My Book Collection
I've bought many design and development books that I have found valuable and full of inspiration over the years. Hopefully, they will be helpful to you too.
Show Your Work!
10 ways to share your creativity and get discovered.
If you work for yourself like me, this book is well worth a read. It's about getting found by making yourself findable using your talents and comfortable things instead of wasting time networking.
Keep Going
10 ways to stay creative in good times and bad
With all the things going on in the world today, this book gives you ideas of disconnecting from useless news/distractions, staying creative, focused, and staying true to yourself.
The Beautiful History
Football club badges tell the story of Britain
I've always been fascinated by badges and emblems, hence the design of my logo. If you're into Premier League football, this book gives a great insight into the history of football club badges. It includes some clubs I've never heard of and which probably don't exist today.
Draplin Design Co.
Pretty much everything
One of my favourite design books. Aaron's an old school designer, and his work is fantastic! If you are looking for a range of design inspiration, this is a go-to book.
Saul Bass
A Life in Film & Design
Saul Bass is one of my all-time favourite graphic designers. He had a unique and very effective style.
The History of Graphic Design
Volume 1 - 1890 to 1959
A beast of a book that probably won't fit on your bookshelf! It's interesting to see how graphic design has evolved throughout the decades, especially through important World events.
The History of Graphic Design
Volume 2 - 1960 to Today
The second volume is the same size as its counterpart.
The Art of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Jedi Fallen Order is one of my favourite Xbox games, and I've played through it a few times now. The worlds and characters are amazing, so when I found out about this book, I had to get it. It's filled with original sketches of the main characters, designers ideas, thoughts and more.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Creating a Champion
Breath of the Wild is such a big game with a large open world, unique characters and realistic terrain. The game is designed in an anime style that I had never seen before in a computer game, so I was interested to see the thoughts and ideas behind it all - this book is fantastic and does not disappoint. My ten-year-old son is constantly lifting it off the shelf to find something to draw from it too!
Thinking in Icons
Designing and Creating Effective Visual Symbols
I love this book because it showed the authors thoughts and approaches when he was working on icon projects. It's rare to see unused or rejected designs in these types of books, but the author isn't afraid of showing them off here.
MTIV: Process, Inspiration and Practice for the New Media Designer
This book means a lot to me. It encouraged me through University, inspired me to think creatively and made me think about "Making the Invisible Visible" in all my work, even to this day. Sadly, Hillman Curtis passed away a few years ago, but his books are still inspirational to me today despite being a little dated technology-wise.
House Industries
The Process is the Inspiration
House are a very influential design studio, and this book shows off their incredible work - very inspirational.
American Trademark Designs
A survey with 732 Marks, Logos and Corporate-identity Signs
This book is full of old designs, identities and brands. It's incredible to see how simple and effective logos were in the old days, many just being one colour symbols. Perhaps we're coming full circle?
The Secret Language of Color
Science, Nature, History, Culture...
It's a great book describing the history of colour and its importance throughout the world and its meaning in different cultures.
The Designer's Dictionary of Type
If you like typography, this is a must-have book.
Logo Design: Vol. 1
This small but chunky book contains thousands of logos, all categorised by industry. It's a great book to refer to when brainstorming for those new brand identity projects.