

David Kadavy's "Design for Hackers" now on Amazon - tsycho
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1119998956

======
kadavy
I'm the author of this book, and I am _blown away_ that it currently ranks #36
on all of Amazon[1], right behind the very deserving Eric Ries, who is also
launching today.

Thank you so much to the entire HN community for everything. I can't even list
the number of ways you have helped me, and you certainly have come through
today. Thank you.

UPDATE: It's now at #22[2]. Right by Tim Ferriss. OMFG. Thank you for buying
the shit out of my book today, HN.

UPDATE 2: It's now at #18[3], which puts it on the first page of best-sellers
(where more randoms will see it). This is huge!

[1] <https://skitch.com/kadavy/f3bw8/reis-and-kadavy> [2]
<https://skitch.com/kadavy/f3net/22-w-tim-ferriss> [3]
<https://skitch.com/kadavy/f3nae/number-18>

~~~
symptic
Great work David. Proud of ya'. :)

------
BasDirks
I was very fond of the idea that hackers cannot do design, because I am
primarily a designer. It's good to feel special and look down on an otherwise
very competent group of people. But if it were true it would mean I couldn't
be both an awesome hacker AND an awesome designer, so after a while I rejected
the idea entirely.

It doesn't hurt even for the amazing embedded system programmer to learn about
design. If anyone tells you that those skills are mutually exclusive, turn 180
degrees and start running.

If you lack the eye for design, the strategy I would recommend to develop some
sort of proficiency is to "harvest" materials and ideas (good fonts, well-
proven rules about proportion, color palets etc). Treat it as a repo, throwing
stuff out and putting new stuff in. Ask feedback from designers on your
choices, and try art. Really, try art. The whole art vs design debate is for
decadent old men, but just exercise your creativity in different ways.

~~~
erikpukinskis
I'm a designer at heart and studied design in school, although I love to build
things.

There are kinds of design that require an "eye"... graphic design is the prime
example. I'm not very good at these, because they don't interest me much.

I am much more interested in what might be called "future" design¹... making
interventions that will shape the direction of a certain future. Certainly
graphic design at its best does this _while_ being beautiful. But from my
perspective, graphic design is only one tool of many in the toolchest of the
Future Designer.

Writing code, talking to people, putting on performances, building physical
spaces, creating plans for neighborhoods, making sales, attending city council
meetings.... all of these are indispensible tools for the Future Designer, and
these activities all mesh well with the "hacker" mindset. In a real sense,
this form of design is about hacking the trajectory of a neighborhood, or a
person, or a city, or some other niche.

And yes, many great artists absolutely qualify as future designers. Banksy
surely does. And many graphic designers: see James Victore². And many
technologists too: Mark Zuckerberg surely does. The Kickstarter team surely
does.

I'm embarrassed that this list doesn't contain any women or people of color.
Maybe it's because I'm trying to find examples that would be convincing to the
audience of hacker/designers on Hacker News. Certainly Joycelyn Elders has the
stature of all of those men. As does Audre Lorde. As does Pat Summit. As do
the Dixie Chicks. As do many more.

In some sense there are no specific technical skill requirements for you to be
a great designer (as in: good eye, programming skills, etc). You do, however,
need to know what your technical skills are. If you don't have a great eye,
and the future you're designing requires a beautifully and powerfully
presented image, then you need to find a graphic designer who does.
Recognizing that makes you a great designer.

Because in the end great design isn't about the practice of any specific
craft. It is about outcomes.

¹ with a nod to Eli Blevis:
[http://dspace.kaist.ac.kr/bitstream/10203/5536/1/DRS-
WonderG...](http://dspace.kaist.ac.kr/bitstream/10203/5536/1/DRS-WonderGround-
BLS-SoftwareMaterial-V2.7.pdf)

² <http://youtu.be/X3pXEdvI9xA>

------
coderdude
"Hacker" has the gone the way of "geek" and "begs the question." Diluted to
the point of having no meaning whatsoever. I'm pretty sure that in fewer than
5 years "hacker" will mean what "geek" means today, which is anyone with a
cell phone or who has ever played Mario Bros.

