Top 13 Books for Designers Recommendations

Many times students have really asked me.

This, what is the best books which.

I can read for becoming a great designer and how my life will be really impacted.

Right.

In this podcast, I'm going to be telling you 11 different books, which has really impacted me a lot.

And I'll be sharing with that to you.

Take a lot of notes.

Let's dive into this podcast.

It is very, very vital for a designer first to understand why reading books is very important before going into the 11 different books. Okay, so reading improves your ability to.

Learn every single day and equip your.

Knowledge and be in trend. Whatever you're learning is going to be absolute in next one or maximum two years, guys. So you need to understand this. The world is changing very fast because of the artificial intelligence, the machine learning, the kind of technology what quantum computer is bringing is really high, right? So how do you really make that change? How do you really equip that? How do you really get to adapt in that reading? And knowing about the things is very, very vital. So the 10 different books, what I'm suggesting is my perspective. But you can have your own recommendation, you can have your own style. And some people like certain authors and some people like certain way of knowing design, and some people have a different interest towards different things. Right? So it's my recommendation, but you can have your own. But Definitely read this 10. You will have a lot of impact. And I'm not restricting you to just read this 10. Please read more. Even one books or 200 books, I'd be really happy.

But this is just a start for.

Particularly people who have no knowledge or no habit towards reading something. Okay, so the 10th book, what I'm suggesting, you being a designer is thinking in systems. This is by Donella H. Meadows. Okay, so Donella provides a very good system. Thinking of how a designer needs to.

Think and how you can make the interconnectedness happen in terms of a system.

Because design is not about dealing with only individual elements. It's about connecting the different dots and.

Why it is very important for a.

Designer to develop that perspective. And your brain needs to really synthesize.

And think in that particular way so that you see the patterns, what is emerging in it. Okay, It's a very important book. The second important book, the ninth important book I would say is Zero to One. It's a very good book on startup and how to build the future by Peter Thale and Blake Masters.

So like Peter Thale was one of.

The great guy in forming the PayPal and he was one of the best Friends of Elon Musk and they were really good in terms of knowing and investing and finding out which is really emerging trend. So this is a great book for designers who wanted to really think from the very principal point of view. Like Zero to one thinking. He calls. In fact the book name is Zero to one. What are the difference between incremental thinking and innovative thinking? And what is the difference between China.

And other global economy?

It's a beautiful book you can read if you wanted to become a design.

Entrepreneur, if you want to really improve your creativity.

This is a great suggest. 8th book is Change by Design. How design thinking really transforms into an organization. It was written by Tim Brown, one of the CEO of IDU and I really like his speech and I've seen his videos and the concept of design thinking is really made by them. Okay. It's a problem solving approach and definitely it keeps you in the design process track and you get to know empathy, collaboration, iteration of design process in a great way. Okay. The seventh book, what I would suggest is Power of Habit. Okay, so why do we do what we do in life? It was written by Charles Duhigg. D U h I G G. It was a great book, guys. If you are a designer, definitely you need to learn the concepts which is given in the book. I would say this is one of the best book I've read, I've ever read in design. Okay, so this helps you understand the psychology of consumer and the neuroscience behavior and what is the patterns behind how people really do certain things. Why do we really brush every single day? Why do we brush before we go to the bed? Why do you a cleaning liquid in our home, which is a detergent or something has a smell. Have you ever asked these questions? Right. So this is all connected to our senses and that's why we keep doing it every single day. So it's a very beautiful book. You can read about it. The sixth important book is my favorite Cradle to Cradle. It was written by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. It is like remaking the way we make things. This is a beautiful book, guys. If you wanted to really understand sustainability, if you wanted to understand materials, if you want to really go into a.

Different approach of how a design really forming a circular economy.

Beautiful, beautiful book. In fact, that book is made up of a recyclable material and a recyclable ink. And you will find that book is really heavy to the weight and proportion what it was designed. So it's a great book. I would say the fifth important book is you will not be expecting this from me, but goals. How to get everything you want faster than you ever thought possible. This was a book written by Brian Tracy. Let me tell you guys, if you.

Are not having a proper goal in.

Your career, you can't direct. You can't really become a great designer. You will be randomly oriented, you will.

Lack clarity, you will lack focus, you.

