Bill Buxton
Designer, author, researcher, lecturer. At MSR & prof at U of Toronto & TU/Eindhoven. Was at Xerox PARC, Alias|Wavefront & SGI. YouTube: wasbuxton.
50+ Book Recommendations by Bill Buxton
The One Device
Brian Merchant
@brucenussbaum @BusinessInsider 2/2 Yet, while important, the account likely over-emphasizes the role of the pivot in the iPhone’s success as it does not factor in another pivot from one more thing Jobs got wrong: his initial refusal re the App Store. Ref: The One Device by @bcmerchant https://t.co/vyQshI5I3U
Atlas of AI
Kate Crawford
The hidden costs of artificial intelligence, from natural resources and labor to privacy and freedom What happens when artificial intelligence saturates political life and depletes the planet? How is AI shaping our understanding of ourselves and our societies? In this book Kate Crawford reveals how this planetary network is fueling a shift toward undemocratic governance and increased inequality. Drawing on more than a decade of research, award-winning science, and technology, Crawford reveals how AI is a technology of extraction: from the energy and minerals needed to build and sustain its infrastructure, to the exploited workers behind "automated" services, to the data AI collects from us. Rather than taking a narrow focus on code and algorithms, Crawford offers us a political and a material perspective on what it takes to make artificial intelligence and where it goes wrong. While technical systems present a veneer of objectivity, they are always systems of power. This is an urgent account of what is at stake as technology companies use artificial intelligence to reshape the world.Portrait of a well-studied book (@katecrawford's Atlas of AI). I share not only to emphasize how good this book is - highly recommend! But also, as a UX designer to ask the question: How well do any current e-readers stand up to such "active reading"? We still have work to do. https://t.co/I9YElh0Mbk
Being Caribou
Karsten Heuer
Chronicles the migration of Grant's caribou to their calving grounds in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, describing it as an arduous battle for survival against cold, physical hardship, and danger from predators.And for those who want one more reason to understand why, stream Leanne Allison's film Being Caribou, https://t.co/VE7nIh6fd1, and read the book by the same name, by her partner, Karsten Heuer https://t.co/H6K6Ag9x8F https://t.co/WWKmv8wLeq
Horizons
Geddes Norman Bel 1893-1958
If you haven't found, can't afford, or don't know about these two classic industrial design books by Norman Bel Geddes, they are here: Horizons (1932): https://t.co/6P9MejE7D0 Magic Motorways (1940): https://t.co/ft1bVQD4Qe Such inspiration is good medicine for these times!
Magic Motorways
Norman Bel Geddes
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.If you haven't found, can't afford, or don't know about these two classic industrial design books by Norman Bel Geddes, they are here: Horizons (1932): https://t.co/6P9MejE7D0 Magic Motorways (1940): https://t.co/ft1bVQD4Qe Such inspiration is good medicine for these times!
