Every business owner wants more conversions.

More conversions equal more sales, and more sales mean exponential business growth. But netting those conversions can prove challenging, especially if your website is not in the best shape.

This is where web design plays a major role.

The web design concepts you utilize directly impacts growth and how many of those coveted conversions your business racks up.

Let’s say your SEO is on point, but conversions are lacking. Yes, optimization is a must-do for your website.

Unfortunately, if you’re not converting site visitors, all is for not.

From New York to Houston, a web design agency could be useful to fix that conversion problem. But you can certainly develop a web design plan starting today.

This is why we compiled the following 6 web design concepts proven to increase conversions.

Let’s dive in!

1. Grab Attention In 8 Seconds Or Less

The human attention span has been compared to that of goldfish.

This may be a myth, but there is no denying that online consumers have a very short attention span.

To ensure you lead potential customers down the path toward conversions, you need to grab their attention fast.

The 8-second rule is a web design concept that can help you increase conversions.

This small window of opportunity is critical, so make it count, because you are on the clock.

For example, you can employ creative imagery to grab attention, like this example from Mailchimp:

This artistic image has little to do with email marketing, the core of Mailchimp’s business. However, it is so unique, it catches the site visitor’s eye quickly.

Other web design assets for grabbing attention in under 8 seconds include:

• Large signup and CTA buttons
• Power words and clever terms that are engaging
• Video and other interactive content
• Hover effect on buttons and links
• Animated transitions in sections
• Pop-ups that add value to the site visitor
• Big benefit headlines that are concise

Web design is not solely about making Google happy. A clever design that grabs attention quickly can have a serious positive impact on your conversion rate.

2. Encompass Speed And Increase Conversions

“Most industries are highly competitive, and to gain a competitive advantage in your market, you need to have a fast website. This is a search optimization (SEO) essential that is tethered to web design.

This is especially so for image search and compatibility with Google’s spiders. If images & design are slow to render, Google views that as an unfavorable compared to your competitors in a particular SERP” says Matt Bertram, co-host of BestSEOPodcast.

Let’s face it: A consumer’s attention span is pretty low. But not as low as his or her patience level. Did you know that a one-second delay in page loading can decrease your conversion rates by 7 percent?

Is your website fast enough to keep potential customers on-page and off your competitors’ pages? To find out, you can utilize a few different speed check platforms, such as Google PageSpeed Insights:

Pingdom is another good site speed platform you can use to get insight on just how fast your website is, on desktop and mobile, as well as info on what you can do to fix poor page load time.

3. The “Rule Of Thirds” Is Also A Web Design Concept

The Rule of Thirds is a very important photography concept that can also be used in web design.

What is the Rule of Thirds exactly?

This web design concept divides a screen by thirds horizontally and vertically.

The intersections created by this division become very important strategic points.

The Rule of Thirds looks like this for web design:

You can see that the intersecting lines are more enticing to the eyes. This could be why the Apple web design team placed the iPhone image directly in the middle of the bottom horizontal line. 

The price point also sits strategically between the two top intersection points, just above the horizontal line:

The Rule of Thirds can help you design each section of your website with strategic focal points in mind. You can place CTAs on these intersection points, key marketing messages, product images, and more.

4. Maximize Conversions With Powerful Color Design

Color remains an essential part of quality web design, especially when it comes to increasing conversions. But choosing the right color scheme for your website, and subsequently, your brand can prove a bit difficult.

There are a ton of colors to choose from, but you should consider employing a bit of color psychology. That’s right, consumers are more motivated to buy from a website based on the color scheme used.

Here’s a color wheel you can use:

Most consumers don’t even know that color played a role in the purchase. For example, a HealthTech website will need to convey trust, empathy, and security on their website to increase conversions. The colors used could be:

Using this color psychology, a website in the HealthTech industry can convey confidence to buy or signup quickly using a subconscious psychological connection.

However, do not just pick a few colors and start developing your website. Quality web design using color means utilizing the power of contrast as well.

Contrast will ensure headlines, CTAs, and text standout against your primary brand colors.

Contrast looks like this in web design:

You can see how HubSpot used contrast and a mixup of their primary brand colors to create a visually aesthetic website that also serves up a psychological connection.

5. Employ The Law Of Similarity (Gestalt Principle)

The Law of Similarity, Gestalt Principle, is another web design concept worth employing to increase conversions.