Will lack your clear vision in your life. So read the book Goals. In fact, I would say two, three times you can read. The fourth important book is Rich dad and Poor Dad. You need to understand how an entrepreneur is different from an employee. This is a major mindset shift, what I got by reading this book.

Because if you are thinking like an.

Entrepreneur to solve problems of the people, you tend to become a great designer. You, I mean, the biggest entrepreneurs in.

The world are really designers inherently.

So you can read about lot of things in this book and you can read about how financial success is very important for a person in order to really enjoy and create a big change. It's a beautiful book. You can read about it. The third important book I would suggest you is Design of Everyday Things. It's a beautiful book, guys. Okay. And in fact, it covers a lot of timeless principles of usability, user experience. The word UI UX was formed by Don Norman, right. So he was a behavioral scientist at Apple. And in the 90s that was a surge where the interaction and experience factor comes into play. In fact, after reading this Design of Everyday Things book, lot of designers and design companies and studios have changed their design strategy and they have really, really what you call applied this methodologies for changing the interface of the washing machine, changing the interface of the watch, changing the interface of the air cooler and air conditioner and room heater. So this is a phenomenal book I would suggest. The second important book I would suggest is Emotional Design by Don Norman. This was the same guy who written this book. This is a great book when it comes to correlating with different emotions, what people really think and what people really resonate and how products are connected with that emotion. Because it's not about form follows by function or people like aesthetics and people like experiences that it's beyond that. People really connect that with an emotional aspect of it. That's how people really remember product and people really remember service, people really remember that particular brand for a lot of time. So how do you bring that emotion? And if you wanted to really understand this, go and read that book. This is a beautiful book. I would say you can read about it. Okay, so the first important book I would say, in fact it's the two books. What I'm suggesting you is an additional book, guys. Okay, so you can read a book called Sprint. This is like how to solve big problems and test new ideas in just five days. So this is a book by J. Knapp and John Zaratsky and Brad and Kowitz. So this outlines a very, very practical framework of tackling project hurdles, how we can improve your project management skills. And the authors were the former Google ventures and designers. They give you a step by step Sprint process, how it helps to solve your problem in a very, what do you call, a very systematic way. And the second additional book I would say which is the 12th book, in fact I'm going beyond the 11 so you can read the 12th book which is called Hooped.

So how you can really become a.

Habit forming products, how people want to use your product and service again and again and again and again and again. So Hoopt is a beautiful book. In fact I have read only the half of the book, but it's a great book guys. I know the gist and summary of this book and I've been suggested by a lot of designers for this. So you can read this book called Hooked. Okay? And the additional book, in fact the 13th book I would say, which really, I mean, what do you call? I mean it completely flipped my perspective of how a person needs to be guys. Because I would say if you transform yourself as a person, you reflect on your attitude. If you reflect on your attitude and behavior, it reflect on your creativity and thinking. If you reflect on your creativity and thinking, it brings you lot of different ideas and concepts in your design. The book name is maximum achievement.

You need to read at least twice guys to understand this particular book. It's not a motivational book or something that it's focus on your personal development achieves your potential. Like when you truly unlock your potential as a designer, you have developed a self man, you, you develop a self discipline, you develop your time management abilities. When you know what is your single most priority in your life, it will make a very, very, very, very profound impact in your career. In fact it will, it will kinder your entire system and your heart and your belief system and your entire thing so that you become a totally different person, you become a refreshed person. And with that if you start designing and if you start seeing the problem, I'm 100% sure you will not solve the problem in the same way what other people do. This is an amazing book which I can suggest you guys. Okay So I hope this podcast is really useful for you. Thank you for listening to this and.

If you feel you need to go.

Beyond this and learn and how to.

Consistently make this as a habit to.

Read all these books and go beyond you can definitely subscribe to my mentorship program because some of the things really happens in an organization accountability setting which you need a mentor to help you.

I'm not suggesting you you join this.

Program but you can join any program but have a mentor and an accountability who can help you go beyond that. Okay. This is a general advice which I'm giving you for the listeners who are reading it.

Okay.

Because listening to this podcast will not change anything.

Taking action and going forward having an.

Accountability partner or mentor will help you.

Navigate through this process and make a success.

Okay thank you so much guys. Take care. All the best. We'll see you in another episode.

Bye bye.