Reading list

What does a colour tell us about the conditions in which it was made? BioColours, edited by Kirsi Niinimäki and Julia Lohmann, approaches that question through chemistry, cultivation, design research and artistic practice. Its three sections—foundations, narratives, and sustainability and applications—bring different kinds of evidence into conversation. Colour becomes a way of investigating how a material connects to a landscape, a production system and the people who use it.

The range of approaches is one of the book’s strengths. Research on microbial colour production sits alongside accounts of dyeing as a situated craft. In Fieldnotes from the “forbidden garden”, Siren Elise Wilhelmsen explores the dye potential of Japanese knotweed in Norway, connecting material experiments with the history of her grandmother’s garden. The plant’s usefulness and its status as an invasive species remain in tension. That tension makes the case more instructive than a simple celebration of an abundant natural resource.

The chapters on sustainability and colourant performance give this experimentation a necessary technical context. How a colour is extracted, fixed to a fibre and maintained in use matters alongside its origin. A reader is encouraged to examine safety, durability and production requirements before accepting an environmental claim. These are practical questions for a designer deciding whether an attractive sample is appropriate for a particular application.

The volume requires readers to move between scientific explanation, personal narrative and design speculation; it offers no single route from a dye source to a finished product. Its value for students lies in learning to compare those perspectives. Read in that way, BioColours helps turn enthusiasm for a new material into a better research question: what would have to be known, tested and changed for this colour to support a responsible creative practice?

Find out more about BioColours: Sustainable Stories from Nature, Lab and Industry →

The 15-Minute City: A Solution to Saving Our Time and Our Planet by Carlos Moreno introduces a way of thinking about cities through the time people spend reaching the places and services they need. Its central proposition is simple: schools, shops, workspaces, healthcare, culture, green areas and other everyday destinations should be accessible within a short walk or cycle from home.

Moreno traces the development of the 15-minute city and examines how the idea has been interpreted in places including Paris, Milan, Portland, Melbourne, Busan and Buenos Aires. The examples show that proximity is not a single urban formula. It depends on mixed uses, active mobility, adaptable buildings, public space and a detailed understanding of how different communities experience their neighbourhoods.

For students of architecture, urban design and related creative disciplines, the book provides a useful bridge between an ambitious vision and the everyday scale of design decisions. It encourages readers to evaluate a city not only through landmarks or infrastructure, but through access, time, comfort and quality of life. As October brings World Habitat Day, World Architecture Day and World Cities Day, the book offers a timely starting point for considering how design can make urban life more local, connected and humane.

Find out more about The 15-Minute City: A Solution to Saving Our Time and Our Planet →

Observations, Research, and Design by Todd Bracher offers a close look at how design develops before it becomes a finished object. The first monograph devoted to the American industrial designer brings together more than twenty-five years of work across furniture, product and interior design, as well as design consulting, while focusing on the research methods and decisions behind the outcomes.

Organised into 26 thematic chapters, the book follows Bracher’s collaborations with companies including Humanscale, Issey Miyake, Georg Jensen and 3M through his distinctive science-based approach. Observation is treated not as a preliminary exercise, but as a core design tool: understanding behaviour, materials, systems and context can reveal the real problem before a solution is proposed.

For students and emerging designers, the book is useful precisely because it shifts attention away from style alone. It presents design as a disciplined process of asking questions, testing assumptions and translating knowledge from other fields into practical responses. At a time when new tools can make it increasingly easy to produce polished outputs quickly, Observations, Research, and Design is a reminder that strong work still begins with curiosity, evidence and a clear understanding of why something should exist.

Find out more about Observations, Research, and Design by Todd Bracher →

How to Speak Machine: A Gentle Introduction to Artificial Intelligence by John Maeda is an accessible guide to understanding artificial intelligence from the perspective of design, technology and human decision-making. Reissued in 2025 with a new preface, the book offers a clear framework for thinking about how machine-learning systems operate, what they can do and where their limitations begin.

Rather than treating AI as a mysterious technical force, Maeda explains why designers and other creative professionals need a working language for computation. The book considers the scale, speed and unpredictability of machines, while also asking how people can use these capabilities to create products and systems that are more inclusive, responsible and meaningful.

For students working across graphic design, product design, digital media, communication and creative technology, How to Speak Machine is a useful starting point. It does not require advanced coding knowledge. Instead, it encourages readers to approach AI with curiosity and critical awareness, recognising that the most important creative skill is not simply generating outputs, but understanding the assumptions, choices and consequences built into the tools we use.

Find out more about How to Speak Machine: A Gentle Introduction to Artificial Intelligence by John Maeda →

Circular Materials: Innovation and Reuse in Design and Architecture by Joe Gibbs is a timely visual guide to one of the most important shifts in contemporary creative practice: the move from linear production to circular thinking.