How? The Law of Similarity states that the human eye groups similar objects, which enables the human brain to make sense and organize what we see.

This is important for web design since websites have multiple aspects. By grouping together these aspects using the Law of Similarity, site visitors can easily and quickly process website information and make a purchasing decision.

For example, you can group testimonials with CTA buttons to drive more conversions. Here’s how this looks on a website using the Law of Similarity:

You also serve up a powerful user experience when using the Law of Similarity as a web design concept. By having main aspects of your site grouped, like headline, paragraph text, and CTA, information is much easier to process for the visitor.

6. Increase Conversions By Using Real People In Images

To make your business more familiar, it is essential to put real people front and center.

Most consumers can tell a stock image from a unique one, so having the people of your business front and center on your website can make the difference between conversion, or lost customer.

This supports the current shift in marketing messaging for brands. In fact, a study found that 80 percent of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a business that provides a personalized touch. Images of you and your team can achieve this.

A good example small businesses can draw from is this image from Paradise Service Technologies:

You can see the people that represent this small business. Having a personalized, real-life touch within your web design is paramount. 

Videos are also exceptional for delivering these personalized moments consumers demand in today’s overly competitive market. The same website that served up the team image employed video content as well:

Are You Using Web Design Concepts To Increase Conversions?

Creating a website for your business is more than simply putting optimized text and images together.

You need to add that human element in order to net the conversions you want and need for growth and success.

The above 6 web design concepts can prove useful while revamping your website. You may choose a few to implement, or maybe even all.

Combining every web design concept, and more you find online can ensure that conversion rate continues to rise. Happy designing!

Read More at 6 Web Design Concepts Proven To Increase Conversions

How often have you put out work only to wish you could have gone through at least one more iteration? It happens that you want to make what you now see as needed improvements.

Don’t feel guilty. We’ve all gone through that.

You know you’re capable of doing better and you always strive to do so, a factor which is definitely in your favor. To help speed up your goal of continual improvement we’ve put together a checklist for you.

It describes 5 ways to improve your designs using pre-built websites. It is complete with examples.

Be Theme and Its Exceptional Library of Pre-built Websites

Sure, you take pride in doing your own designs. But by ignoring any assistance you’re placing limitations on what you can accomplish. Your ability to improve as much and as quickly as you’d like to is also lowered.

They’re professionally designed and crafted. Yet, pre-built websites are not a “lazy man’s approach to web design”. What they provide are structure and inspiration. At the same time, they are leaving plenty of room for you to apply your creative skills.

Be Theme has a library of 390+ of them at a one-time cost to you of only $59. And, more pre-built websites are constantly being added at no additional cost.

They are organized by industry and website type, so it’s easy to find what you need.

These pre-built websites reflect the latest design trends. Each is tailored to their chosen industry or niche.

Our Checklist of 5 Ways Pre-Built websites can Improve Your Design Efforts

1. Am I aligned with the trends in this specific industry?

Take the fashion industry for example. Your work features a luxurious design, rich textures and colors, and plenty of bold images. Then, it’s in line with user expectations – right? Actually, your design will be out of sync with changing times and trends.

This year, fashion sites are taking on a minimalist approach. Simple black and white sketches and an abundance of white space are currently in vogue. So are minimalistic menus.

Be Theme has taken this new trend into account by launching a new series of fashion templates.

See for yourself.

BeModel2

BeWeddingDresses

BeTailor2

Do 2. I know for sure what NEEDS to be on the Homepage?

There are a lot of the difficulties associated with a homepage design. One of them is that what is WANTED all too often gets in the way of what is NEEDED.

Another problem is that a typical homepage design should have the right mix of art and science. Your typical web designer tends to struggle to find the right mix. Some aren’t aware of it at all (WANTS supersedes NEEDS).

A good solution is to use a pre-built website as the basis for your home page. It will have been designed by professionals and have a tried and tested user journey.

Which, as these examples illustrate, is what you need – and “want”.

BeBand3

BeGunRange

BeCakes

3. Should I Follow or Disrupt?

You could place web designers (and much of the rest of the population) in two general categories. The followers who like to play it safe, and those who delight in taking one leap of creative faith after another.

We constantly hear whispers in our ear that tell us to “go for it.” This is not particularly good advice when you’re dealing with “stiff” clients. These are professionals who would rather not be taken down unfamiliar paths.