If UR not familiar with the story of the 1953 K2 expedition, I encourage you to read, K2: The Savage Mountain, by Houston & Bates: https://t.co/t6C21Ip6ul+ In times such as this, doing so is both a respite, and an inspirational reminder as to what committed humans are capable of. https://t.co/wF53CXxob7
The Invisible Art
Mark Cotta Vaz
Now available in paperback, The Invisible Art provides an unprecedented retrospective of matte art painting -- the unsung hero in the fast-paced world of cinematic visual effects. Until recently, matte-painting techniques were closely guarded secrets kept locked up on studio lots. The Invisible Art flings open the gates to reveal the finest representations of matte paintings from rare examples seen in epics such as Gone with the Wind and Citizen Kane to prove that the brush is mightier than the computer, as seen in such blockbusters as Star Wars and Titanic. Lavishly illustrated, the book's tremendous scope unveils a century's worth of fascinating stories, legendary personalities, and cunning movie craft from the first pioneering "glass shots" to the dawn of digital technology. Including a foreword by George Lucas, The Invisible Art conjures a never-before-told story of film wizardry.Yes! As film producer Rick McCallum (Lucasfilm, Film United) has said, "It's what you don't see which makes the effect special." The Paradine Case is one of the best examples. But DO read The Invisible Art, by Mark Cotta Vaz & Craig Barron! https://t.co/84N7TjwpIT https://t.co/wX4XTctYgA
Summer North of Sixty
James Raffan
This account of a canoe trip by six canoeists travelling across the Barrens in the Keewatin district of the Northwest Territories from Yellowknife via the Back River and Burnside River to Bathurst Inlet in the summer of 1980 includes discussion of the value of wilderness and description of an Inuit drum dance.What @raffjam neglected to mention to @mwollan is there has to be water in the river to qualify as "making love in a canoe", Relevance is in his account of the “paddle” down the Back “River” in https://t.co/mwLbmLFYLU. A great summer read. Some 1st date! Gaylene is a saint. :-
Symbol Sourcebook
Henry Dreyfuss
Collects and defines more than twenty-thousand graphic symbols, used in scientific, industrial, and social communication@gingdottwit @dr_eagan @cybunk @anandx @ishii_mit … the there were other roots cited in the paper. Here is a wonderful 1993 example from Y. Fukuzaki and Wacom: https://t.co/ha7zrO4nKh But see Drefuss' discussion of phicons ("Touch Symbols") in his 1972 Symbol Sourcebook https://t.co/lzFjclVWub :-) 2/3
Cognition in the Wild
Edwin Hutchins
After comparing modern Western navigation with the method practiced in Micronesia, Hutchins explores the computational and cognitive properties of systems that involve multiple individuals. He then turns to an analysis of learning or change in the organization of cognitive systems at several scales.@sjors Your essay is really good. The @dourish book is a great foundation. This focus on place in design is captured in the notion of Ubiety (vs Ubiquity). Look also at Ed Hutchins' Cognition in the Wild & Frank Wilson's, The Hand. https://t.co/7aNHlUYioI
The Hand
Frank R. Wilson
"A startling argument . . . provocative . . . absorbing." --The Boston Globe "Ambitious . . . arresting . . . celebrates the importance of hands to our lives today as well as to the history of our species." --The New York Times Book Review The human hand is a miracle of biomechanics, one of the most remarkable adaptations in the history of evolution. The hands of a concert pianist can elicit glorious sound and stir emotion; those of a surgeon can perform the most delicate operations; those of a rock climber allow him to scale a vertical mountain wall. Neurologist Frank R. Wilson makes the striking claim that it is because of the unique structure of the hand and its evolution in cooperation with the brain that Homo sapiens became the most intelligent, preeminent animal on the earth. In this fascinating book, Wilson moves from a discussion of the hand's evolution--and how its intimate communication with the brain affects such areas as neurology, psychology, and linguistics--to provocative new ideas about human creativity and how best to nurture it. Like Oliver Sacks and Stephen Jay Gould, Wilson handles a daunting range of scientific knowledge with a surprising deftness and a profound curiosity about human possibility. Provocative, illuminating, and delightful to read, The Hand encourages us to think in new ways about one of our most taken-for-granted assets. "A mark of the book's excellence [is that] it makes the reader aware of the wonder in trivial, everyday acts, and reveals the complexity behind the simplest manipulation." --The Washington Post@sjors Your essay is really good. The @dourish book is a great foundation. This focus on place in design is captured in the notion of Ubiety (vs Ubiquity). Look also at Ed Hutchins' Cognition in the Wild & Frank Wilson's, The Hand. https://t.co/7aNHlUYioI
Sketching User Experiences
Saul Greenberg
In Sketching User Experiences: The Workbook, you will learn, through step-by-step instructions and exercises, various sketching methods that will let you express your design ideas about user experiences across time. Collectively, these methods will be your sketching repertoire: a toolkit where you can choose the method most appropriate for developing your ideas, which will help you cultivate a culture of experience-based design and critique in your workplace. Features standalone modules detailing methods and exercises for practitioners who want to learn and develop their sketching skills Extremely practical, with illustrated examples detailing all steps on how to do a method Excellent for individual learning, for classrooms, and for a team that wants to develop a culture of design practice Perfect complement to Buxton's Sketching User Experience or any UX text@MarkSkinner_ Mark, you may already know this, but related, the workbook has a lot more practical hands-on material https://t.co/Xvs38zUE9O
- From seasoned traveller and bestselling author James Raffan comes a book that will transform the way we think about northerners and the north Over the course of three years, James Raffan circumnavigated the globe at 66.6 degrees latitude: the Arctic Circle. Armed with his passion for the north, his interest in diverse cultures and his unquenchable sense of adventure, he set out to put a human face on climate change. What he discovered was by turns shocking, frustrating, entertaining and enlightening. In Circling the Midnight Sun, Raffan presents a warm-hearted, engaging portrait of the circumpolar world, and above all a deeply affecting story of societies and landscapes in the throes of enormous change. Compelling and utterly original, this is both an adventure story and a book that will change your view of the north forever.
