Last night I spoke on a panel on design education for IxDA Toronto. Fellow panelists included a new media instructor from a local college, a senior planner from a big agency, and a fairly recent graduate of a MDes IxD program. The diverse backgrounds led to a rich discussion about formal and informal education, learning on the job, and general career/life paths.

One of the questions was about books we would recommend for new designers, or anybody looking for something different or inspiring. I thought I’d post a short list here so that it’s recorded and can be shared more easily. I’ve divided it into a couple sections for ease of browsing. Also, this is really just a list… if you have any questions about a specific book ask in the comments on get me on Twitter. I didn’t link these to any book store because I don’t want to endorse a specific retailer. You can find these at all major online book sellers, and many local book stores.

Theory

Notes on The Synthesis of Form, Christopher Alexander

The Language of New Media, Lev Manovich

Thoughtful Interaction Design, Jonas Lowgren

Designing for People, Henry Dreyfuss

Abstracting Craft, Malcolm McCullough (also belongs in Practice)

Digital Ground, Malcolm McCullough

History

Designing Interaction, Bill Moggridge

Designing for Interaction, Dan Saffer (this book spans history, theory, and practice.. a great foundation book)

Practice

Sketching User Experiences, Bill Buxton

Exposing the Magic of Design, Jon Kolko (this one is half theory, half practice, and all awesome)

Communicating Design, Dan Brown

Getting Started with Arduino, Massimo Banzi

All of the A Book Apart series

Inspiration

Talk to Me, Paola Antonelli

Anathem, Neal Stephenson

The Garden of Forking Paths,  Jorge Luis Borges

Not really a book, but take a look at the works of David Rokeby and Norman White for some great inspiration.

I could go on, but this is probably good for now. If you have any specific interests around new media art, electronics, responsive environments, web, software, storytelling, or anything else just ask and I can provide more specific recommendations for those topics as well.

UPDATE:

A great suggestion from Andrew Lovett-Baron, Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino.

I also added two Malcolm McCullough books that I can’t believe I forgot to put on the list.