Themed Book Lists

Our themed book lists are compiled from the books that appear on Designers & Books and focus on special subjects. For a complete listing, see List of Lists.
75 blog entries
Books on Designers
June 17, 2015

Charles Eames’s birthday is June 17! Our updated list of books from our designers and contributors include American modern industrial designers Charles (1907–78) and Ray (1912–88) Eames. More...

Themed Book Lists
May 27, 2014

“To be human is to be involved with cloth,” says the author of Textiles: The Whole Story, one of 20 books on textile design from around the world and different historical periods that come from our contributing designers, publishers, and booksellers. More books on textile history and design can be found on the Designers & Books Online Book Fair. More...

Themed Book Lists
June 11, 2014

Twenty books on furniture design covering topics from classical Chinese dressers to contemporary American office chairs. The list includes books on furniture designed by artists (Donald Judd) and architects (Eero Saarinen) as well systems produced by companies like Knoll and Herman Miller. More...

Themed Book Lists
November 26, 2014

In this list of books on food and food design, cooking, and dining (with a design twist) are 20 recommendations by our contributors, including Tim Brown, Louise Fili, Zuzana Licko, Michael Manfredi, and Maria Popova. More...

Themed Book Lists
October 14, 2013

Updated, October 7, 2014. Comic Con—the anime, manga, and comic book lover’s annual conference—takes place in New York, October 9–12 . Here are 20 books on comics, cartoons, and related subjects from our designers and other contributors to mark the occasion. More...

Themed Book Lists
July 14, 2015

Here are 20 books on painters, sculptors, and other artists—from Leonardo da Vinci to Andy Warhol—that designers and architects have found inspirational. See the complete list of more than 200 books on art and artists chosen by designers. More...

Themed Book Lists
March 31, 2015

We’ve updated our list of books of design manifestos, which includes the recently published compilation After the Manifesto (Columbia University GSAPP Books/T6 Ediciones, 2015). In an exciting development for us, Designers & Books is planning to help bring back in print this year another book on this list: Ladislav Sutnar: Visual Design in Action, a 1961 “monograph-cum-manifesto,” in the words of Steven Heller, featuring the work and ideas of the Czech forerunner of information design, Ladislav Sutnar (1897–1976). Watch for details! More...

Books on Cities
December 16, 2014

We revisit our original list of books—now with 10 additional titles—about the city of Los Angeles and its design, past, present, and future. New additions to the list include L.A. [Ten]: Interviews on Los Angeles Architecture, 1970s–1990s by Stephen Phillips, 2013 (Lars Müller Publishers); Sense of Place: Elements of California Modernism, 2014 by Michael Webb and Kovac Architects (ORO Editions); and Earthquakes, Mudslides, Fires & Riots: California and Graphic Design, 1936–1986 by Louise Sandhaus, 2014 (Metropolis Books). More...

Themed Book Lists
September 2, 2015

Fifteen-plus books that look at the book as designed object as well as valuable reading—from our contributors Irma Boom, John HillWarren Lehrer, Peter Mendelsund, Ed Ruscha, and more.—Updated July 26, 2022 More...

Themed Book Lists
October 7, 2014

Here are 15 books on urban design and planning from our contributors. We’ll be giving away copies of one of these books in a drawing opening this Wednesday, October 8. Be sure to check back! More...