100 Designers Choose 100 Books

To celebrate the publication of our 100th designer on Designers & Books on, April 3, 2012, we paired each of our 100 architects, fashion designers, graphic designers, interior designers, landscape architects, product designers, and urban designers together with one book each, chosen from the book lists they’ve submitted. Click on a book title or cover image and you’ll get detailed information on the book along with all its Designers & Books recommenders. Click on a designer’s photo or name and you’ll get the designer’s full book list and links to biographical and other information. (The number of designers and books keeps growing. Visit our designers page for the newest additions.)

View List of Lists

		Making Things Public: Atmospheres of Democracy Bruno Latour David Adjaye: A seminal account of how you imagine or create the idea of publicness in our cities.
		David Hicks: A Life of Design Ashley Hicks Jonathan Adler: David Hicks was the chic-est decorator ever. But what I really love about his work is that it’s not just chic—it's fun and playful and joyful, all the things I believe good design should be.
		The Natural House Frank Lloyd Wright Emilio Ambasz: This book is one of several Wright wrote to proselytize for his notion of organic architecture. I read it when I was 14 years old. Stylistically abominable, it is nevertheless a very influential text. Organic architecture is a philosophy of architecture that promotes harmony between human habitation and the natural world through design approaches so sympathetic and well integrated with the site that buildings, furnishings, and surroundings become part of a unified, interrelated composition.
		Make It Bigger Paula Scher Gail Anderson: Design doesn’t get any more smarty-pants.
		Paris Was Ours Penelope Rowlands Penny Drue Baird: Made me rethink more than one or two serious ideas about life.
		Gardens: An Essay on the Human Condition Robert Pogue Harrison Diana Balmori: Giving order to our relation to nature, rather than bringing an order to nature is the idea that made this book a favorite of mine.
		Saka no ue no kumo (Clouds on the Slope) Ryotaro Shiba Shigeru Ban recommends this book.
		The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form Kenneth Clark Chris Bangle: You will never find a better description of what car design is all about than in this book. Just take out the word “nude” and insert the word “car” and it all becomes crystal clear.
		A Critic Writes: Essays by Reyner Banham Reyner Banham Deborah Berke: As a way to connect with Banham’s broader architectural thinking and insights, this book of collected essays is the one to dip into.
		Fragments d’un discours amoureux (A Lover’s Discourse: Fragments) Roland Barthes Pierre Bernard: Barthes celebrates the fact that the 26 letters of the alphabet are not images, and as such they can be reinvented to mean whatever needs to be said. Giving meaning to the written word—using an alphabet that's not loaded in advance with stereotypes—is indeed one of the greatest challenges for the graphic designer.
		The Shape of Things: A Philosophy of Design Vilém Flusser James Biber: Language as a key for unlocking design.
		Learning from Las Vegas Robert Venturi Denise Scott Brown David Izenour Michael Bierut: The designer as anti-hero.
		Authentic Décor: The Domestic Interior 1620–1920 Peter Thornton Jeffrey Bilhuber: A “must” for anyone inspired by historic interiors. The author conveys the personality and unique relationship between owner and interior while remaining informative and poignant.
		The Design of Everyday Things Donald Norman Tim Brown: Originally called The Psychology of Everyday Things, still the best argument for why designers can’t be left to design things on their own.
		So Far So Goude Jean-Paul Goude Stephen Burrows: Everything about this book is beautiful—the layout, the fonts, the colors, the photographs.
		Theory of Colours Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Shashi Caan: This accessible color theory book is both illuminating and surprising. Since the book is devoid of pictures, reconstructing the experiments by following the writing results in experiential learning. This is a “must read” for anyone interested in better understanding human response to our physical world.
		Thoughts on Design Paul Rand Ivan Chermayeff: I have read Thoughts on Design many times and will again. Rand was not only the best graphic designer America ever produced, but one of the few who wrote really well about what he was doing. Any designer to be (or in practice) should read Rand’s articulate and provocative thoughts on one of the few trades where the learning curve is continuous, ever-changing, and tuition free.
		Printed Ephemera: The Changing Uses of Type and Letterforms in English and American Printing John Lewis Seymour Chwast: Aggressive and elegant typography.
		Bertram Goodhue: His Life and Residential Architecture Romy Wyllie Alexander Cooper recommends this book.
		The Production of Space Henri Lefbvre Tom Coward recommends this book.
		Pioneers of Modern Typography Herbert Spencer Wim Crouwel: Published in 1969, this is an important sourcebook on the development of modern typography. It is an introduction to what led up to the new concepts in graphic design, and makes clear that modern typography does not have its origins in the conventional printing industry but is entwined with 20th-century painting, poetry, and architecture. It is an inspiring book.
		The Emigrants W. G. Sebald Sheila Levrant de Bretteville: A masterpiece of literature in which the narrative appears to describe the images, but the images are not what the narrative describes. This disconnection between image and text astonished me, and validated all the disconnections and gaps my work has used to create an invitation to others to participate in the signification of a work.
