
Ask HN: Recommend some good books for a dev with no design background? - cosgroveb
I could think of top 10 lists for algorithms, web application security, reversing, design patterns... Things programmers should or might want to know about.<p>I think to be a more well rounded individual I would like to start reading up on design. Graphic design, UX design, typography, style. Please tell me where to start!<p>Also: it seems like all the important design communities are by invite only (Forrst for example), which makes it hard to get started from a social-web perspective. This isn't true for the programming community given sites like this, /r/programming, StackOverflow, github and bitbucket, and the multitude of open source projects. Oh well. Just an observation.
======
eswat
I don’t have much for book recommendations, but start off with The Elements of
Typographic Style [[http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Typographic-Style-Robert-
Brin...](http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Typographic-Style-Robert-
Bringhurst/dp/0881792055/)] and get a feel for creating usable and readable
typography in your apps. <http://www.typographyforlawyers.com/> makes a good
companion site too.

Graphic design comes down to “the art of organizing” and effectively using
five elements: line, shape, space, colour and texture. When searching for
fundamental design books I’d look for those that cover how to harness said
elements effectively.

------
elbrodeur
Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
[http://www.amazon.com/Think-Common-Sense-Approach-
Usability/...](http://www.amazon.com/Think-Common-Sense-Approach-
Usability/dp/0789723107)

It's a quick read that will give you tons of "A ha!" moments.

------
ryanteo
Hi, You might find these websites more useful in terms of substance and
practicality. uxmovement.com - Usability articles designshack.co.uk - Well-
written articles on design www.alistapart.com - Web design

I guess you'll also be interested in the presentation of information and
statistics. I recommend Edward Tufte's books. I second the recommendation of
Steve Krug's book, probably one of the most practical and well-written guides.

For typography, I found these articles quite good as an introduction: Basics
of Typography [http://designshack.co.uk/articles/typography/8-rules-for-
cre...](http://designshack.co.uk/articles/typography/8-rules-for-creating-
effective-typography)

If you have Illustrator, you can design some pretty nice text
[http://designshack.co.uk/articles/graphics/an-in-depth-
guide...](http://designshack.co.uk/articles/graphics/an-in-depth-guide-to-
working-with-typography-in-illustrator)

This is a pretty good introduction to some classic fonts:
[http://www.blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/articles/25-classic-
font...](http://www.blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/articles/25-classic-fonts-that-
will-last-a-whole-design-career)

Have fun! (I'm also picking up skills to be more well-rounded) Ryan =)

------
arebop
There are some timeless classics such as
[http://openlibrary.org/works/OL5267912W/Vitruvius_on_Archite...](http://openlibrary.org/works/OL5267912W/Vitruvius_on_Architecture)
and
[http://openlibrary.org/works/OL1417305W/On_painting_and_On_s...](http://openlibrary.org/works/OL1417305W/On_painting_and_On_sculpture)
but some really good contemporary advice about data displays can be found in
<http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/> and for an introduction to typography you
could do worse than the LaTeX Memoir Class manual <http://www.ctan.org/tex-
archive/macros/latex/contrib/memoir/>.

------
Ernestas
The Non-Designer's Design Book: Design and Typographic Principles for the
Visual Novice - Outlines the essentials of page layout, emphasizing the four
concrete principles of design--proximity, alignment, repetition, and contrast

~~~
blahblahblah
I'll second that recommendation. It's such a quick read and yet so incredibly
insightful. The same author also wrote a sequel to the book intended
specifically for the web. I haven't read her web design book, but if it's
anything like the original I'm sure it's a valuable addition to any web
designer's library.

In addition, I'd recommend: "The Humane Interface: New Directions for
Designing Interactive Systems" by Raskin

and

"User and Task Analysis for Interface Design" by Hackos and Redish

------
limedaring
The internet is pretty awesome, and has a lot of resources too. :P

Some of my favorites: <http://www.viget.com/inspire/>,
<http://veerle.duoh.com/>, <http://www.webdesignerwall.com/>, and
<http://jontangerine.com/>. Even if these resources don't have tutorials,
surround yourself with design and you'll start picking it up.

------
ashitvora
There are many books for Usability, User Experience, etc. but if you are a
hard core programmer, I would recommend "Designing Web Interfaces" is good for
beginners and "Defensive Design For The Web".

Links: [http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Web-Interfaces-Principles-
In...](http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Web-Interfaces-Principles-
Interactions/dp/0596516258/)

[http://www.amazon.com/Defensive-Design-Web-improve-
messages/...](http://www.amazon.com/Defensive-Design-Web-improve-
messages/dp/073571410X)

Enjoy :)

------
devmonk
The trick is that books are outdated as soon as they are written. There are a
number of great books on design, but you can learn just as much if not more by
just searching around.

Assuming you mean site design (learn the golden ratio, learn CSS, get good
with photoshop) vs. code design (GoF Design Patterns, etc.), smashing mag is
pretty good place to start.

~~~
elbrodeur
The principles of great design are pretty timeless and are rooted in
psychology, how our brain works and history.

You're right that you can learn a lot by intuition, but it's more likely that
you're learning what you prefer, not what good design principles are.

------
sgentle
I found this enlightening: <http://worrydream.com/MagicInk/>

It's a treatise against interaction as the fundamental paradigm of information
software. Presenting your information well means not needing to interact with
it much to gain value from it. Lots of pretty examples, also.

------
Tymiboss
You could try <http://goo.gl/xbYN> Here is a review: <http://goo.gl/jRCn...in>
french...who knows! I have not read it myself, but I trust the one who wrote
the review. To sum up: great book for sleek designs!