Pre-built websites give you the solidly-structured templates you need. You can still customize them with a creative touch your client would appreciate.

BeRenovate3

BeCar2

BeSpa3

4. Which of these 5 great ideas I have will go best with this project?

When you’re involved with design, too many ideas, even great ones, tend to run into one another. The too many idea (TMI) syndrome is not at all uncommon and it’s not a nice problem to have. None of us like to discard what we believe to be a great idea. If you have 5 of them, you might be tempted to incorporate all of them into your idea.

The odds of all 5 meshing nicely together is about the same as the odds of winning the lottery.

A far better approach is to –

• Browse Be Theme’s large collection of pre-built websites.
• Search through them by type of content, industry, or niche.
• Pick one that closely matches your design ideas or needs.
• Customize it.

The result? You’ll be able to implement your creative vision on a tried and tested structure and platform.

BeRestaurant3

BeMinimal2

BePizza3

5. Is the client right or should I stick to my ideas?

Taking the approach that the client is always right is usually the best way to go. But there will be times (many of them perhaps) when you’ll really want to change a client’s thinking. It might be simply not the way to go to establish a solid online presence.

You’ll help your client (and yourself) by using a pre-built website. It’s simply a matter of convincing the client that a website structured to his or her industry is the best way to go. Pre-built websites allow you to deliver high-quality work. They will conform to industry standards and feature good structure and content focus. And that’s usually enough to seal the deal.

BeAgency3

BeCoffee3

BeEcoBeef

Conclusion

Pre-built websites have many things going for them. Two of them are that they are a proven way to improve your designs, and they are fast and easy to work with.

They also allow you to produce designs that are in tune with the latest trends. At the same time, they ensure one of the characteristics of the products you deliver will be a tried and tested UX.

Pre-built websites will help you zero in on the best idea for a new design. They will also give you plenty of room to exercise your creative talents.

Turning out one example of high-quality work after another is appealing. Check out Be Theme’s library of 390+ pre-built websites for only $59.

Read More at Pre-Built Websites and How to Use Them to Enrich Your Designs

At Webdesignledger, we always try to help designers the best we can, by gathering all the good stuff the great virtual world aka internet has to offer. After a quick research, we came up with a list of five crucial tools for web designers. 

A designer is like a carpenter. In order to get things done, a carpenter needs materials and a professional tool kit. Without it, a carpenter is only a simple man with great dreams, a Sisyphus who never fulfills his aspirations. Because different projects require different utensils, a designer’s tool kit should be as diverse as possible. In order to put together two pieces of wood, a carpenter can’t do anything with a hammer if he’s lacking nails. Also, owning a professional tool kit doesn’t make you a carpenter. In order to become the best of the best you have to diligently study “at the feet” of a master, in a specialized school, or even learn through an online course.

A tool kit is an investment, we won’t deny that. From our experience, designers are passion driven, which makes things a bit easier. When you really want something, you do anything it takes to achieve it. We encourage you all to have the following tools under your belts so that your hard work gets one step closer to success.

1. Sketch

Sketch is rapidly replacing Photoshop due to its Bohemian Coding’s vector UI design tool. Rory Berry, creative director at Superrb, affirmed right after using Sketch the first time: “Having been a user of Photoshop for over 10 years, it was hard to change and learn something new. But literally after the first day of using Sketch, there was no looking back. I’m a total convert.”

2. Figma

This amazing tool connects you with other designers for everyone’s benefit. Figma allows you to design and get feedback from fellow designers in real time. “We were recommended Figma by our web development agency and use it for landing page wireframes. We love that you can quickly create designs for desktop, tablet and mobile,” says David Eastwood content writer and art-worker for Co-o Electrical.

3. Avocode

With this tool coding apps and websites from Photoshop or Sketch is so much easier! Avocode co-founder Vu Hoang Anh says “It gives users everything they need for coding – a preview of the design, and access to all layers and export assets. The best thing is that developers won’t need Photoshop or Sketch at all. The current workflow really sucks and that’s why we created Avocode.”

4. Zeplin

A time saver tool, Zeplin translates Sketch or Photoshop files into a free Windows, Mac, or web-based app. “The best part is that Zeplin provides quick reference for the colours, dimensions and fonts from your designs. It even generates CSS and style guides. I’ve found Zeplin to be a massive time saver and my developer friends seem to really like it too,” affirms James Stiff.