		Billy Baldwin Remembers Billy Baldwin Ernest de la Torre: Baldwin was one of the great visionaries.
		Designing for People Henry Dreyfuss Niels Diffrient: This book, though over 50 years old, has examples and advice that all designers and manufacturers could use today. Its message is timeless and has not been supplanted by other more recent publications. In addition, it’s a pleasure to read.
		Snow Crash Neal Stephenson Elizabeth Diller recommends this book.
		The Death and Life of Great American Cities Jane Jacobs Andrés Duany: At intervals of a decade or so I reread what I consider to be the great books of architecture. The real standbys have been Venturi's Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture Le Corbusier’s Towards a New Architecture, Rem Koolhaas’s Delirious New York and Jane Jacobs’s Death and Life of Great American Cities. Depending on my stage in life—and on ambient circumstance—they become different books. Death and Life is now ascendant in my estimation, while the others are sounding a bit foolish for the first time. The books haven’t changed of course, but I have, and so has the general prospect. I am now a 37-year veteran of practice; and the 21st century is rather up to its neck in environmental, economic, and social crises. The conceptual and the aesthetic now seem to matter much less; and what does is good, practical know-how about normal humans and the places that serve them well—particularly the modest ones. What is so compelling about Jacobs is that real people with all their foibles come first; and architects, when appearing at all, are dangerous fools. This coincides with my personal experience. I must emphasize that the modest pragmatism that I now value is not a surrender of ideals, but the result of mature consideration. To read Jacobs is to be in the presence of an adult. This time around the others read variously like the works of a charming scoundrel, a wild-eyed teenager, and a self-indulgent child. I leave it up to you to guess which is which.
		Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems and the Economic World Kevin Kelly Winka Dubbeldam: This book is a classic and everyone should read it.
		The Decoration of Houses Edith Wharton Ogden Codman Jr. David Easton: One of the very first books about architecture and decoration, which helped define American style as we know it.
		Remembrance of Things Past Marcel Proust Peter Eisenman recommends this book.
		In the Light of Italy: Corot and Early Open-Air Painting Philip Conisbee Jules Fisher: How do you bottle light? Corot does not give an answer but captures atmosphere so effortlessly you will not give up the quest.
		Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth R. Buckminster Fuller Norman Foster recommends this book
		Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art Scott McCloud Mark Fox: Ostensibly a comic book about comics, in this work McCloud broadens our understanding of symbolism, the relationship between words and images, narrative, time as a function of narrative, and communication. I share his concept of “amplification through simplification” with my graphic design students every semester.
		Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things William McDonough Michael Braungart Philip Freelon: A call to arms for all, especially design professionals.
		How Buildings Learn Stewart Brand Daisy Froud recommends this book.
		One Two Three . . . Infinity George Gamow Sou Fujimoto: The joy of discovery is the origin of creativity.
		On Growth and Form D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson Jeanne Gang: The power of keen observation of natural phenomena informs this influential book, which stresses the ways in which structure and mechanics play a role in how living things find their form. What structure junky could resist discussions of spherical tetrahedrons, soap bubbles, or the delicate skeletal patterns found in radiolaria? Even though the science behind it has since been updated, Thompson’s book remains full of wonders.
		Letter and Image Robert Massin Tom Geismar: Type as image over the centuries.
		L’Architecture Claude-Nicolas Ledoux William Georgis: Ledoux’s work combines a reverence for the classical tradition with a yearning for the sublime. This marriage yields strange and evocative offspring.
		The Art of Looking Sideways Alan Fletcher Bob Gill: An amazing collection of obscure thoughts and observations. Endlessly entertaining.
		Visual Thinking Rudolf Arnheim Milton Glaser: Designers need these introductions for their work.
		Lo Studio Boggeri 1933–1981 Bruno Monguzzi Carin Goldberg recommends this book.
		The Four Books on Architecture Andrea Palladio Michael Graves: Palladio’s work as embodied in the “Four Books” is a reflection of his passion for humanism. He has the ability to imagine how we will inhabit his enclosures, his rooms. He is able to embrace us with the places he makes, both on the interior and also in the garden. The Four Books on Architecture shows us how he accomplishes the magnificence of his structures.
		By Design: Why There Are No Locks on the Bathroom Doors in the Hotel Louis XIV and Other Object Lessons Ralph Caplan Nancye Green: No one talks about design and the designer’s mind more intelligently.
		Mark Hampton on Decorating Mark Hampton Alexa Hampton: Of course.
		Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll Sagi Haviv: Coming across this book as a child introduced me to the concept of fantasy, which informs my art to this day.
		The Invention of Solitude Paul Auster Mikko Heikkinen: Includes “Portrait of an Invisible Man” and “The Book of Memory.”
		Nox Anne Carson Jessica Helfand: A perfect example of a book that’s at once emotionally riveting—and visually immersive—in every sense of the word.
