Design in general
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Design in general |
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Introduction Finding other books |
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Titles: |
Introduction |
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Here are some great books about Design in general, from design of everyday things to visualisation for information. And don't worry about the publication dates of these books: if they seem old, that's only because they are already classics (and still in print). Necessary baggage for any web designer: take a break with one of these and be inspired! |
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The Design of Everyday Things
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Background
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The title of the book is a case history of design. The original edition of this book was called
"The Psychology of Everyday Things" which I think describes the content much better - but the publisher of the paperback edition didn't
like it. So Norman set out and did some research, and found that while the academic community liked the title and its cleverness, the
business community did not.
The problems illustrated in this book result from a lack of concern and knowledge about how design affects the users of products. (...) In this book I urge designers to study people, to take their needs and interests into account. I also examine the failures of design and why even the best-trained and best-motivated designers can go wrong when they listen to their instincts instead of testing their ideas on actual users.
A thought-provoking and often amusing book. After reading it, you'll never again wonder why people have trouble figuring out how to open
some doors!
Note: the somewhat older edition of March 1990 at Amazon.com has better availability and is cheaper, too; Amazon.co.uk only has the later
one.
Get it!
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Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine
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Background
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This book, in a sense the sequel of The Design of Everyday Things,
explores the complex interaction between human thought and the technology it creates, and ways towards a human-centered technology.
Technology has decided that machines have certain needs and that humans are required to fulfill them. The things we are good at, those natural abilities, are hardly noticed. Machines need precise, accurate control and information. No matter that this is what people are bad at providing, if this is what machines need, this is what people must provide.
From the power of representation, to fitting the artifact to the person, to organizing information and work spaces, and much more.
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The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
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Background
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This is the first book of the by now famous series, but it has recently been published as a second
edition. Tufte's books are a treat: he's written, produced and published them all himself, keeping full control of the wole production
process. Carefully bound in a hard cover. It costs quite a bit due to this process - but it's well worth the money. Tufte shows us the value
of using graphics to present information, with examples ranging all the way from the 10th century to the present. For those of us who have
read "How to Lie with Statistics" the chapter on Graphical Integrity is a treat, with many more examples of "graphics that fail to tell
the truth". The book introduces important and sometimes wittily-named concepts like Ducks, Chartjunk, and Data-Ink. Get the book to find
out what they are!
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Envisioning Information
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Background
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In this sequel to The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Ducks
and Chartjunk briefly make their reappearance, but the book really stands on its own. It complements the earlier book though by introducing
and superbly illustrating many new concepts and techniques for displaying information graphically. Although each chapter introduces a new
concept and shows how it can be used, my favorite here is 'Narratives of Space and Time' with illustrations ranging from Galileo Galilei's
graphical notations of observations in the early 17th century, dance instructions from the 18th century and movement notation from the 20th,
to space photographs.
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Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative
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Background
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This book builds on the ideas presented in the two previous books but can stand on its own.
Graphically, the book is even more attractive, with many color graphics illustrating the (mis)use of color, and even little flaps
of paper glued in to display two 'views', one with the flap in place, one with the flap lifted. The chapter 'Explaining Magic, Pictorial
Instructions and Disinformation Design' is my favorite in this book; it also relates how not all disinformation is by design, however,
such as in the case of Califonia being depicted as an island on maps copied from the original dating from 1622, all the way to 1745, after
which California cartographically rejoined the mainland.
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The Art of Looking Sideways
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Background |
Stuck in a design rut? Relax with this beautiful book: it will surely lift you out of it. Every page is different. It's divided into 72 sections, or "slices of your brain", as Alan Fletcher says. Have a look at the gallery of page spreads to get an idea (see 'Look inside' in the Background box).
This is a book for visually curious people.
The book gets glowing reader reviews at Amazon; I just could not resist putting this book on my wishlist!
Finding other books |
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You can use these search forms to search Amazon.com's or Amazon.co.uk's catalog for books, software, and more. And
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