Flush — A Design Blog by Ivan W. Lam at ivanwlam.com

I don’t want clothes. I don’t want video games. I want books. Design books. Organize-Your-Life books.

First Choices

• • 
  • Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design
  • by Michael Bierut. 9781568986999.
  • Reason: Because it’s Michael Bierut.
• • 
  • The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life)
  • by John Maeda. 9780262134729.
  • Reason: Because I think simplicity is important.
• • 
  • Dictionary of Brand
  • by Marty Neumeier. 9781884081064.
  • Reason: Because the BADCast says so.
• • 
  • Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
  • by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. 9780865475878.
  • Reason: Because respecting the environment is important.

Secondary Selections

• • Sagmeister: Made You Look
  • by Peter Hall. 9781861542748.
  • Reason: Because it’s related to Stefan Sagmeister!
• • Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far
  • by Stefan Sagmeister. 9780810995291.
  • Reason: Again, because it’s Stefan Sagmeister! Found out on UnBeige.
• • Beautiful Evidence
  • by Edward R. Tufte. 9780961392178.
  • Reason: Because I’m interested in infographics.
• • The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd Edition
  • by Edward R. Tufte. 9780961392147.
  • Reason: More infographics.
• • A Designer’s Research Manual: Succeed in Design by Knowing Your Clients and What They Really Need
  • by Jennifer and Kenneth Visocky O’Grady. 9781592532575.
  • Reason: Because research is important for design. Heard from BADCast #46.
• • Layout Workbook: A Real-World Guide to Building Pages in Graphic Design
  • by Kristen Cullen. 9781592533527.
  • Reason: I need to improve my layout skills.
• • Typography Workbook: A Real-World Guide to Using Type in Graphic Design
  • by Timothy Samara. 9781592533015.
  • Reason: I need to learn more about typography.
• • Make It Bigger
  • by Paula Scher. 1568985487.
  • Reason: Learn from one of the best through case studies.
• • The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play
  • by Neil Fiore. 9781585425525.
  • Reason: Attempt to increase productivity.

Still Good to Have

• • Made with Fontfont: Type for Independent Minds by Erik Spiekermann. 9780977985043.
  • Reason: Type! Heard on ESAD lecture on Swiss Legacy.
• • The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher. 9780714834498.
  • Reason: Lots of inspiration. Skimmed through it at a bookstore.
• • The Codebreakers: The Comprehensive History of Secret Communication from Ancient Times to the Internet by David Kahn. 9780684831305.
  • Reason: I like puzzles. Heard about it through something related to the movie “Zodiac”.
• • The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield. 9780446691437.
  • Reason: David Allen recommended it.
• • The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson. 9781401302375.
  • Reason: Need to learn about business. Heard about it from Ellen Lupton via SVA Podcast Series.
• • Designing Design by Kenya Hara. 9783037781050.
  • Reason: Core77 reviewed it.
• • Graphic Design: A New History by Stephen J. Eskilson. 9780300120110.
  • Reason: New history, eh? Steven Heller recommended it. Never mind. Two guest writers on Design Observer don’t think it’s that good.
• • Layers: The Complete Guide to Adobe Photoshop’s Most Powerful Feature by Matt Kloskowski. 9780321534163.
  • Reason: I want to maximize the ratio of my knowledge of Photoshop features and the amount of space Photoshop takes up my hard drive and my life.

Flush.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 7th, 2007 at 15:33 and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.