5. Canva

The social media content never looked better! With Canva, you can easily create social media images and info-graphics. “Canva is pretty good for making nice images,” says Lawrence Harmer, founder of Solve Web Media. “Images are the window into the soul of your website and social media, so a tool like this can be key to success,” he continues.

What tools do you use regularly for your designs? Let us know in the comment section below.

Read More at 5 Crucial Tools for Web Designers

We’re super excited to continue our series of interviews “Designer of the Week” with

an amazing and passionate designer, Kadie Smith. 

Read More at Kadie Smith Finds Her Passion For Design During a Career Day in High School (DOTW#5)

Today we are talking about typography, lettering, and branding and I am very excited to have George Cibu sharing his experience in these fields with us.

George is a freelance designer who specializes in typography, lettering, and branding. He is 22 years old and comes from Cluj-Napoca, the heart of Transylvania.

The talented designer has begun sketching at the early age of 18 and everything that followed after came as a nice surprise.

“I started doing graphic design about 4 years ago, doing all sorts of things to practice my skills. Sometime later I got to know some people on Instagram who did typography and lettering and I was very impressed. I found out that lettering is a great way to express your creativity.”

George describes himself as creative, ambitious, and motivated and rightly he does. Through hard work and dedication, he has become an illustrious designer who enjoys the fruit of his work.

But in order to know more about him, we invite you to read an interview where he talks about his sources of inspiration, his most important projects, hobbies, and his overall experience as a designer.
Also, if you’d like to stay updated with the designer’s work, make sure you follow him on Behance, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

So without further ado, here’s the interview section with our favorite designer this week. <3

WebDesignLedger: Where does your inspiration come from?
George: Instagram & Pinterest and books.

WebDesignLedger: What is your favorite piece of work and why? How did you create it?
George: Hmm, I don’t have a favorite piece, to be honest, I always think that the next piece that I am going to make will be my favorite.

WebDesignLedger: What do you think are the most important 3 skills for a designer?
George: The most important 3 skills for a designer are CREATIVITY, SOFTWARE (knowledge/skills) and COMMUNICATION.

WebDesignLedger: How do you stay updated with what is new in the design world?
George: In order to stay updated I usually browse design galleries and read and collect books & magazines.

WebDesignLedger: Have you worked with any major brands?
George: My clients are usually photographers but I’ve done some work for brands like Lookslikefilm, The Visuals Collective, Folk travel, Hope Outfitters, and also I did some branding work for a coffee shop, Genus Coffee and some lettering for Panemar, a bakery from Cluj-Napoca.

WebDesignLedger: Who are your favorite 3 designers?
George: My favorite artists are Jon Contino, Joshua Noom, and Zachary Smith.

WebDesignLedger: What is something new that you learned as a designer in your past experience (jobs & internships)?
George: I think the most important thing I’ve learned is how to be more productive and also I’ve learned some new tricks in Adobe Illustrator and InDesign.
Other things I’ve learned is to remain friendly and respectful to everyone I work with. It is extremely easy to get frustrated or become overly-confident and obnoxious, but that will bring you down real fast. Modesty and respect are vital characteristics of any good designer.

WebDesignLedger: What kind of people do you love to work with? What kind of people don’t you love to work with?
George: Every client is important to me and I value each of them.

WebDesignLedger: Do you have enough free time for your family, friends and for your hobbies?
George: I always make time for my biggest hobby that I have, which is playing guitar

WebDesignLedger: Do you remember about your first project? Tell us more about it.
George: My first project was to create a poster for an event and I also did a lettering for this project. It’s a great feeling when someone appreciates your work and they also pay for it. I think that was the moment that I’ve decided to be a graphic designer.

WebDesignLedger: What do you think the future of graphic-design holds?
George: Since technology changes so fast, it’s hard to say what the future of graphic design holds, but I’ve thought it would be fun having a lot of tools and resources that would help designers to be more creative and more productive in a shorter time.

Below you can take a look at some of George’s stunning designs. Make sure you share your impressions with us in the comment section.

LOGO

LETTERING

Wild

The Mountains

Travel

Love is the answer

Adventure

Beautiful Places

Faith Can Move the Mountains

Escape

Hope and Strength

Ready For Adventure

Adventure Awaits

Rich in Memories

Alive

Magic

Show Me How To Love

Best Things in Life

Read More at George Cibu: Modesty Is The Key #2 DOTW

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do.

