by Marty Cagan.

EMPOWERED: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products

by Marty Cagan

Companion to INSPIRED. Focuses on product leadership — empowered product teams vs feature teams, coaching, product vision, and insights-driven strategy.

Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value

by Melissa Perri

Addresses measuring success by outcomes over outputs. Framework for creating proper product manager roles, enabling strategy, and supporting the right culture.

The Lean Product Playbook: How to Innovate with Minimum Viable Products and Rapid Customer Feedback

by Dan Olsen

Introduces the Product-Market Fit Pyramid. Step-by-step methodology for iterating toward product-market fit. Strong on MVP design and testing.

Product Roadmaps Relaunched: How to Set Direction while Embracing Uncertainty

by C. Todd Lombardo

Transforms roadmaps into agile tools. Covers gathering inputs, linking vision to strategy, prioritization, stakeholder buy-in, and maintaining roadmaps.

Design Systems

Books that help you understand the best ways to build and maintain a design system.

Laying the Foundations: A Book About Design Systems

by Andrew Couldwell

An excellent resource for understanding what goes into a design system. Highly recommended.

Design Systems: A practical guide for creating design languages for digital products

by Alla Kholmatova

Smashing Magazine classic. Practical guide to creating design languages for digital products. Based on 18 months of research; case studies from Airbnb, Atlassian, Eurostar, TED.

Atomic Design

by Brad Frost

Methodology for creating and maintaining interface design systems. Introduces thinking of UIs as hierarchies; pattern libraries and design/development workflows.

Design That Scales: Creating a Sustainable Design System Practice

by Dan Mall

2023 release from Dan Mall (Pricing Design author) and Meredith Black. Covers sustainable design system practice and scaling design operations.

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

by Sarrah Vesselov

O'Reilly book on unifying user experiences through shared design language. Implementation-focused.

Design Beyond Limits with Figma

by Šimon Jůn

2025. Advanced Figma workflows covering design tokens, variable modes, accessibility standards, and design system governance. 50+ solutions for collaboration and prototyping.

A Practical Guide to Design System Components

by Ness Grixti

2024. A 4-part framework to research, design, test, and maintain design system components. Covers the full lifecycle from product audit through Figma build and documentation.

Inclusive Design Patterns

by Heydon Pickering

Smashing Magazine. Coding accessibility into web design patterns and components. Essential for building accessible component libraries and ensuring WCAG compliance.

Design Systems Handbook

by Marco Suarez

Comprehensive guide from basics to advanced topics like design tokens. Features insights from design leaders at Shopify, Google, Apple, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

UI Design

Good books on UI design that focus on layout, grid, and user interaction design.

Making and Breaking the Grid — A Graphic Design Layout Workshop

by Timothy Samara

A must-read for mastering grid-based design. Learn the rules of the grid so you can break them creatively.

100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People

by Susan Weinschenk

Valuable insights into understanding human behavior and how it impacts interface design.

Refactoring UI

by Adam Wathan

Practical design book for developers. Design with tactics, not talent. 218 pages plus video tutorials. From the creators of Tailwind CSS.

About Face — The Essentials of Interaction Design

by Alan Cooper

A comprehensive guide on interaction design, covering fundamental principles and recent developments.

Grid Systems in Graphic Design

by Josef Muller-Brockmann

A classic guide on grid-based design, with practical exercises for mastering different types of grids.

Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products

by Nir Eyal

This book covers the psychological principles behind creating habit-forming products.

UX Design with Figma: User-Centered Interface Design and Prototyping with Figma

by Tom Green

2024. Covers Figma in UX process: FigJam, interactive prototypes, design systems, plugins, developer handoff.

A New Program for Graphic Design

by David Reinfurt

First communication-design textbook for the 21st century. Built around three foundational courses — Typography, Gestalt, and Interface — developed at Princeton University.

The Icon Handbook

by Jon Hicks

An in-depth guide on designing icons and their historical significance in both culture and user interfaces.

Make It So — Interaction Design Lessons from Science Fiction

by Nathan Sherdoff and Christopher Noessel

A fascinating exploration of how science fiction influences interaction design and technological interfaces.

Ultimate Figma for UI/UX Design: Transform Your UI/UX Design, Craft User-Centric Interfaces, and Create Stunning Experiences with Ease

by Aditi Sharma

Feb 2025. Practical, structured guide with hands-on exercises and portfolio project guidance for real-world Figma workflows.

