Today, I’m gonna go through 5 books that have helped me as a brand strategist, web designer, and developer. Let’s go!
First things first, I’m gonna start with this book called Book of Branding. It’s by Radim Malinic, and it just does a great job of showcasing the fundamentals of branding and design. I mean, every single page–as you can see–is completely visual, I’ve got a ton of tabs in here for content that has really resonated.
It talks about what to deliver in your final deliverables for your branding, things that include color palette, the cost of branding, how much to charge, just a really well done book that you can finish in, like, one afternoon.
Next up–and this is probably the top, like, 5 or 10 of all time, completely changed my perspective on design and development, just branding as a whole. This is called Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon. Again, another coffee table book that you can finish in, like, an hour.
He talks about how everything that you do in regards to the steps and things you’re doing in regards to branding, design, and development should be documented and shared with the world. I can’t say enough great things about this book, huge fan of Austin’s work, and this is definitely the second on my list.
Next up, we got the homie Chris Do, Pocket Full of Do. Now this guy, I had the opportunity to meet him a couple of months ago, he is pretty much my spirit animal when it comes to digital. He started a very successful agency on the West Coast called Blind, where they worked with some really, really great companies–like Xbox.
His creative director, Matthew Encina–who I recently met as well–is another amazing creative. But ultimately, this guy put together all of the greatest things that he learned over the last decade on entrepreneurship, teaching, and creativity. Chris is a powerhouse.
If you have a chance, check out his content called The Futur–he has an agency. And he talks about the branding and business side of design. I can’t say enough good things about this book–again, another quick read that you can finish in an afternoon.
Visually, it’s beautiful, and he’s basically taking all the stuff that he’s learned in the last 10-20 years, and put it in this nice sized–and beautiful, by the way–book called Pocket Full of Do. So definitely pick that one up, as well.
Next up–and this looks a little dated, but take it with a grain of salt. It’ll give you a great understanding of UI/UX. It’s called Don’t Make Me Think, and this is the Revisited version.
So essentially, this is probably one of the best resources on a common sense approach to web usability. So it talks about things that you need to do to increase time on your website, great ways to frame content, the purpose of navigation.
Now I’ll admit some of the stuff in here is a little bit dated, but it will give you the fundamentals that you need to make a great, functional website. Again, check it out–another great read with a ton of visuals, as you all can see, I’ve highlighted the heck out of this thing. I revisit it all the time when I’m creating new builds and working on site maps and websites.
Last but not the least, another great edition–I finished this about, maybe a year ago–it’s called Value Proposition Design. It’s how you can frame content around, how to develop a value proposition that the end user would like to have or include in their overall experience.
Great book, just visually really well done. It talks about business structure, how to take things and create viable technology, data, how to leverage data in your website design, shaping your ideas–it’s a really visually appealing book as well, as you can see, it’s got two covers here.
Really well done, but ultimately, it’ll show you how to build a website and create products that clients really want, web first.
So that’s my list, you all: 5 books. I’ll include them below. As you all know, I’m an avid reader, so if you have any favorites, drop them below.
Again, all 5 of these books can be read fairly quickly. I mean, you can probably finish these in a couple of weeks. But check these out, I’ll reiterate: Value Proposition Design, Don’t Make Me Think–make sure you get the Revisited one, Book of Branding–another classic, Show Your Work, and then we’ve got Pocket Full of Do.
Again, you all have a great one, I will see you all. Make sure you Like, Subscribe, and Comment. I’ll see you all on the flipside.