I’m a designer from Brazil currently living in Oakland, California. I moved to the US in 2011 when I got an offer from Google. Since then, I have been working for them. Before that, in 2006 I founded a personal blog that ended up growing more than I’d ever planned. Abduzeedo started as a side project and it has always kept that status, it is a blog where I can share things that inspire me. Over the past 10 years, a lot has changed and with that, the blog has evolved as well.

2. How did you get into design? Was there a pivotal point in your life when you decided to become a designer, or was it a gradual process?

My background is industrial design, and I think the reason I got into design was because I was always curious. I also have to thank my parents, especially my dad for always nurturing a sense of curiosity in my brother and me. Then, when i got my first computer and discovered some early graphic software, things became much clearer for me and this led to my desire of creating things using my computer as a medium. Of course, when I chose industrial design, to my surprise, I had to learn to do things without the computer first. I got a bit frustrated, but that was a sign of my naïveté. Now I really appreciate those days and what I learned.

3. What’s the most exciting project you’ve worked on so far?

I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to work on so many cool projects. It is hard to pinpoint one. I always try to put myself in very uncomfortable situations so I can learn the most. Of course this inevitably has resulted in some awful mistakes, but that’s the only way to gain experience, in my opinion. But to answer your question I will say Abduzeedo because it is my personal project and the one I’ve run the longest.

4. How did Abduzeedo start, and where do you see your publication in 10 years from now?

Abduzeedo started after my design studio in Brazil got robbed. We left for lunch and when we came back our studio was empty. All of our equipment was gone. For me it was even worse because that day I decided to back up my files so I lost all my backup discs as well. It started as a backup system, way before the cloud was something. There was no Dropbox, iCloud or Google Drive. I used a server and the blog to backup files in which I would write little tutorials so I could remember how I did certain things in photoshop. It ended up taking off, luckily.

After 10 years I’ve seen quite a lot of things. The blog reached its peak in 2009-2010. It was really massive the amount of traffic it was getting. Since then it has been on a decline but I believe it is more a filtering process. The web became much bigger and the long tail is simply huge. There’s a lot of information and ways to get it. That ended up fragmenting the blogosphere in terms of traffic. My goal is to keep running with Abduzeedo until the point it doesn’t make more sense for me.

5. You probably get this question a lot, but what is like to be a part of a company like Google? Do they really have slides in their offices?

Google is an amazing company. I have learned so much in so many ways. From all the incredibly amazing people to the scale of the projects and how to design for billions. It’s much more challenging indeed. The company’s culture is also incredible and we do have slides in some of the offices.

6. What’s the most interesting project you’ve had on Google?

I got the chance to work on quite a few projects, from Google Search to the most recent one that is Google Play Music. Each one with their particular challenges and requirements. I cannot get too much into the details, but designing for a very broad audience is always a big task and that really gets me motivated.

7. Where do you see the graphic design industry going? What is going to be next year’s graphic design biggest trend?

I feel that the industry is moving towards simplicity. I cannot speak too much about graphic design, but in terms of user interface we see this evolution quite clearly. From the beginning of mobile UI with the iOS and now you can see how much simpler the visual design became. There’s a constant movement towards reduction. The challenge is to do that without losing user’s understanding of how to use the software. As the audience gets more mature and savvy, it allows us to experiment more with this type of exercise.

8. Aside WebDesignLedger, where do you get your inspiration from?

More and more I try to find inspiration from the physical world. With the overload of information online I sort of started to lose my capacity to pay attention to the small little things that are so inspiring in our quotidian lives. From nature to books and architecture. There’s so much out there to be seen, and the most beautiful thing is that it’s unique to your eyes and brain to process that.

9. What are your current hobbies? What are you most curious about right now?

I became a father a little over 9 months ago and right now my hobby is to be a father hah! It takes most of my spare time for sure but it’s just awesome. I also have been learning to prototype in native Android with Android Studio. I feel that the design community focus so much on iOS and there’s a huge need for Android as the main mobile OS>

10. Tea or Coffee?

Coffee.

Read More at Interview With Fabio Sasso – The Founder Of Abduzeedo

Written by the most creative and innovative minds of our time, these 75 books are must reads for all designers. Get a glimpse into the world of design that you’ve never seen before with these eye-opening notions that will inspire you. Those that have read these books rant and rave about them.