		Meditations on a Hobby Horse and Other Essays on the Theory of Art E. H. (Ernst) Gombrich Steven Heller: I always hoped that Ernst H. Gombrich and I were somehow related. He married Ilse Heller, a Czech concert pianist, which meant there were some degrees of separation. Alas, no such luck. None of my family lived anywhere near Czechoslovakia. But there is a slight spiritual connection. I began my “career” writing about the history of caricature. Gombrich and psychoanalyst Erst Kris wrote a book together on the subject. Apparently, the only place it was ever published (in a sharply cut version) was in Meditations on a Hobby Horse. And that is why I treasure this book. There are many insightful essays therein, but “The Principles of Caricature” is essential reading for any practitioner, scholar, or fan of this transformative art form. It was my inspiration for many years.
		ABZ Julian Rothenstein Mel Gooding Kit Hinrichs: A very entertaining and contemporary look at historic typography.
		The Visual Display of Quantitative Information Edward R. Tufte Craig Hodgetts: Despite its numbing title, this volume, and its several cousins, is a visual feast. Its brilliantly selected examples, supplemented by a wise and perceptive text, propel the reader along a hyperbolic learning curve. I find myself referring to it so often that Tufte has nearly attained the status of a verb.
		Space Calculated in Seconds Marc Treib Steven Holl recommends this book.
		The Dictionary of Visual Language Philip Thompson Peter Davenport Angus Hyland: The ultimate sourcebook.
		Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen Maira Kalman: Elegance and humor. These are critical elements in doing anything.
		Charlotte’s Web E. B. White Chip Kidd: This was the first book I read that was really about the power of design and typography. I would say that Charlotte’s typographic web-o-grams represent the first depiction of a successful ad campaign in children’s literature.
		In Praise of Shadows Jun’ichiro Tanizaki Tom Kundig: This has been an important book for my career. I’ve read it multiple times—it continues to be meaningful and I don't expect that will change. Shadows are more important than objects because they enter the realm of the mysterious. The white space is more important than the stroke of the pen. Shadows are the silent reason that objects are recognized; they give them shape. Shadows represent the soul of a place or object.
		Against Architecture: The Writings of Georges Bataille Denis Hollier Vincent Lacovara recommends this book.
		Avedon: Photographs, 1947–1977 Richard Avedon Christian Lacroix: Avedon is a master of fashion photography.
		The Prisons Giovanni Battista Piranesi Daniel Libeskind: An inspiration for meditating about the shape of the human mind.
		Experiencing Architecture Steen Eiler Rasmussen Maya Lin recommends this book.
		World Champion Openings Eric Schiller George Lois: The opening moves of the great chess champions prove (to me) that without an idea in solving each graphic assignment, you’re unarmed.
		Here Comes Everybody Clay Shirky John Maeda recommends this book.
		Space, Time and Architecture Sigfried Giedion Paul Marantz: Vectored me toward the nexus of architecture and light.
		The Aleph Jorge Luis Borges Jean-Marie Massaud recommends this book.
		Moby Dick Herman Melville Margaret McCurry: Architects are as interested in referentiality as are authors. Both build layers of meaning into their work, whether it be the deconstructionist theories of Derrida or the Postmodernist reincarnations of the classical language of architecture as codified by Vitruvius, and in our time, Robert Venturi. Melville was a master of the layering art in his thematic epic Moby Dick, intensely interweaving symbolism and allegory into his dramatic storytelling.
		Architecture Without Architects Bernard Rudofsky Zack McKown: My favorite architecture book. Rudofsky presents exquisite built environments, mostly from ancient times, that were developed organically by communities (versus individual authors), usually over a period of centuries.
		As I Was Saying: Recollections and Miscellaneous Essays Colin Rowe Richard Meier recommends this book.
		(un)Fashion Tibor Kalman Maira Kalman Isaac Mizrahi: The book is as great as the title.
		Portraits: Talking with Artists at the Met, the Modern, the Louvre and Elsewhere Michael Kimmelman Jennifer Morla recommends this book.
		The Earth, the Temple, and the Gods Vincent Scully Eric Owen Moss: Freud as the quintessential landscape architect.
		Man and Camel: Poems Mark Strand Cleto Munari: I have produced a table using his visionary poem dedicated to a man and his camel. His often surreal metaphors are a continuous inspiration for my work.
		The Labyrinth of Solitude Octavio Paz Enrique Norten recommends this book.
		Invisible Cities Italo Calvino Juhani Pallasmaa: Opens up poetic views to an imaginary urbanity.
		The Unknown Craftsman Soetsu Yanagi Harry Pearce: A Japanese insight into the nature of beauty, full of wonderful observations on culture, design, and—ultimately—humanity.
		Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture Robert Venturi Cesar Pelli: Lucid and vigorous critique of modern architecture at the right time.
		From Bauhaus to Our House Tom Wolfe Peter Pennoyer: Just passing 30 years after its first publication, Tom Wolfe’s acerbic attack on modernism remains relevant.
		Silence: Lectures and Writings John Cage Antoine Predock recommends this book.
		The Order of Things Michel Foucault Karim Rashid: Foucault studies knowledge beautifully via language, art, politics, and everything you can imagine in this book. His ideas are ever so inspiring. This is a brilliant book that altered the way I saw life. I feel I owe my career to his writing.