And one of the best friends you could hope for, not to mention paddle the north with. Climate change? Read his Circling the Midnight Sun https://t.co/YsLFqWJYt9
The Art of Fluid Animation
Jos Stam
Fluid stimulation is a computer graphic used to develop a realistic animation of liquid and modern games. This book provides visually rich techniques of creating fluid-like animations for a large game and graphic audience. No advance physics and mathematical skills are required. The book covers many research areas that include stable fluid simulation, flows on surfaces, and control of flows, which will be of interest to people who wonder how explosions, liquids and smoke are generated.Yes, that is very much what he says in, The Art of Fluid Animation, https://t.co/KeYEbMb0Dt https://t.co/XVox9d47vO
The Evolution of Useful Things
Henry Petroski
A look at the origin of everyday household items examines the Phillips-head screwdriver, paper clips, Post-its, fast-food "clamshell" containers, and other items. Reprint. 30,000 first printing.@TimBarcz Don't discount paper clips :-) See Petroski's, "The Evolution of Useful Things.: https://t.co/VMpstRF4e3
The Tuning of the World
R. Murray Schafer
@nfranus @SoundCloud Thanks! See Shafer's, The Tuning of the World (https://t.co/Ao4Jak20SL) which pioneered design of ecological soundscape
Please Make This Look Nice
Peter Ahlberg
Equal parts design inspiration and manual, Please Make This Look Nice combines interviews, writings, case studies, and personal ephemera from celebrated designers into a solid primer for designers and design enthusiasts alike. Please Make This Look Nice is a behind-the-scenes look at the graphic design process of more than fifty graphic designers, typographers, and studios from around the world. Hundreds of never-before-seen images mined from their archives are woven together with first-hand observations, resulting in a rich and diverse perspective on the nature of making. A must-have for students, devotees, and practicing designers, it expands the most basic understanding of graphic design—how it gets made and its effect on the modern world.Celebrated graphic design contributors including Maira Kalman, Milton Glaser, Michael Bierut, Experimental Jetset, Carin Goldberg, Ivan Chermayeff & Tom Geismar, Paul Sahre, and Stefan Sagmeister, as well as emerging design stars share their far-ranging insights and personal means of finding inspiration. Kalman advises on the importance of journals and walking; Sagmeister meditates on his desire to find, define, and create beauty in a world defined by efficiency; Bierut speaks to the existence of many possible solutions to a single design problem as well as how his own process developed in response to his mentor Massimo Vignelli; and Ed Fella encourages designers to experiment, innovate, and discover a personal methodology unique to their own criteria, interests, and values.Please Make This Look Nice is sure to appeal to type and graphic design professionals, students, and design fans alike.@ahlandco Such exhibits that focus on process, not just results, R way 2 rare. Exhibit https://t.co/QW5Nryr1yZ Book https://t.co/gaibShuZEY
Steal Like an Artist
Austin Kleon
You don’t need to be a genius, you just need to be yourself. That’s the message from Austin Kleon, a young writer and artist who knows that creativity is everywhere, creativity is for everyone. A manifesto for the digital age, Steal Like an Artist is a guide whose positive message, graphic look and illustrations, exercises, and examples will put readers directly in touch with their artistic side. When Mr. Kleon was asked to address college students in upstate New York, he shaped his speech around the ten things he wished someone had told him when he was starting out. The talk went viral, and its