“The author is a very incisive thinker, relaying stunning insight after stunning insight” – The Next 100 Years by George Friedman

“I learned lots more about color and its interaction. I had forgotten the physics of color and the perception of color from my college days” – Interaction of Color by Josef Albers

“Shaughnessy writes so clearly and with such honesty that I found it hard to put the book down.” –How to Be a Graphic Designer without Losing Your Soul by Adrian Shaughnessy

This collection of books for designers will not disappoint you. Skim through and find your next favorite source for inspiration. Keep your pencil sharp and your mind sharper!

The Vignelli Canon

“Beautiful imagery. Vignelli was one of the superstars
of Graphic Design and a big inspiration to me.”

Less But Better

by Dieter Rams

 “It’s a bargain for a design book this specialized.
Fascinating look at Rams’ design process and history.”

Grid Systems in Graphic Design

by Josef Müller-Brockmann

“This is a must for all designers. It is a deep dive into
understanding the grid system and typography and how
to use them effectively to solve mass information layout.
If you’re looking to understand the principles of good
design, it is a perfect.”

Interaction of Color

by Josef Albers

“I learned lots more about color and its interaction. I had
forgotten the physics of color and the perception of color
from my college days. This book brought most of it back
and added to my insight into color interaction.”

Visual History of an Airplane

by Jens Müller

“Worth adding to your library if you are interested in
corporate design generally and in Lufthansa/aerospace
design concerns at least marginally.”

The Graphic Artist and His Design Problems

by Josef Müller-Brockman

“I bought a copy recently and it’s like returning
to an old friend”

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

by Edward R. Tufte

“As a graphic designer and a minimalist, I love the
way this book looks and I love the graphics Tufte’s team has created.”
team has created.”

The Art of Looking Sideways

by Alan Fletcher

“Difficult to tell you what this book actually says,
except that it’s author is a genius.”

The Laws of Simplicity

by John Maeda

“I found the laws themselves to be thought provoking;
my mind immediately engaged the task of relating the
laws to my own work.”

The Elements of Color

by Johannes Itten

“It is not only enriching as a color theory document,
but it helps expand the artist or designers possibility
of using, arranging and conceiving color.”

The Design of Everyday Things

by Don Norman

“Finally, I got a chance to read this amazing book.
Don Norman treats design very methodically and shows
that good design is not a black box but something even
more analytical people can understand and apply.”

TOKUJIN

by Tokujin Yoshioka

“The book editors deserve an award for putting together
a beautiful looking book. Never heard of this guy until I
flipped through the book & was blown away…”

Change by Design

by Tim Brown

“Highly recommend this short text, not only to the
artist, or engineer but to all concerned citizens who
hope to make a contribution to solving the problems
of their own life and those of a global society.”

Thinking, Fast and Slow

by Daniel Kahneman

“Thinking Fast and Slow is a very valuable book by
one of the most creative minds in psychology”

The Monocle Guide to Better Living

by Andrew Tuck

“You won’t find this worldly view about business
and the business of people anywhere else.”

Living with Complexity

by Donald A. Norman

“There’s so much to take away and ponder it’s
difficult to sum up. But one thing’s for sure, after
reading ‘Living With Complexity’ you’ll never look
at those salt and pepper shakers on a restaurant
table quite the same way again.”

The Paradox of Choice

by Barry Schwartz

“This is an eye-opening book — it brings the clarity
and insight into decision-making that The Tipping
Point did for trends.”

Paul Rand: Conversations with Students

by Michael Kroeger

“A wonderful paperback essential for any Paul
Rand student. And by student, I mean one who
appreciates, admires, and learns from one of the
greatest designers of the 20th century.”

Creativity Inc.

by Ed Catmull

“With this book, Ed Catmull has given the world an
amazing gift. Much more than a book for managers,
it contains wisdom and stories that you will carry
into the rest of your life.”

The Geometry of Type

by Erik Spiekermann

“Great Book for reference, and learning the history
of Typefaces.”

Information is Beautiful

by David McCandless

“There is a wonderful almost recursive aspect to
this work- the world we perceive is shaped by
`invisible’ streams of stuff that can be converted
to data and analyzed.”

