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Since you are a designer, what do you think the top design books for non-designers are? I'm primarily concerned with understanding the basics and language to b

Since you are a designer, what do you think the top design books for non-designers are? I'm primarily concerned with understanding the basics and language to better communicate with others rather than be the primary designer.

thebigkick 14y ago
Universal Principles of Design http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Principles-Design-William-Lidwell/dp/1592530079 http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Principles-Design-William-Li...
- namank 14y ago
  I would recommend against this. This is a book that gives you a collection of techniques. Without the knowledge of why you should be using these techniques, you'll end up with weird designs that feel wrong intuitively but are correct technique-wise.
chestnut-tree 14y ago
I'm not the original poster, but I would recommend The Non-Designer's Design Book by Robin Williams. It's an easy-to-read book for absolute beginners in design. You can easily finish the book in one sitting - it's brief and concise. It discusses four design principles: - Proximity - Alignment - Repetition - Contrast Each principle is illustrated with before-and-after design examples, so you can understand how the principle works in practice. The book is very much about the layout of elements, rather than how to create an image from scratch. The book also provides a basic introduction to understanding and using type. The type section is not as strong as the first section of the book that covers design principles, but still useful. I'll repeat that this is an absolute beginner's book for non-designers. There are many topics it doesn't cover that you might find in a beginner's book on Graphic Design. However, it provides simple practical advice you can put to use immediately in documents. That's why I think it's useful for non-designers. Since it is a well-known and popular title, you should be able to find it in your local library. (Note: my comments above refer to the first edition of the book published in 1994, but there have been subsequent editions which will have updated content.)
sgarbi 14y ago
Funny thing is that I am not a designer too! I'm a business/web developer usually focused more on the code's side rather than UX side. This is why I read: the Understanding Color: An Introduction for Designers Thinking with Type: A Primer for Designers: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students and Illustrator CS4 for dummies Based on your question I would go for the first 2 books: they are useful even for word processing and powerpoint slide-making

thebigkick 14y ago

Universal Principles of Design http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Principles-Design-William-Lidwell/dp/1592530079 http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Principles-Design-William-Li...

namank 14y ago
I would recommend against this. This is a book that gives you a collection of techniques. Without the knowledge of why you should be using these techniques, you'll end up with weird designs that feel wrong intuitively but are correct technique-wise.

chestnut-tree 14y ago

I'm not the original poster, but I would recommend The Non-Designer's Design Book by Robin Williams. It's an easy-to-read book for absolute beginners in design. You can easily finish the book in one sitting - it's brief and concise. It discusses four design principles: - Proximity - Alignment - Repetition - Contrast Each principle is illustrated with before-and-after design examples, so you can understand how the principle works in practice. The book is very much about the layout of elements, rather than how to create an image from scratch. The book also provides a basic introduction to understanding and using type. The type section is not as strong as the first section of the book that covers design principles, but still useful. I'll repeat that this is an absolute beginner's book for non-designers. There are many topics it doesn't cover that you might find in a beginner's book on Graphic Design. However, it provides simple practical advice you can put to use immediately in documents. That's why I think it's useful for non-designers. Since it is a well-known and popular title, you should be able to find it in your local library. (Note: my comments above refer to the first edition of the book published in 1994, but there have been subsequent editions which will have updated content.)

sgarbi 14y ago

Funny thing is that I am not a designer too! I'm a business/web developer usually focused more on the code's side rather than UX side. This is why I read: the Understanding Color: An Introduction for Designers Thinking with Type: A Primer for Designers: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students and Illustrator CS4 for dummies Based on your question I would go for the first 2 books: they are useful even for word processing and powerpoint slide-making