		Informal Cecil Balmond Terence Riley: A few years ago, I took a man that I would have to describe as a media titan to a lecture by Cecil Balmond. I picked seats near the door as I was certain that our attendance would be limited to the first 20 minutes or so (my guest was just that kind of person, sampling one thing of interest before moving on to the next). Not only did he stay for the entire lecture and the question-and-answer session, but I watched with some amazement as he pulled out pen and paper and took notes. Balmond’s ability to address topics of great complexity in a way that appeals to the intellectually curious, but not technically trained, is a rare commodity. Balmond’s Informal translates his compelling lecture style to text and images in a thoroughly engaging way. I am certain it is the only book by an engineer that I have read and then re-read but also pick up from time to time just for the fun of leafing through it.
		The Power Broker Robert Caro Jaquelin Robertson recommends this book.
		Minimalism and Fashion: Reduction in the Postmodern Era Elyssa Dimant Cynthia Rowley: I love this book.
		Allure Diana Vreeland Christopher Hemphill Ralph Rucci recommends this book.
		Edward de Bono’s Thinking Course Edward de Bono Stefan Sagmeister: Many of our ideas were aided by the techniques discussed in this book.
		The Russian Avant-Garde Book 1910–1934 Margit Rowell Paula Scher recommends this book.
		The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Walter Benjamin Ricardo Scofidio recommends this book.
		Popular Culture and High Culture Herbert J. Gans Denise Scott Brown recommends this book.
		A Little History of the World E. H. (Ernst) Gombrich Geoff Shearcroft recommends this book.
		Delirious New York Rem Koolhaas Galia Solomonoff: This book offers an idiosyncratic account of disparate events that connect the city of New York. What amazes me is that it still feels fresh as I review it now so many years after my first time reading it.
		The City in History Lewis Mumford Michael Sorkin: Given to me by my mother when it was first published, this is the book that gave me my first real clues about urban history and the relationship of form and social life. It also made me a modernist.
		Shapes for Sounds Timothy Donaldson Erik Spiekermann: Whenever students of visual communication ask for my recommendation, I mention Shapes for Sounds as the first thing they should read. It is as entertaining and well-designed as any coffee-table book and offers a wealth of information beyond the good looks.
		The Principles of Uncertainty Maira Kalman Deborah Sussman: Proves that hands are still viable tools for making art.
		The Fountainhead Ayn Rand Stanley Tigerman: I read The Fountainhead when I was 13 years old in 1943, put it down and decided to become an architect. One may question Rand’s politics, even the ideology of the self, but her gripping tale of an architect unapologetically motivated my prepubescent psyche.
		The Language of Things Deyan Sudjic Adam Tihany: Our relationship with objects—an intelligent eye-opener.
		Why Architecture Matters Paul Goldberger Calvin Tsao: Emphasizes the imperative of poetics in architecture.
		The Decisive Moment Henri-Cartier Bresson George Tscherny: Cartier-Bresson demonstrated the significance of the decisive moment—be it in photography, design, or communication. He taught us to walk softly and carry a little camera.
		The Soul of a Tree: A Woodworker’s Reflections George Nakashima Billie Tsien: Thoughts about making things.
		The Beer Can by the Highway John A. Kouwenhoven Robert Venturi recommends this book.
		Shaping Things Bruce Sterling Tucker Viemeister: Sci-fi author proposes a design manifesto where everything is a Splime (smart and connected—the developed environment works like the “natural” one in Avatar).
		The Graphic Artist and His Design Problems Josef-Müller Brockman Massimo Vignelli: Swiss typography at its best.
		The Notebooks of Paul Klee, vol. 1: The Thinking Eye Jürg Spiller Richard Saul Wurman: There have been five moments in my life that were akin to having the switch turned on in a dark room. I will list these five and then expand upon the first, which allowed for the rest to occur. Reading The Thinking Eye and The Nature of Nature (then published by George Wittenborn). Klee’s writings confirmed or awakened what I already knew: there exists a systemic reason or basis for visual language, color, line, area, intensity, and repetition; and the boundaries between painting, illustration, narrative, and language are blurred. Lou Kahn gave me permission to be more of myself and embrace a land called “Zero”—emptiness as a place of beginning. Schuyler van Rensselaer Cammann, Professor of Oriental Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, allowed me to discover, at age 19, that, “Yes, Virginia, there is another half of the world.” Charlie Eames allowed me to secretly dance and fall in love with curiosity. After meeting Dave Gallo and Billy Lange, I sensed the vastness, intrigue, mystery, and splendor of that 72 percent of the Earth’s surface that before I had only ridden on top of. So, back to number 1, which was an epiphanic embrace and personal journey of understanding that came not from big words and handbooks, but awakened, codified, and induced a journey of explaining things to myself, within myself, and in a manner that was myself. Perhaps my only strong suit is the unfiltered conversation between my eyes and the three pounds of jelly above them—my brain. It is my home for patterns, threads of connections, maps, memory, and wit.
		Line and Form Walter Crane Eva Zeisel: This 1900 work was an important book for me. Crane talks about expressive and communicative line. I often referred to it in my lectures.