Steve Jobs

by Walter Isaacson

“This is a gripping journey into the life of an amazing
individual. Despite its girth of nearly 600 pages, the
book zips along at a torrid pace.”

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec

by Ronan Bouroullec

“I bought this for my husband and he loved it and
is frequently pulling it out for inspiration. The colors
and prints, page layouts, (everything!) – are all
gorgeous!”

Visual Grammar

by Christian Leborg

“This is a must-have for anyone studying design.
This book is as simple as a child’s, yet it successfully
relays concepts that I paid $7000 to learn over the
course of two semesters.”

Making Ideas Happen

by Scott Belsky

“Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard. This
book helps you with the hard part.”

100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design

by Steven Heller

“I use it when I’m in the middle of a project and
hit a brick wall. I thumb through this book, find
ideas I like, and either draw inspiration from the
given examples or research it more.”

Start With Why

by Simon Sinek

“Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why” is a must read for
any entrepreneur or leader struggling to create a
long-term vision and guiding principles for their
company or cause.”

Naoto Fukasawa

by Bill Moggridge

“Really good book. Perfect balance between text
and images. Like reading his insights on the designs.”

Knowledge Is Beautiful

by David McCandless

“Book does what it says … Amazing amount of
work behind these infographics, there is
something in every visual that makes you think
and the beauty doesn’t detract from the
importance (or fun!). A work of art and passion.”

Design for Hackers: Reverse-Engineering Beauty

by David Kadavy

“Kadavy does a fantastic job taking the
complete design beginner through the
important parts of design. From a hacker’s
point of view, this book is brilliant, and exactly
what I needed.”

Graphics Standard Manual New York City Transit Authority

by Massimo Vignelli

“You will love it, it is everything you would expect.”

Elements of Design

by Gail Greet Hannah

“This book provides a really good way of introducing
basic visual compositional theories to students,
especially for beginning students.”

Geometry of Design

by Kimberly Elam

“Very interesting for anyone who would like to
know more about graphic arts and why some
patterns and object relationships are appealing
and some are not.”

How to Be a Graphic Designer without Losing Your Soul

by Adrian Shaughnessy

“Shaughnessy writes so clearly and with such
honesty that I found it hard to put the book down.”

Information Graphics

by Sandra Rendgen

“This book’s a must have if you consider yourself
a graphic designer data freak”

Graphic Design Manual: Principles and Practice

by Armin Hofmann

“THIS BOOK IS THE BIBLE OF GRAPHIC
DESIGN…FOR ALL OF YOU GRAPHIC
DESIGNERS, YOU NEED TO KEEP THIS
BOOK AS A GUIDE.”

A Designer’s Art

by Paul Rand

“The single greatest book on Graphic Design ever
written. This is not a tutorial or a how-to, but a why.”

Form+Code in Design, Art, and Architecture

by Casey Reas

“Form + Code is a wonderful glimpse of how
computation can be applied as art.”

Visual Miscellaneum

by David McCandless

“Seeing the author on TED, I was intrigued and
bought the book. Then I bought it two more times
to give as a present. Fantastic design, captivating
data, and a pithy humor all thrown together.”

The Next 100 Years

by George Friedman

“The author is a very incisive thinker, relaying stunning
insight after stunning insight in demonstrating how we
arrived at where we are now, with Europe having been
supplanted by America as the world’s focal point.”

Things That Make Us Smart

by Donald A. Norman

“This book is easy to read – and should open most
people’s eyes a bit more…”

Designed for Use

by Lukas Mathis

“A great overview over nearly everything that a UI
or UX Designer needs! to know”

Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things

by Don Norman

“For me, the book was a perfect read. I am always
hunting and gathering for the meaning of art and
design, to push my own work forward, and to gain
an advantage over my competitors in terms of design.”

Glut: Mastering Information Through the Ages

by Alex Wright

“This book is easily the best book I have read in the
course of my research. The style is quick and engaging.”

The Power of Positive Thinking

by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

“It’s such a simple and effective concept, that positive
thinking creates a positive life, yet hard to do at times-
which is a good reason alone to read this book.”

D.I.Y.: Design It Yourself

by Ellen Lupton

“This is a terrific book for ideas all across the board!
I bought this book after flipping through it at a
friends and was excited to see so many hip and
unique ideas.”