author dug deeper into his own ideas to create Steal Like an Artist, the book. The result is inspiring, hip, original, practical, and entertaining. And filled with new truths about creativity: Nothing is original, so embrace influence, collect ideas, and remix and re-imagine to discover your own path. Follow your interests wherever they take you. Stay smart, stay out of debt, and risk being boring—the creative you will need to make room to be wild and daring in your imagination.When asked about books on creativity, @austinkleon's Steal Like an Artist is one of my top 2 recommendations. https://t.co/nwc6ae9Bh8
Breaking the Chains of Gravity
Amy Shira Teitel
If U liked @astVintageSpace's Pluto in a Minute vids https://t.co/X6JVFwd29o check out her Spaceflight B4 NASA book! https://t.co/HqArumnsud
Art & Fear
David Bayles
A self-help book for artists of all medium.@westleyl @johnstovin If asked, "How do you think about design?", my likely reply is: Art and Fear https://t.co/YI37E4yALm Short & sweet!
Canoe Country
Roy MacGregor
One of our favourite chroniclers of all things Canadian presents a rollicking, personal, photo-filled history of the relationship between a country and its canoes. From the earliest explorers on the Columbia River in BC or the Mattawa in Ontario to a doomed expedition of voyageurs up the Nile to rescue Khartoum; from the author's family roots deep in the Algonquin wilderness to modern families who have canoed across the country (kids and dogs included): Canoe Country is Roy MacGregor's celebration of the essential and enduring love affair Canadians have with our first and still favourite means of getting around. Famous paddlers have been so enchanted with the canoe that one swore God made Canada as the perfect country in which to paddle it. Drawing on MacGregor's own decades spent whenever possible with a paddle in his hand, this is a story of high adventure on white water and the sweetest peace in nature's quietest corners, from the author best able (and most eager) to tell it.Nice line from @RoyMacG : "Once used to explore the land, the canoe is now used to explore ourselves." https://t.co/2BNXVYCnkP
Your inner designer will enjoy Adventures in Stationary. A love letter to the desktop before it became a metaphor. http://t.co/3PdMzApEou
Cognition in the Wild
Edwin Hutchins
After comparing modern Western navigation with the method practiced in Micronesia, Hutchins explores the computational and cognitive properties of systems that involve multiple individuals. He then turns to an analysis of learning or change in the organization of cognitive systems at several scales.@TrueHarlequin "Thinking" is the misleading word, unless it is taken - atypically - as Edwin Hutchins frames it in http://t.co/iI5QpFhLxX
Keep It Simple
Hartmut Esslinger
Introduces the success story of Apple from the viewpoint of Hartmut Esslinger, who as an external designer in close collaboration with Steve Jobs was essentially responsible for the design of Apple products. His authentic perspective dispels many a myth - a must for all Apple enthusiasts.@BosleyBeats @verge Esslinger book http://t.co/uDrRrKPhRF is good, But very worth trying to find affordable copy of Kunkel's, "Apple Design"
The Calling
Barry Blanchard
Blanchard shares the story of how he became hooked on climbing in his early teens and became one of the world's most respected alpinists.Rare mountaineering literature that leaves you empathetically exhausted yet laughing out loud: @Barry_Blanchard 's http://t.co/z7qcGBU3VY
If interested in ecological perspective of car design, driverless cars, etc., Bel Geddes' 1940 "Magic Motorways" should B compulsory reading
Videogames in the Beginning: http://t.co/7TiuSqGu4w Excellent fodder 4 discussion on nature of design, invention, patents, prior art, etc.
