Items14The creator’s order
  1. 1The Design of Everyday ThingsThe Design of Everyday ThingsStart with a door that makes you hesitate. A flat plate invites a push and a handle suggests a pull, so a handle on the push side sends a mixed message. Norman gives you a way to notice the clues that doors, appliances, and controls give you before you touch them.0
  2. 2The evolution of useful things (1992)The evolution of useful things (1992) 8.0/10 on Open LibraryPublished Jan 1, 1992Compare two paper clips by how hard they are to slip onto a stack and how tightly they hold it. Petroski follows the attempts to improve the familiar bent-wire clip, including the trade-off between saving wire and keeping enough spring. It’s a good read for anyone who’s wondered why an apparently…0
  3. 3Thinking with Type (2004)Thinking with Type (2004) 7.0/10 on Open LibraryPublished Jan 1, 2004Look at the spaces between letters on a sign. A designer can adjust a particular pair with kerning or change the spacing across a group of letters with tracking. Lupton’s examples give you two ways to diagnose why one line of type looks even and another feels crowded.0
  4. 4Super NormalSuper NormalMorrison describes a set of heavy, handblown wineglasses whose appeal became clearer through daily use. The book’s collection of familiar objects invites you to try his test on your own table. Pick the glass you reach for most often and think about what changes when you use a different one.0
  5. 5Mismatch (2018)Mismatch (2018)Published Jan 1, 2018A computer mouse shaped for a right hand can make a routine task awkward for someone who uses their left. Holmes asks who an object assumes will use it and what happens to people outside that assumption. Try the same question the next time you meet a checkout screen with only one way to pay.0
  6. 6Making It (2007)Making It (2007)Published Jan 1, 2007The chapter on injection molding gives you a way to examine a familiar plastic object. Look for a fine line where the parts of the mold may have met. The book lets you follow the clue back to a manufacturing process and compare it with other ways of shaping an object.0
  7. 7Interaction of color (1963)Interaction of color (1963)Published Jan 1, 1963Put two pieces of the same gray paper against different backgrounds and compare how light they look. Albers’s exercises teach you to judge a color in its surroundings. That’s useful when a paint chip or a fabric sample looks different once you bring it home.0
  8. 8The Design of Childhood (2018)The Design of Childhood (2018) 8.0/10 on Open LibraryPublished Jan 1, 2018Compare a pile of wooden blocks with a toy that has one finished shape. Lange’s account of blocks and construction toys asks how much a toy lets a child decide what to make. It’s an easy question to bring to a toy shelf or a playroom.0
  9. 9Design as art (1971)Design as art (1971) 8.0/10 on Open LibraryPublished Jan 1, 1971Start with Munari’s attention to an object as humble as a lamp, then try it on the light you use to read. What can you adjust, and where does the light actually land? His short essays move among lighting, chairs, road signs, and other things you can look at again the same day.0
  10. 10The 99% Invisible CityThe 99% Invisible CityThe colors spray-painted on a sidewalk can tell you which kinds of utilities lie underneath. One of the first illustrations starts with marks the authors could see from their own office. The book makes a good companion for a walk when you want to know what those little marks and fixtures do.0