Color: A Course in Mastering the Art of Mixing Colors

by Betty Edwards

“If you have had problems understanding just
what makes up a harmonious color palette, then
this book will help you solve that problem.”

I’m Feeling Lucky: Confessions of Google Employee # 59

by Douglas Edwards

“This book is great! Doug is a fantastic writer and
a compelling story teller.”

Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Type

by Kimberly Elam

“The simplicity of presentation and clean design
continue to set Ms. Elam’s educational strategy
above the rest of the publications regarding the
use of compositional layout tools”

Becoming Steve Jobs

by Brent Schlender

“This is the best book I’ve read about Steve Jobs.”

Visual and Statistical Thinking

by Edward R. Tufte

“I found myself slowing down my usual reading
speed to half and doubling my concentration to
follow him, which is a compliment to the depth of
his writing.”

Paul Rand

by Steven Heller

“This is a pretty thorough book on a graphic
design icon. Lots of full-color samples of Rand’s
work to coincide with the text, which is nice.”

Philographics: Big Ideas in Simple Shapes

by Genis Carreras

“Remarkable visual eloquence in his Philographics project.”

Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products

by Nir Eyal

“Hooked presents an empowering perspective
that allows us to start looking at building technology
as building habits.”

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

by Peter Thiel

“This book delivers completely new and refreshing
ideas on how to create value in the world.”

Business Adventures

by John Brooks

“This book casts a wide net over the USAmerican
business and investing scene, always with the width
and insight.”

Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams

by Klaus Klemp

“Very detailed account of modern German
design and Dieter Rams. The definitive book
on Dieter Rams.”

Sketching User Experiences

by Bill Buxton

“This is a book that I will read many times. I think
this book will be helpful for many years to come.”

Remote: Office Not Required

by Jason Fried

“What you’ll find in Remote is profound advice from
guys who’ve succeeded in the virtual workforce arena.”

Startup Communities

by Brad Feld

“I think this is very helpful and practical book for
entrepreneurs, government officials, university
leaders, and other entrepreneurial-related fields.”

Startup Life

by Brad Feld

“If I could go back in time and hand this book to my
younger self, it might have saved us much angst.”

Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age

by Paul Graham

“Paul Graham has delivered final proof that he is a
marvelous essayist with his volume of fairly diverse
writings”

Buzzmarketing: Get People to Talk About Your Stuff

by Mark Hughes

“If money is tight and everything to lose, time spent
studying this well-written book could place you and
your product in the forefront of your target buyer’s
mind.”

Connected

by Nicholas A. Christakis

“An entertaining guide to the mechanics and
the importance of human networking.”

Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

by Shunryu Suzuki

“This is a collection of talks by one of the first Zen
teachers in the U.S. If you’re already practicing Zen,
I highly recommend this book”

TM: The Untold Stories Behind 29 Classic Logos

by Mark Sinclair

“If you are interested in logo design, whether or not
you are a designer, chances are that you would want
to get this new book.”

Thinking with Type

by Ellen Lupton

“This book is an excellent resource for anyone who
is serious about a graphic layout. It is not a type book;
it does not review fonts individually. Rather, it
considers type as a visual element.”

Logo Modernism

by Jens Müller

“The quality of the work contained in this book is
simply humbling, this is a great piece for everyone
interested in design, from students to seasoned
professionals.”

Designing Brand Identity

by Alina Wheeler

“As a designer, I’ve had difficulty for years finding a
book that really spoke to me about Identity and
Branding. This book is the perfect solution to the
problem.”

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

by Ashlee Vance

“Exhaustively reported . . . this work will likely serve
as the definitive account of a man whom so far
we’ve seen mostly through caricature.”

The Best American Infographics 2014

by Gareth Cook

“You’ll come away with more than your share of…
mind-bending moments – and a wide-ranging view
of what infographics can do.”

Patterns of the Universe

by Alex Bellos

“Dazzling and calming at the same time.
I’d highly recommend for yourself or as
a gift. So cleverly, artistically, and
creatively done”

Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction

by Philip E. Tetlock

“Superforecasting is the most important scientific study I’ve ever read on prediction
study I’ve ever read on prediction.”

Work Rules!

by Laszlo Bock

“I really like this book because it helps explain why
I felt connected to some companies versus others
regardless of the company size, team dynamic,
or manager style.”
Did you see anything you like? Is there a book we left out? Let us know, and happy readings!

Read More at The Best Books for Designers