I read TechCrunch, I'm a hacker I'm a hacker!

\-----

Edit: I'll consolidate my responses into one post to keep the attack surface
small and reply from here.

@dsmithn: The word 'hacker' hasn't been redefined. There isn't a governing
body of words that decided one day to change what hacker means. It just
changed with some people using it differently because they thought it made
them sound cooler. Then other people wanted to sound cooler. Now everyone is
cooler. At this point auto mechanics are hackers.

@budu: Excellent work, you've proven my point quite nicely. Thank you. And I
don't worry about the down-voting. I saved up enough imaginary points so that
I don't have to worry about nerd rage. My comment is just off-topic.

~~~
budu
HACKER [originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe] n. 1. A person
who enjoys learning the details of programming systems and how to stretch
their capabilities, as opposed to most users who prefer to learn only the
minimum necessary. 2. One who programs enthusiastically, or who enjoys
programming rather than just theorizing about programming. 3. A person capable
of appreciating hack value (q.v.). 4. A person who is good at programming
quickly. Not everything a hacker produces is a hack. 5. An expert at a
particular program, or one who frequently does work using it or on it;
example: "A SAIL hacker". (Definitions 1 to 5 are correlated, and people who
fit them congregate.) 6. A malicious or inquisitive meddler who tries to
discover information by poking around. Hence "password hacker", "network
hacker". -- The Original Hacker's Dictionary

Edit: I didn't downvoted you, I think people were a bit unfair, but I wanted
to point that the word hacker already had a variety of meanings even 30 years
ago.

~~~
technomancy
> I wanted to point that the word hacker already had a variety of meanings
> even 30 years ago.

I agree with this, but the snippet from the book suggests it's the other way
around--that "hacker" used to mean criminal and has only now begun to mean
positive things.

------
ezy
Big Question: will the Kindle version render decently? The preview, with no
pictures, doesn't give me any hope.

~~~
ca98am79
Looks like it's not available for kindle delivery until Oct 6

~~~
bergie
I've been reading Design for Hackers today, so doesn't look like that. Though
sometimes Amazon (or publishers) seem to delay kindle book availability in
some regions. Really annoying when Amazon first recommends a book to you, and
then tells you that it isn't available when you try to buy.

------
aresant
Don't miss out on the hacker spirit of David getting this book published
chronicled in his blog eg

<http://www.kadavy.net/blog/posts/d4h-the-book/>

All instructive reading in bending a system to work for you, getting things
done, and building a business.

PS - Congrats David, I'll take the fact that Amazon went from "19 in stock" to
"13 in stock" in the time it took me to order as a good sign :)

~~~
dsmithn
Interesting - there are already 3 used books for sale. All slightly more
expensive than the one from Amazon.

~~~
elemeno
That's bots I think - there are companies who'll happily try and arbitrage
Amazon vs You.

------
ibejoeb
For those interested, David Kadavy is doing a GrubWithUs meal in NYC on the
23rd. Come join. It'd be fun to have a few HNers there.

[http://www.grubwithus.com/restaurants/rubirosa-
manhattan/mea...](http://www.grubwithus.com/restaurants/rubirosa-
manhattan/meals/grubwithme-david-kadavy-new-york-sep-23-11)

~~~
senjamin
Genius - book tours over meals? I'm there.

------
DenisM
I'd rather buy a PDF version. The problem with paper is that it takes space
and is an instance of "stuff" when I'm not reading it. Kindle version is
likely poorly formatted, I just can't trust that. A PDF on an iPad would be
just great.

Food for thought.

------
Omnipresent
Has anyone given this book a try? As a developer with no design mind I could
benefit from a designer book targeted primarily for developers/hackers.

On a sidenote, what is a good place to meet designers as cofounders for a
startup? I have a circle of friends who are primarily developers so I don't
know of places where I could go and chit chat with designers.

