Books, films, and more: Design Observer covers the long form

The designers, leaders, and thinkers who shape conversations at Design Observer don’t just create — they chronicle, analyze, and inspire through art, film, and the written word. We’ll be expanding our coverage of the books and other long-form works that delight and inform across all our platforms in the coming months.

For now, we’re publishing an ongoing series of curated reading lists, some from Design Observer editors, others by subject matter experts we admire. A community of makers thrives on ideas; let’s read and thrive and build together.

For this inaugural reading list, “The best books for designing a better life,” seven outstanding designers get personal, using research, memoir, and choose-your-own-adventure style prompts to help readers become happier, more authentic and connected versions of themselves.

If you shop at our Bookshop.org store, proceeds from book sales support local booksellers and our editorial programs.

Happy reading.

Ask This Book a Question by Vicki Tan, contributor of How can I design at a time like this?

A one-of-a-kind guide to smarter decision-making from digital product designer Vicki Tan, based in the science of cognitive bias and the wisdom of storytelling. This book is an interactive game that empowers you to understand yourself in a new way, inviting you on a playful journey of self-discovery. 

Love Letter to a Garden by Debbie Millman, guest on Design of Business | Business of Design

From an award-winning artist, designer, and the host of the podcast Design Matters, this book tells the visual story of falling in love with gardening–and the philosophies that work conjures.

Viewfinder by Jon M. Chu, guest on Design of Business | Business of Design

Long before he directed Wicked, In The Heights, or the groundbreaking film Crazy Rich Asians, Jon M. Chu was a movie-obsessed first-generation Chinese American, helping at his parents’ Chinese restaurant in Silicon Valley and forever facing the cultural identity crisis endemic to children of immigrants. Viewfinder is about reckoning with your own story, becoming your most creative self, and finding a path all your own.

Nonlinear by Kevin G. Bethune, featured in our Design Juice Live series.

In Nonlinear, Kevin Bethune shows us that we can reject trodden paths of digital or physical product creation by taking advantage of a nonlinear approach.

The Can-Do Mindset by Candace Parker, guest on Design of Business | Business of Design

Candace Parker is one of the most decorated and celebrated women’s basketball players of all time. In this memoir/life design guide, she breaks down her ultimate recipe to success, using her own deeply inspiring journey to teach readers how to live bravely, unapologetically, and with purpose.

We Should Get Together by Kat Vellos, guest on Design of Business | Business of Design

Author Kat Vellos, experience designer and founder of Better Than Small Talk, tackles the four most common challenges of adult friendship: constant relocation, full schedules, the demands of partnership and family, and our culture’s declining capacity for compassion and intimacy in the age of social media.

Designed Forests by Dan Handel, featured in Head in the boughs: ‘Designed Forests’ author Dan Handel on the interspecies influences that shape our thickety relationship with nature

Dan Handel is an architect and curator whose work focuses on underexplored ideas, figures, and practices that shape contemporary built environments. In this surprising and often gripping book, he reminds us of our role in the natural world, introduces the notion of “thinking forests,” and encourages the reader to think differently about everything from sustainability to artificial intelligence.

Observed