UX Design

User experience in everyday things. UX design books for both physical and digital products.

Practical Empathy — For Collaboration and Creativity in Your Work

by Indi Young

Empathy is essential for designing products that serve the people they are meant for.

The User Experience Team of One — A Research and Design Survival Guide

by Leah Buley

For solo designers or small teams, guidance on how to handle large-scale projects as a one-person UX team.

The Design of Everyday Things

by Don Norman

Don Norman's classic book on how everyday objects are designed and used, offering deep insights into human-centered design.

Don't Make Me Think — A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

by Steve Krug

A foundational guide to web usability, offering practical advice on making websites easy to navigate and user-friendly.

Laws of UX: Using Psychology to Design Better Products & Services (2nd Edition)

by Jon Yablonski

2024 updated edition. 11 psychological principles for UX designers including Fitts's law, Jakob's law, Hick's law. New coverage of AI and spatial computing. #1 new release in UX on Amazon.

The Paradox of Choice — Why More Is Less

by Barry Schwartz

This book dives into the psychological effects of choice, exploring how too many options can lead to decision paralysis.

Observing the User Experience

by Elizabeth Goodman

A practical guide for understanding what your users need from your product.

Experience Required — How to Become a UX Leader Regardless of Your Role

by Robert Hoekman Jr.

A guide to developing UX leadership skills, standing up for your design decisions, and advocating for users in any role.

Essentialism — The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

by Greg McKeown

Encourages designers to focus on what's truly essential, practicing restraint and prioritizing quality over quantity.

Evil by Design — Interaction Design to Lead Us into Temptation

by Chris Nodder

This book explores how design can influence behavior, whether for good or bad, and the power designers have to shape user habits.

Flow — The Psychology of Optimal Experience

by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Insights into the psychology behind optimal user experiences, focusing on what gets people into a state of productive flow.

Branding and Logo Design

Books on how brands and marketing affect every buying decision we make.

Identity Designed: The Definitive Guide to Visual Branding

by David Airey

A deep dive into prominent brand identity and logo designs, featuring case studies from leading designers.

Designing Brand Identity: A Comprehensive Guide to the World of Brands and Branding

by Alina Wheeler

One of the best books on visual brand identity design. A practical guide for branding teams.

The Brand Gap — How to Bridge the Distance Between Business Strategy and Design

by Marty Neumeier

A great read for brand identity designers on how to bridge the gap between business strategy and design.

Logo — The Reference Guide to Symbols and Logotypes

by Michael Evamy

A logo-dictionary, categorizing popular logos by type and providing insights into their creators.

Logo Design Love — A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities

by David Airey

Tips for working with logo design clients, featuring case studies and sketches from prominent designers.

Branding In Five and a Half Steps

by Michael Johnson

A great book on bridging visual design with business strategy when working on branding and logo design.

Start with Why — How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

by Simon Sinek

Simon Sinek's popular book on the importance of starting with 'why' to inspire action and innovation.

Zag — The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands

by Marty Neumeier

A book on how high-performance brands stand out by zagging when others zig, focusing on differentiation.

Made to Stick — Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

A great book on how ideas stick in people's minds and what makes them memorable. Essential for communication and messaging in branding.

Logo Modernism

by R. Roger Remington

A massive collection of geometric and pattern-based logos. Over 400 pages of logo design inspiration.

Draplin Design Co. — Pretty Much Everything

by Aaron Draplin

A deep dive into the life and work of Aaron Draplin, a small-time designer who became iconic.

Don't Call it That

by Eli Altman

A book on branding names and their messages.

Illustration

Books for becoming a better illustrator.

Design As Art

by Bruno Munari

A book that explores the intersection of art, design, and the human experience.

Thinking Visually for Illustrators

by Mark Wigan

A deep dive into visual language and practical applications for finding your voice as an illustrator.

Inside the Business of Illustration

by Steven Heller & Marshall Arisman

Covers the business side of illustration, including authorship and promotion.

Framed Environment Design

by Marcos Mateu-Mestre

From a DreamWorks/Netflix animator with three decades in feature animation. Meticulous exploration of environment design that actively contributes to visual storytelling.

Champagne and Wax Crayons — Riding the Madness of the Creative Industry

by Ben Tallon

A journey through the life of Ben Tallon, sharing insights on individuality and creativity in the industry.