~~~
andyangelos
Have not tried the book (waiting on my copy) but if your city has a refresh
meetup - you should start there. This is the local chapter in Chicago
<http://www.meetup.com/Refresh-Chicago/> \- well attended and interesting
speakers.

~~~
Omnipresent
I'm in DC and there is a Refresh meetup in rockville. I might join.

------
estel
Link for the UK store: [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Design-Hackers-Reverse-
Engineering-B...](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Design-Hackers-Reverse-Engineering-
Beauty/dp/1119998956/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316021051&sr=8-1)

------
kariatx
I haven't gotten my hands on this book yet, but his talk was probably the best
thing I saw at SXSW this year. I personally find design to be a hard nut to
crack, but the way he thinks is appealing to my very logic-y brain.

------
dsmithn
Blog post: [http://www.kadavy.net/blog/posts/design-for-hackers-the-
book...](http://www.kadavy.net/blog/posts/design-for-hackers-the-book-is-
here/#thebook)

------
orky56
I've been waiting for this book since now we're closer to having hackers and
designers speak a common language where each group can now truly appreciate
each other's profession and discipline. Discussions will be more productive
and a better user experience will happen. Also, it will further legitimize the
designer/hacker and allow for leaner startups.

Hope this is just the beginning!

------
rapind
Does anyone have links to designs he's responsible for? Whether or not he's an
amazing writer I'd still like to check out the products / portfolio it's based
upon before I buy it.

~~~
iamjustlooking
<http://www.kadavy.net/portfolio/> looks like it.

~~~
rapind
Thanks. I ended up on some other portfolio-ish page that listed things he's
hosting on other platforms etc. that really didn't showcase his design work.

------
arkitaip
Sounds a lot like the much praised Non-Designer's Design Book
<http://www.amazon.com/dp/0321534042/>

------
swah
Stuff like this, I hope they can always have on dead-tree format. No way this
can feel right on the Kindle.

------
richcollins
Cover isn't well designed ...

------
rorrr
Warning: negativity ahead.

If you want to learn design, why don't you read something from a real
designer, not Kadavy. I mean, look at his personal website, it has the
shittiest design. Even his book cover has a crappy design (WTF is this
horrible grey gradient with meaningless letters on the background?).

If you want to quickly learn the design, read about composition, color and how
it works with other colors, go browse something like

<http://webcreme.com/>

<http://designawardsgallery.com/>

If you really want to learn how to design, go take drawing and painting
classes, anybody can learn how to draw in 3-4 months, if you do it every day.
Go to your local bookstore and browse endless books of art (not "how to" books
though) - painters, photographers, illustrators.

~~~
groovy2shoes
And here I thought I was the only one. Not to be demeaning to Kadavy--I think
it's good that hackers can get design tips in a language that they speak--but
every time I try to read one of his articles, I'm instantly put off by the
design of his site. I hope that people can glean some good stuff from him, but
from what I've seen, he's not exactly a design guru.

------
Hrothgar15
The notion that design can be "hacked" is unfathomable to me, really. I can't
think of a less hack-oriented profession.

~~~
stevelosh
From what I gather the book isn't about

"how to apply 'hacking' to design"

but rather

"explaining design to people that have the 'hacker' mindset in such a way that
it's easier for them to understand".

------
nazar
If I said I want to read this book because I am a coder with bad graphical
taste and all, but I can't buy it because damn we don't even have proper
creditcards in our country, would anyone consider leaking the pdf version for
free? Secretely, just for those guys like us who are physically unable to
purchase stuff online. :)

~~~
angrycoder
You would have probably been really surprised at the response if you had
explained your situation and asked if there was an alternate way to obtain a
PDF of the book.

~~~
kadavy
Agreed, he's in Turkmenistan! Checking with my publisher to see what his
options are. (I'm the author)

~~~
antileet
Hi,

I'm from India. I can't get the book shipped here without incurring large
delay and shipping costs.

I would be happy to pay full price for a PDF and instant delivery. I'm sure
there are more like me

