Gallery: You Can't Understand Design Without Experiencing These 14 Classic Works
01helvetica
*[Helvetica](https://youtu.be/7JkpYgjbYRg)* | While this doc is a deep dive into the world’s most beloved and ubiquitous typeface, it’s also a look at how typography and design pervade our lives.
02death and life
*[The Death and Life of Great American Cities](http://amzn.com/067974195X)* | In her 1961 masterwork, urbanist Jane Jacobs argued that architects and urban planners were destroying the vitality of cities.
03design of everyday things
*[The Design of Everyday Things](http://amzn.com/0465050654)* | Don Norman wrote this seminal book in the 1980s, but it remains a quintessential read on how to design everything from fixtures to software for optimal usability.
04designing design
*[Designing Design](http://amzn.com/3037784504)* | Kenya Hara—a modern ambassador of minimalist Japanese aesthetics—meditates on the ethical and cultural implications of product design.
05change by design
*[Change by Design](http://amzn.com/0061766089)* | Tim Brown, the CEO of IDEO, wrote a series of client case studies that demonstrate how designers can succeed in corporate America.
06just-enough-research
*[Just Enough Research](http://amzn.com/1937557103)* | Research is often considered the boring precursor to designing, but Erika Hall’s book shows how exciting and indispensable the process can be.
07milton glaser
*[Graphic Design](http://amzn.com/0879511885)* | Milton Glaser’s classic visually charts his iconic career and—more important—includes Glaser’s often brutally candid commentary.
08objectified
*[Objectified](https://youtu.be/S9E2D2PaIcI)* | This Gary Hustwit-directed doc on industrial design includes a rare glimpse of a candid Jony Ive waxing philosophical about the joys of making Apple products.
09power-of-10
*[Powers of Ten](https://youtu.be/0fKBhvDjuy0)* | Ray and Charles Eames are known for furniture design, but they also made a powerful nine-minute film visualizing the importance of scale.
10s m l xl
*[S, M, L, XL](http://amzn.com/1885254865)* | Organized by scale, this hefty compendium spans 20 years of projects taken on by OMA, Rem Koolhaas’ pathbreaking Dutch architecture firm.
11the visual display
*[Visual Display of Quantitative Information](http://amzn.com/0961392142)* | This classic tome by data-viz guru Edward Tufte includes 250 statistical graphics, along with detailed analysis of how to design data better.
12thinking with type
*[Thinking With Type](http://amzn.com/1568989695)* | Both novices and experts consider this work, by the design educator and historian Ellen Lupton, a master class on the basics of typography.
13thoughts-on-design
*[Thoughts on Design](http://amzn.com/081187544X)* | Paul Rand’s slim 1947 volume, now back in print, can impress upon yet another generation of graphic designers the value of integrating form and function.
14dieter-ram
*[Dieter Rams’ 10 Principles of Good Design](https://www.vitsoe.com/us/about/good-design)* | Rams’ message from the ’80s—that great design is useful and beautiful while being virtually invisible—remains relevant today.