Film Directing Shot by Shot
Steven Douglas Katz
An instant classic since its debut in 1991, Film Directing: Shot By Shot and its famous blue cover is one of the most well-known books on directing in the business, and is a favorite of professional directors as an on-set quick reference guide.Gift idea for UX designers on your list (including you): favourite book on storyboarding, Katz's Shot-by-Shot: http://t.co/pnX3HN6muD
The Pencil
Henry Petroski
Henry Petroski's witty and unexpected history of the pencil includes a wide range of characters: from the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau, and Toulouse-Lautrec, who declared, 'I am a pencil', to the great nineteenth-century manufacturing families, such as Dixon and Faber. Petroski charmingly celebrates the design history of one of mankind's most essential, and yet undervalued, tools. 'One of those great books that starts a genre. A witty liaison between folk history and deconstruction, it manages to be both wide-angle lens and microscope. Enthralling.' Stephen BayleyGift idea for the stylus/pencil/pen user on your list (including yourself): Petroski's classic history of the pencil: http://t.co/8mPK45ZjIO
Interested in text input? Then read Dominick Tursi's, The History of Shorthand & the Evolution of Shorthand Machines http://t.co/d9XYCeIGWc
- From seasoned traveller and bestselling author James Raffan comes a book that will transform the way we think about northerners and the north Over the course of three years, James Raffan circumnavigated the globe at 66.6 degrees latitude: the Arctic Circle. Armed with his passion for the north, his interest in diverse cultures and his unquenchable sense of adventure, he set out to put a human face on climate change. What he discovered was by turns shocking, frustrating, entertaining and enlightening. In Circling the Midnight Sun, Raffan presents a warm-hearted, engaging portrait of the circumpolar world, and above all a deeply affecting story of societies and landscapes in the throes of enormous change. Compelling and utterly original, this is both an adventure story and a book that will change your view of the north forever.
@raffjam Stories of those above Arctic Circle - voices least heard, but culture most affected by climate change. Read http://t.co/E1VV3tEQ5g
"Everything I know about people, I learnt from pens." Chapter title of book I just got. http://t.co/MAuvCOIFog Stylus fans: U gotta love it!
Cognition in the Wild
Edwin Hutchins
After comparing modern Western navigation with the method practiced in Micronesia, Hutchins explores the computational and cognitive properties of systems that involve multiple individuals. He then turns to an analysis of learning or change in the organization of cognitive systems at several scales.@sbisson Nice! Leads right into why Ed Hutchins Cognition in the Wild http://t.co/4yahnVDd0Q is so important, especially w.r.t. UbiComp
- More than 330 photographs illustrate historical information on traditional woodworking and detailed introductions to specific tasks, projects, and techniques, from tree felling to timberframe construction
@BenBloodworth @CLintRutkas Learned traditional craft from Tom Byers http://t.co/u4xHRKX8Kb also read http://t.co/zM9msduqnu
Joypads!
Nicolas Nova
Joypads ! is an in-depth essay about one of the most iconic object of our time, the game controllers. Based on the accurate study of a huge collection and underlaid by references in the history of technology and video games gurus, the authors revisit the genesis and evolution of these revolutionary devices.Nicolas & Nova's "Joypads!: The design of game controllers" now available in English. For input fans a $13.41 bargain http://t.co/VlHt7xTYLo
Networked
Harrison Rainie
Our perpetual connectedness gives us endless opportunities to be part of the give-and-take of networking. Some worry that this environment makes us isolated. But Networked show how the large, loosely knit social circles of networked individuals expand opportunities for learning, problem solving, decision making, and personal interaction.@barrywellman taught me design relevance of social networks. If you don't know it, check out his book with @lrainie http://t.co/vX0seaEx9r
@Wojciech Perhaps #1 on my list of books on creativity is: Bayles, D. & Orland, T. (2001). Art & Fear. Santa Cruz, CA: Image ContinuumPress
@katecaldwell BTW: David Canfield Smith's 1975 thesis, Pygmalion was key introducing icons to GUIs. Great read. http://t.co/0Obqm3ENjN
@katecaldwell If interested in icon use in interaction, the bible is Dreyfuss (1972), a must have for UX designers: http://t.co/Ic6lWmq69S
The Professor and the Madman
Simon Winchester
The Professor and the Madman, masterfully researched and eloquently written, is an extraordinary tale of madness, genius, and the incredible obsessions of two remarkable men that led to the making of the Oxford English Dictionary -- and literary history. The compilation of the OED began in 1857, it was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken. As definitions were collected, the overseeing committee, led by Professor James Murray, discovered that one man, Dr. W. C. Minor, had submitted more than ten thousand. When the committee insisted on honoring him, a shocking truth came to light: Dr. Minor, an American Civil War veteran, was also an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane. This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.@ianus @kottke Thanks for pointer. Enjoyed the book. See also Winchester's, Professor and the Madman, an early example of crowd sourcing.
