As an artist, it’s imperative that you find your unique voice to bring a greater touch of personality to your work. Like every other craft, design has its history and has seen some of the greatest mentors of this century.
Through their studies, work, and voices that have come before you can inspire and charge yourself like never before.
The best thing as a designer, or an artist in other forms is to spend as much time as possible studying others. Others whose work has influenced the world and touched a million lives. But not much of this is happening to you, is it?
We get it. You’re stuck in a rut, trying to meet daily deadlines and barely finding time to grow your mind. Months have turned into years now and you spend each new day without learning anything new. What should you do?
Pick up these books we’re listing in our article today and start a journey of breaking out of that monotonous daily cycle. Open yourself to a world of new ideas, inspiration, and learning.
The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman
Yes, that’s correct! This is the top one on our list. The Holy Grail of books when it comes to talking about design. This book is for everyone. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a designer or not, the goal of the idea behind this book is to help readers become careful observers or critiques of the absurd.
The book has simple language and style and has a user-centered approach to keep users the real judge of whether a design is good or bad.
Pocket Full of Do by Chris Do
Chris Do is an Emmy award-winning director, designer, strategist, and educator. The book contains his life-long learnings and advice that can make a huge impact on a designer’s growth.
Chris definitely knows his audience and for designers who digest 1000+ pages, he hooks them by fitting one point at a time on a single page. The book has a perfect balance between brevity and detail.
Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
Steal Like an Artist takes you through the idea behind stealing as the core of the design process. But it’s not what you think. To find out what that means and fully understand, you must grab the book and get reading. It doesn’t matter if you’re a newbie or an experienced designer, this book is for all.
How To by Michael Bierut
Michael Bierut, the world’s most well-known graphic designer, breaks down his thought and process behind his most recognized and appealing projects. The book screams at top of its lungs ‘I did it, and so can you”. Michael has a special story and is well documented in the design industry over the years. It’s a must-read for anyone who’s looking to find out what it means to stay true to your vision.
Burn Your Portfolio by Michael Janda
Michael Janda is a graphic designer and wrote a book with a very controversial title, “Burn Your Portfolio”. In the bag of his portfolio are famous Hollywood studios, leading TV channels in the UX, and other amazing world brands.
The language of this book is really simple and you can keep reading large chunks in just a single sitting. The major learning from this book is learning how to communicate with clients, discuss edits, make your own design process and present the design.
Conclusion
The thing about skills, inspiration, and ideas is that it requires you to practice a lot and watch great graphic designers, a lot. You could also just learn from trial and error. But if you take out the time to read these 7 books we’ve suggested, there’s no doubt that you’ll be set on a path of making an unmistakably amazing impact on the world.
