Inspirational books for the holidays
07 / 31 / 2019
Holidays are around the corner in most of the countries and for any average person this means rest, sunny beaches or beautiful mountains (depending on your taste), trips, etc. But we all know that designers are on a different level; designers do not rest, even if they are on holidays, they are constantly thinking of that little problem they were not able to solve before closing the studio for the holidays, or even worse, they start analysing everything that surrounds them: if they are in a museum, they spend more time studying the design of a display cabinet than looking at the work of art it contains; or if they go to a restaurant on the other side of the world, instead of studying the menu to choose something different they have not tasted before, they concentrate on the design of the basin in the restroom or the décor of the place or even the lamps hanging from the ceiling. In short, there are things that never change.
For this reason, for those designers who never rest, who search for inspiration everywhere and at all times, we have prepared a list of inspirational books to read when you are forced to lie down or stay in a sitting position (on a plane, or forced by your partner to stay for hours in the sun getting a tan or even following medical advice when, after spending one full year working nonstop, one relaxes and boom! The dreaded flu gets you...)
1. Don't Read this Book: Time Management for Creative People.
Author: Donald Roos
We start this list with an essential book for today’s creative minds: time management This book analyses all creative processes: not only those related to every project, but also how we manage our time in our professional and personal day-to-day. Based on the method “The No list”, we will learn to say “no” to less productive tasks or projects and we will be able to gain time to carry out other activities and materialize good ideas. The more we eliminate, the more time we will have to focus on positive issues.
2. The Creativity Challenge: Design, Experiment, Test, Innovate, Build, Create, Inspire, and Unleash Your Genius.
Author: Tanner Christensen
In the style of a summer notebook, like the ones we used when we were little, this book is a fun and efficient way to test our creativity. What's the best way to become more creative? Just change how you think! This book challenges you to go against your default ways of thinking in order to write, design, and build something extraordinary. Featuring more than 100 challenges, exercises, and prompts, each page guides you as you push past the way you normally see the world and uncover all-new possibilities and ideas.
3. Design is Storytelling.
Author: Ellen Lupton
Design Is Storytelling explores the psychology of visual perception from a narrative point of view. Presenting dozens of tools and concepts in a lively, visual manner, this book will help any designer amplify the narrative power of their work. Use this book to stir emotions, build empathy, articulate values and convey action; to construct narrative arcs and create paths through space; integrate form and language; evaluate a project’s storytelling power; and to write and deliver strong narratives.
4. Palette Perfect: Color Combinations Inspired by Fashion, Art and Style.
Author: Lauren Wager
Summer is the brightest and more colourful time of the year; it is therefore the perfect time to reflect on colours and the combinations that adapt best to our designs. Palette Perfect is both a practical guide and an inspirational book that proposes a reflection on the universe of colour combinations, the moods and atmospheres they evoke and how we associate particular places and emotions to special colours.
5. Design for the real world.
Author: Victor Papanek
And it is always the right time to recover one of the classics in design, which is still quite contemporary. Victor Papanek’s lively and instructive guide shows how design can reduce pollution, overcrowding, starvation, obsolescence and other modern ills. He leads us away from ‘fetish objects for a wasteful society’ towards a new age of morally and environmentally responsible design.
6. Damn Good Advice (for people with talent!).
Author: George Lois
One of the hardest tasks of a designer is to know how to sell your idea. We recommend this wonderful book of one of America's most legendary creative thinkers, George Lois. Organized into inspirational, bite-sized pointers, each page offers fresh insight into the sources of success, from identifying your heroes to identifying yourself. Whether it’s communicating your point in nanosecond, creating an explosive portfolio or making your presence felt, no one is better placed than George Lois to teach you the process of creativity.