Designing for People
Henry Dreyfuss
A cult read among designers for more than half a century, the famous manifesto of America's greatest industrial designer is finally back in print!@BenBloodworth @autosafety Try 2 get used 1st edition of Dreyfuss' Designing for People. My favourite! Beautiful, affordable & EZ 2 find.
Priceless
William Poundstone
Prada stores carry a few obscenely expensive items in order to boost sales for everything else (which look like bargains in comparison). People used to download music for free, then Steve Jobs convinced them to pay. How? By charging 99 cents. That price has a hypnotic effect: the profit margin of the 99 Cents Only store is twice that of Wal-Mart. Why do text messages cost money, while e-mails are free? Why do jars of peanut butter keep getting smaller in order to keep the price the "same"? The answer is simple: prices are a collective hallucination. In Priceless, the bestselling author William Poundstone reveals the hidden psychology of value. In psychological experiments, people are unable to estimate "fair" prices accurately and are strongly influenced by the unconscious, irrational, and politically incorrect. It hasn't taken long for marketers to apply these findings. "Price consultants" advise retailers on how to convince consumers to pay more for less, and negotiation coaches offer similar advice for businesspeople cutting deals. The new psychology of price dictates the design of price tags, menus, rebates, "sale" ads, cell phone plans, supermarket aisles, real estate offers, wage packages, tort demands, and corporate buyouts. Prices are the most pervasive hidden persuaders of all. Rooted in the emerging field of behavioral decision theory, Priceless should prove indispensable to anyone who negotiates.Reading W. Poundstone's book, Priceless. Outstanding! Psychology of decision & value. If design is choice, then this is really relevant.
The Nature of Technology
W. Brian Arthur
“More than anything else technology creates our world. It creates our wealth, our economy, our very way of being,” says W. Brian Arthur. Yet despite technology’s irrefutable importance in our daily lives, until now its major questions have gone unanswered. Where do new technologies come from? What constitutes innovation, and how is it achieved? Does technology, like biological life, evolve? In this groundbreaking work, pioneering technology thinker and economist W. Brian Arthur answers these questions and more, setting forth a boldly original way of thinking about technology. The Nature of Technology is an elegant and powerful theory of technology’s origins and evolution. Achieving for the development of technology what Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions did for scientific progress, Arthur explains how transformative new technologies arise and how innovation really works. Drawing on a wealth of examples, from historical inventions to the high-tech wonders of today, Arthur takes us on a mind-opening journey that will change the way we think about technology and how it structures our lives. The Nature of Technology is a classic for our times.@worrydream W. Brian Arthur's, "The Nature of Technology" is one of the best books countering the "lone inventor" myth of innovation.