Print Design

Learn how to design for print.

Designing For Print

by Marina Poropat Joyce

The best print design book, covering printing methods, working with printing companies, and how design decisions impact the printing process.

Designing Books: Practice and Theory

by Jost Hochuli

Essential guide to book design from a master book designer. Covers nomenclature, symmetry, proportion, prelims, end-pages, and demonstrates both traditional and modern approaches.

The Complete Manual of Typography: A Guide to Setting Perfect Type (2nd Edition)

by James Felici

Comprehensive practical guide to professional typesetting. Covers type anatomy, kerning, hyphenation, justification, and fixing common composition problems. Includes a 35-page glossary.

New Structural Packaging (2nd Edition)

by Josep M. Garrofé

Innovative packaging designs with copyright-free vector-based templates and dielines. Essential reference for packaging and structural print design.

Mag-Art: Innovation in Magazine Design

by Charlotte Rivers

Explores innovative graphic design in print magazines — artwork, photography, typography, paper stock, printing techniques, and finishes.

Typography and Hand Lettering

Good type is the foundation for nearly every form of design.

Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, and Students

by Ellen Lupton

A must-have guide for any designer working with typography, covering terminology, history, and grid design.

The Elements of Typographic Style

by Robert Bringhurst

A detailed exploration of typography, covering rhythm, proportion, and character alternatives in fonts and typefaces.

Designing Type

by Karen Cheng

A comprehensive look at the process of designing type, with insights on composition and typography systems.

The Golden Secrets of Lettering: Letter Design from First Sketch to Final Artwork

by Martina Flor

This book covers the process of creating professional lettering, offering tips on pricing, color, and transitioning to a career in lettering.

The ABC of Custom Lettering: A Practical Guide to Drawing Letters

by Ivan Castro

A step-by-step guide to constructing and mixing different lettering styles.

Stop Stealing Sheep & find out how type works

by Erik Spiekermann

A great introductory book to typography, demonstrating how type can be used effectively.

In Progress — See Inside a Lettering Artist's Sketchbook and Process

by Jessica Hische

A practical workbook that shows how to take hand sketches and move them into vector programs for hand lettering.

Just My Type — A Book About Fonts

by Simon Garfield

A fascinating look at the history of fonts, exploring classic typefaces and their enduring influence.

Typographic Design: Form and Communication

by Ben Day

A deep dive into the form of letters, typography, and its uses in design.

Detail In Typography

by Jost Hochuli

A thorough exploration of letterspacing, wordspacing, and other typographic details that contribute to design quality.

Elegantissima — The Design and Typography of Louise Fili

by Louise Fili

A showcase of Louise Fili's lavish hand lettering and its application in modern-day design.

Motion Graphics and Animation

Books for Motion Graphics and the best practices of designing for animation.

The Animator's Survival Kit

by Richard Williams

A comprehensive guide to animation, covering the principles of animation and techniques for animating characters.

Design for Motion: Fundamentals and Techniques of Motion Design (2nd Edition)

by Austin Shaw

400 pages. Covers principles, style frames, typography, compositing, 3D elements, social/mobile workflows, portfolio development. Essential for motion design.

Designing Interface Animation: Meaningful Motion for User Experience

by Val Head

The definitive book on UI animation. Covers 12 animation principles for digital interfaces, balancing purpose and style, plus an accessibility chapter on vestibular disorders.

The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation

by Frank Thomas

The 'Bible of animation' by two of Disney's Nine Old Men. Introduced the 12 Basic Principles of Animation still foundational to all animation work today.

Animation Handbook

by Ryan McLeod

A guide to understanding animation in UI design, written by InVision. Covers key principles of animation in product design.

Motion Design Toolkit: Principles, Practice, and Techniques

by Austin Shaw

2023 release. 284 pages. Practical techniques from concept to execution: workflow, keyframing, rigging, cameras, editing, case studies.

Motion Graphic Design (3rd Edition)

by Jon Krasner

448 pages. Overview and history, motion literacy, kinetic typography, composition, applications across film, TV, interactive and public spaces.

Animated Storytelling: Simple Steps for Creating Animation and Motion Graphics (2nd Edition)

by Liz Blazer

From a Disney/MTV/Sesame Street animator. 10 guidelines covering concept development, pre-production, storyboarding, and design for motion graphics and animation.