Andrew Couldwell wrote a book about design systems called Laying the Foundations. The book is packed full of experience and practical advice for creating, documenting, and maintaining a design system.
It's always inspiring to see our friends, from the industry, creating and making cool stuff to inspire others. It's a reward that we will never take for granted and we will will always be supporting. We are featuring the book release of our dear friend Radim Malinic and his Book of Branding.
Book are always a great source of inspiration, there’s always something new to learn. I believe we all know that, but there are books that are truly special, and the book I want to share with you today ranks at the top of my list. The book I am talking about is Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight and it’s a fantastic read, one of those you feel sad when you are getting close to the end.
I love reading biographies because I love to know how individuals can break the status quo and go from ordinary to becoming truly extraordinary. A few weeks ago I finished reading one that has become my favorite, at least until I find a new one. However this one has many invaluable lessons for life. I am talking about the book title The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life written by Alice Schroeder.
We hoped that you have been enjoying our gift guides from the past week, let's keep the holiday spirit alive with another guide. But this time, we will stay away from the tech stuff and focus on books! With the holidays knocking at the door, it will be a great moment to enjoy a nice book next to a fireplace? In all seriousness, it's always good to go back to the basics for a change, we spend a crazy amount of time on our smartphones. Let's leave it on the coffee table for a change. I have to admit that I wish I was reading more books this year, it's on my things to do more for 2018.
Let's kickstart the Weekend with a book recommendation that I profoundly finished a couple days ago. I wasn't into books until I had more free time on my hands; I also forgot how important it is to read and educate yourself through lecture instead of curated content. There are many reasons why it's still great to allow time to read. Now let's take a look at my book recommendation which is about one of the greatest innovator of our time, that is constantly owning the vision of the future.
I am an introvert, shy and that also made me feel insecure, so much so that I thought I had a problem. It turned out that was just my brain playing tricks on me. During all these years I have been reading a lot about psychology and how the brain works. It's good for my career as a designer and it's even better for all the questions I have in my head. Last year, I went through a very traumatic experience that definitely created some scar tissue, not physically but mentally.
Berlin Design Digest is a new design book that showcases work from 75 Berlin agencies. Berlin is a creative hot spot. With its remarkable history, its cosmopolitan attitude, and its many interdisciplinary experiments and trends, Berlin is attracting more and more creative-industry movers and shakers and startup founders from across the globe.
This week is the second or first, in my case, week of work in 2017. With every new year there's a lot of resolutions made, areas that we want to improve or things we want to change. I feel that for me I want just to focus on less and the practice of minimalism. For that reason I am also trying to focus more on design books rather than just online. I am trying to savor the information a bit more instead of gobbling up everything I might think will be inspiring or useful.
These past few months I've read quite a few books of varying topics, from simple fiction to alchemy. Among these books I've read two from Ryan Holiday, his latest I believe, Ego is the Enemy and the most popular The Obstacle is the Way. Both books are quite good but I'll focus this book suggestion post solely on The Obstacle is the Way.
Today, we are happily announcing the Launch of Radim Malinic's Book of Ideas on Abduzeedo. It's been quite a few years since his last publication and this time, Radim has put together a journal/collection of 256 pages of his work from the past and also sharing his deep thoughts on our creative industry by not only from a successful perspective but through his creative blocks as well for which is quite interesting one's take of how you encounter these kind of obstacles in your career.
I had such a great time reading the 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris that in the end I felt I was left with that little feeling of wanting a bit more. At least in the end of that book Tim recommends a few other books and I am now trying to tackle those. I just finished one of them, another excellent book, The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz. There are so many good tips in this book that I had to recommend it here as well.
Good design is timeless, Massimo Vignelli said that once and Dieter Rams reassured use with Good design is long-lasting. If you look back to 5 years ago you can see some of the trends but you can also see this saying working. That's why I like to go back to old projects in sites like Behance, Dribbble, Pinterest, books and of course my own site Abduzeedo to see how much things have changed, but also how much good design is still good design.
It's been quite a while since the last time I recommended a book. It's not because I haven't read any new books lately, it's just because I felt that the books I read weren't exactly worth sharing here. That's not the case of the book I want to talk about today. It's The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss.
The book suggestion of this week is titled Exposing the Magic of Design: A Practitioner's Guide to the Methods and Theory of Synthesis. As the titled says the book is a good guid for young designers and enthusiasts but also for everyone that is passionate about the creative process. The author of the book is Jon Kolko, the Vice President of Consumer Design at Blackboard.
The book suggestion of this week is about design and how it has helped products to be more than just useful but also pleasant to use. Well-designed products create a emotional bond with the user and therefore distance themselves from the competitors.
The book suggestion of this week is a really nice read for those who are not only starting out their careers, but everyone in the creative industry. The book is titled Burn Your Portfolio by Michael Janda. About the book It takes more than just a design school education and a killer portfolio to succeed in a creative career.
The book suggestion of this week is about how to create products that got people to use very often. The title of the book is Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal. As I said, the book ask the questions: Why do some products capture widespread attention while others flop? What makes us engage with certain products out of sheer habit?
Every new year comes with new resolutions, among them at least for me there's always one that is always there at the top of the list, which is to read more books. This year my goal is to vary the styles and move away from design books to focus more on subjects that can improve my personal and work life.
The book suggestion of this week is Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip Heath.