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Now is Better by Stefan Sagmeister

Now is Better

By Stefan Sagmeister
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: October 2023

Combining art, design, history, and quantitative analysis, transforms data sets into stunning artworks that underscore his positive view of human progress, inspiring us to think about the future with much-needed hope.

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Design Emergency: Building a Better Future by Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli

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By Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: May 2022

Rawsthorn and Antonelli tell the stories of the remarkable designers, architects, engineers, artists, scientists, and activists who are at the forefront of positive change worldwide. Focusing on four themes—Technology, Society, Communication, and Ecology—the authors present a unique portrait of how our great creative minds are developing new design solutions to the major challenges of our time, while helping us to benefit from advances in science and technology.

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Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People by Debbie Millman

Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World's Most Creative People

By Debbie Millman
Publisher: Harper Design
Published: February 22, 2022

Debbie Millman—author, educator, brand consultant, and host of the widely successful and award-winning podcast “Design Matters”—showcases dozens of her most exciting interviews, bringing together insights and reflections from today’s leading creative minds from across diverse fields.

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Milton Glaser: POP by Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber

Milton Glaser: POP

By Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: March 2023

This collection of work from graphci design legend Milton Glaser’s Pop period features hundreds of examples of the designer’s work that have not been seen since their original publication, demonstrating the graphic revolution that transformed design and popular culture.

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Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange

Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall

By Alexandra Lange
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: June 2022

Chronicles postwar architects’ and merchants’ invention of the shopping mall, revealing how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in their cultural ascent. Publishers Weekly writes, “Contending that malls answer ‘the basic human need’ of bringing people together, influential design critic Lange advocates for retrofitting abandoned shopping centers into college campuses, senior housing, and ‘ethnocentric marketplaces’ catering to immigrant communities. Lucid and well researched, this is an insightful study of an overlooked and undervalued architectural form.”

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Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition) by Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller

Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition)

By Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Publisher: Letterform Archives Books
Published: October 2023

This facsimile edition of Die Fläche, recreates every page of the formative design periodical in full color and at original size, accompanied by essays that contextualize the work, highlighting contributions by pathbreaking women, innovative lettering artists, and key practitioners of the new “surface art,” including Rudolf von Larisch, Alfred Roller, and Wiener Werkstätte founders Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann.

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