The best non-design books to help you design a better future

Picked by Carissa Carter and Scott Doorley

Book cover of Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World

Book cover of Thoughtless Acts?: Observations on Intuitive Design

Book cover of Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist

What did I love about each book?

List by Carissa Carter and Scott Doorley

Why are we passionate about this?

We are the academic and creative directors at the Stanford d.school. Our students study design, but they really hope to navigate a world of unknowns and make their way to a better future. We believe the best way to do that is not to limit yourself to a single domain or area but to find new possibilities in the overlaps, patterns, and discoveries that linger between ideas. We love books that stretch us beyond the design domain and into new places of inspiration and investigation. The ones on our list have all delighted us with their ability to reframe our thinking about design, even though none are squarely about the topic.

The books I picked & why

Unflattening

By Nick Sousanis,

Why did I love this book?

This book is all about perspective. By perspective, we mean the ability to see concepts (and life) from a thousand different angles. And when you think Sousanis couldn’t possibly develop something more creative, he levels up.

This is a graphic novel, and we love when authors use pictures to augment words. We all learn and contextualize information differently, and with this book, we come back all the time to kickstart our thinking and make sense of the world around us. As designers, we can get lost in our heads, and Unflattening brings us into the clouds.

Unflattening

By Nick Sousanis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Unflattening as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The primacy of words over images has deep roots in Western culture. But what if the two are inextricably linked, equal partners in meaning-making? Written and drawn entirely as comics, Unflattening is an experiment in visual thinking. Nick Sousanis defies conventional forms of scholarly discourse to offer readers both a stunning work of graphic art and a serious inquiry into the ways humans construct knowledge.

Unflattening is an insurrection against the fixed viewpoint. Weaving together diverse ways of seeing drawn from science, philosophy, art, literature, and mythology, it uses the collage-like capacity of comics to show that perception is always…

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Graphic novels

Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World

By Tyson Yunkaporta,

Why did I love this book?

This is foundational work for anyone building, creating, or designing on the planet today.

If you care about the Earth, about other humans, or about other species, you need to read it. This book is about Indigenous thinking. We love that it is grounded in story, connection, and symbiosis with the natural world.

Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World

By Tyson Yunkaporta,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Sand Talk as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Winner, Small Publishers' Adult Book of the Year, Australian Book Industry Awards 2020

This remarkable book is about everything from echidnas to evolution, cosmology to cooking, sex and science and spirits to Schrödinger’s cat.

Tyson Yunkaporta looks at global systems from an Indigenous perspective. He asks how contemporary life diverges from the pattern of creation. How does this affect us? How can we do things differently?

Sand Talk provides a template for living. It’s about how lines and symbols and shapes can help us make sense of the world. It’s about how we learn and how we remember. It’s about…

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Coming soon!

Trust

By Hernan Diaz,

Why did I love this book?

This book is a work of fiction, but it lulls and twists you until you’re dizzy with reality. We love it because it brilliantly puts you through the same series of events but from a different character's perspective each time.

This is design–never forgetting that your lens is but one of many on the events in the surrounding world. And if you think reading fiction isn’t a great way to learn to design, stop thinking and start reading. Fiction is the ultimate tool for imagination.

Trust

By Hernan Diaz,

Why should I read it?

15 authors picked Trust as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Longlisted for the Booker Prize
The Sunday Times Bestseller

Trust is a sweeping, unpredictable novel about power, wealth and truth, set against the backdrop of turbulent 1920s New York. Perfect for fans of Succession.

Can one person change the course of history?

A Wall Street tycoon takes a young woman as his wife. Together they rise to the top in an age of excess and speculation. But now a novelist is threatening to reveal the secrets behind their marriage, and this wealthy man's story - of greed, love and betrayal - is about to slip from his grasp.

Composed of…

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Thoughtless Acts?: Observations on Intuitive Design

By Jane Fulton Suri,

Why did I love this book?

This book brings us joy and provokes our thoughts in equal measure. It's a picture book about looking, but the lack of words makes it even more profound for us.

Think of it as a field guide to not taking everyday things for granted. Each page is a life lesson in how the world we make makes us back with little, invisible nudges. (This one is out of print and can be hard to find, but remnants of it grace the interwebs. If you can’t find a copy, try doing an image search for “Thoughtless Acts.”)

Thoughtless Acts?: Observations on Intuitive Design

By Jane Fulton Suri,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Thoughtless Acts? as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From IDEO, the global innovation and design firm responsible for such landmark products as Apple's first computer mouse, comes a primer in the observation method that keeps their practice human-centered and ever ingenious. People unconsciously perform ultraordinary actions every day, from throwing a jacket over a chair back to claim the seat, or placing something in the teeth when all hands are full. These "thoughtless acts" reveal the subtle but crucial ways people behave in a world not always perfectly tailored to their needs. Thoughtless Acts? is a collection of dozens of (often humorous) snapshots capturing such fleeting adaptations and…

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Industrial design

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Design

Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist

By Kate Raworth,

Why did I love this book?

Kate Rayworth speaks our language. This book explains how to develop an economy that takes human and planetary flourishing into account and, most importantly, explains how we might think differently to get there.

This is a 300-plus-page book about economics—to be honest, even we haven't finished it cover to cover—but we feel a little bit wiser and more hopeful every time we crack it open!

Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist

By Kate Raworth,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked Doughnut Economics as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Financial Times "Best Book of 2017: Economics"

800-CEO-Read "Best Business Book of 2017: Current Events & Public Affairs"

Economics is the mother tongue of public policy. It dominates our decision-making for the future, guides multi-billion-dollar investments, and shapes our responses to climate change, inequality, and other environmental and social challenges that define our times.

Pity then, or more like disaster, that its fundamental ideas are centuries out of date yet are still taught in college courses worldwide and still used to address critical issues in government and business alike.

That's why it is time, says renegade economist Kate Raworth,…

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Explore my book 😀

After Me

By J. Shep,

Book cover of After Me

New book alert!

What is my book about?

"an intense narrative of family and intangible inheritance. . .this novel unfolds like a fragrant, steeped tea." -Chanticleer Book Reviews, 5 Stars

"like a glorious sunrise, we are gifted the 'après,' the hope and goodness of 'after me.'" -Maria Giuseppa, author of R&R: A Feast of Words

A man in France receives a package from America containing an autobiographical manuscript relating the events of a summer long ago.

After Me

By J. Shep,

What is this book about?

A man in France receives a package from America containing an autobiographical manuscript relating the events of a summer long ago.

When Ellande and Madeleine-Grace visit the family summer house on the Alabaster Coast of Normandy for the first time without their parents, they find themselves growing aware of the importance of their parents' choices in raising them. Under the care of their beloved Aunt Adèle, they explore their heritage and what their parents stood for while determining the value of customs and traditions of both family and France's stunning Pays de Caux. In the face of cruelty, carelessness, and…

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