See what I Mean
Kevin Cheng
Comics are a unique way to communicate, using both image and text to effectively demonstrate time, function, and emotion. Just as vividly as they convey the feats of superheroes, comics tell stories of your users and your products. Comics can provide your organization with an exciting and effective alternative to slogging through requirements documents and long reports.@BrianSJ3 Tom & Kevin have done a great job of showing the power of comics to capture concepts. I love Kevin's book: http://t.co/EKk2mISmPv
See what I Mean
Kevin Cheng
Comics are a unique way to communicate, using both image and text to effectively demonstrate time, function, and emotion. Just as vividly as they convey the feats of superheroes, comics tell stories of your users and your products. Comics can provide your organization with an exciting and effective alternative to slogging through requirements documents and long reports.Kevin Chen's new book on using comics in UX design just arrived. Highly recommended! Great read as well as tutorial. http://t.co/nAzONZEM
Let My People Go Surfing
Yvon Chouinard
As a child, Yvon Chouinard moved to Southern California with little English and less money. Today his company, Patagonia, earns more than $600 million a year and is a beacon and benchmark for sustainable capitalism. This is the amazing story of a young man who found escape by scaling the world's highest peaks, of an innovator who used his father's blacksmith tools to fashion equipment that changed climbing forever, and of the entrepreneur who brought doing good and having a blast into the heart of a business.@markvoer @arturot Try Yvon Chouinard's, "Let My People Go Surfing" or Marta Braun's, "Picturing Time." Non-obvious design books I loved.
Picturing Time
Marta Braun
A complete, illustrated survey of Etienne-Jules Marey's work that investigates the far reaching effects of her inventions on stream-of-consciousness literature, psychoanalysis, Bergsonian philosophy, and the art of cubists and futurists.@markvoer @arturot Try Yvon Chouinard's, "Let My People Go Surfing" or Marta Braun's, "Picturing Time." Non-obvious design books I loved.
How to Sharpen Pencils
David Rees
Reveals the secrets of manual pencil sharpening in a humorous manifesto.A great mix of humour, respect for traditional craft & subtle comment on move away from stylus: How to Sharpen Pencils http://t.co/00qFSXUd
Sketching User Experiences
Saul Greenberg
In Sketching User Experiences: The Workbook, you will learn, through step-by-step instructions and exercises, various sketching methods that will let you express your design ideas about user experiences across time. Collectively, these methods will be your sketching repertoire: a toolkit where you can choose the method most appropriate for developing your ideas, which will help you cultivate a culture of experience-based design and critique in your workplace. Features standalone modules detailing methods and exercises for practitioners who want to learn and develop their sketching skills Extremely practical, with illustrated examples detailing all steps on how to do a method Excellent for individual learning, for classrooms, and for a team that wants to develop a culture of design practice Perfect complement to Buxton's Sketching User Experience or any UX textGood. The Sketching Workbook is finally shipping from Amazon! http://t.co/xPfR1QLu
Cognition in the Wild
Edwin Hutchins
After comparing modern Western navigation with the method practiced in Micronesia, Hutchins explores the computational and cognitive properties of systems that involve multiple individuals. He then turns to an analysis of learning or change in the organization of cognitive systems at several scales.@mprove Cool. Have U also read Hutchins', "Cognition in the Wild"? Nice thesis on how tools, and eco-system help shape thought & behaviour.
Sketching User Experiences
Saul Greenberg
In Sketching User Experiences: The Workbook, you will learn, through step-by-step instructions and exercises, various sketching methods that will let you express your design ideas about user experiences across time. Collectively, these methods will be your sketching repertoire: a toolkit where you can choose the method most appropriate for developing your ideas, which will help you cultivate a culture of experience-based design and critique in your workplace. Features standalone modules detailing methods and exercises for practitioners who want to learn and develop their sketching skills Extremely practical, with illustrated examples detailing all steps on how to do a method Excellent for individual learning, for classrooms, and for a team that wants to develop a culture of design practice Perfect complement to Buxton's Sketching User Experience or any UX textIt's real! Came home and found copy of the workbook companion to my sketching book waiting for me: http://t.co/zfvPDGUB Really happy!
Droste's small book, "The Bauhaus-Light" is great case study of nature of evolution, collaboration & creation in design http://t.co/EXGPXaSc
Art & Fear
David Bayles
A self-help book for artists of all medium.A short book that perhaps best reflects how I think about design: Bayles & Orland's "Art & Fear". BTW cheap used at abebooks.com