The book brings together projects in fashion, design, interiors and architecture that work with production waste, recycled and upcycled materials, and other forms of resource reuse. Rather than treating sustainability as a limitation, the examples show how material constraints can become a source of invention, texture, form and new aesthetic language.

For young designers, architects, artists and makers, Circular Materials is useful because it connects environmental responsibility with practical visual inspiration. It encourages readers to ask where materials come from, what histories they carry and how discarded or overlooked resources can be transformed into objects, spaces and systems with new value.

Find out more about Circular Materials: Innovation and Reuse in Design and Architecture by Joe Gibbs →

Making Space: Interior Design by Women by Jane Hall is a global survey of 250 women who have shaped interior design from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day.

The book looks at interior design not as a secondary or decorative discipline, but as a powerful field where ideas about identity, comfort, work, domestic life, public space, taste and cultural change are constantly being negotiated. Through a wide range of historical and contemporary examples, it highlights the creative contribution of women whose work has often been overlooked or placed outside the traditional architectural canon.

For students of design, architecture and visual culture, Making Space offers an important reminder: interiors are never neutral. They influence how people live, move, gather, remember and express themselves. The book is both an inspiring visual reference and a valuable contribution to a broader conversation about authorship, representation and the spaces we choose to call our own.

Find out more about Making Space: Interior Design by Women by Jane Hall →

Textilepedia is an extensive textile dictionary that covers all essential fabric knowledge, making it the ultimate reference for anyone involved in the fashion industry. Whether you’re a seasoned designer or a beginner, this book simplifies the complex world of textiles with a perfect blend of text and imagery. It includes everything from fibers, yarns, woven, knits, non-wovens, laces, leathers and furs, finishing, and more. Textilepedia helps you navigate through different types of materials, understand finishing options, and make informed decisions about fabric selection.

Textilepedia is designed to be the go-to resource for all aspects of fabric selection. It provides comprehensive information on fabrics, understanding varying textures from rough to soft, and evaluating breathability and drape. E.g. the book explains why fabrics have different widths, what makes a fiber or fabric elastic, which fabrics are best for printing, and the sustainability of natural fibers. Packed with essential information about textiles, Textilepedia benefits a wide range of roles within the fashion industry, from designers to product developers.

Find out more about Textilepedia: The Complete Fabric Guide by Fashionary →

Since its founding in 1913, Vanity Fair has chronicled the evolution of the modern era, spanning the Jazz Age, the Depression, the Reagan era’s economic boom, and the visually saturated Information Age. The magazine has done so through its distinctive blend of wit, imaginative storytelling, and high-caliber literary content, complemented by striking visuals created by some of the most acclaimed photographers, artists, and illustrators of their time.

Edited by Graydon Carter, the lavishly produced book offers a decade-by-decade exploration of the world as seen through the lens of Vanity Fair. It highlights the magazine’s unique editor, Frank Crowninshield, and its groundbreaking launch during the Jazz Age. The book also delves into the magazine’s controversial resurgence in 1983 and chronicles the storied history of the iconic Vanity Fair Oscar Party.

Find out more about Vanity Fair 100 Years: From the Jazz Age to Our Age by Graydon Carter →

This exceptional book, based on an exhaustive review of the company’s records, highlights Louis Vuitton’s lasting commitment to exquisite design. It features an impressive array of historical artworks, product sketches, and groundbreaking advertising campaigns.

The narrative delves into the lives and legacies of Louis Vuitton’s first three leaders: the founder, Louis, who invented the modern trunk; his son, Georges; and his grandson, Gaston.

The updated edition includes new perspectives on a diverse range of designs, encompassing ready-to-wear clothing, footwear, jewelry, and even automobiles. With 20 additional pages and revised content throughout, it offers a comprehensive view of the brand’s contemporary history through fresh text and photographs.

Find out more about Louis Vuitton: The Birth of Modern Luxury by Louis Vuitton →

Originating from the highly acclaimed and groundbreaking three-volume Phaidon Design Classics, this new book presents 1,000 of the world’s greatest objects in one large-format volume – from everyday items by anonymous creators to lauded pieces by the likes of Charles and Ray Eames, Charlotte Perriand, Dieter Rams, Richard Sapper, Hans J. Wegner, and Florence Knoll.

Carefully revised to bring every detail up to date, and with the addition of 100 new items that highlight designers from a diverse variety of backgrounds (including a greater number of female designers) and products from the last 15 years, this collection of the world’s greatest product design is more comprehensive, compelling – and relevant – than ever before.

The book showcases celebrated names alongside the new stars of modern design, including Le Corbusier, Alvar and Aino Aalto, Isamu Noguchi, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Lani Adeoye, Faye Toogood, and Lindsey Adelman. Each entry is accompanied by beautiful imagery and a detailed description that offers a rich insight into the product, its history, and its maker, from the renowned Tulip Chair by Eero Saarinen to the much-loved Bird Zero e-scooter.

This handsome book is the perfect reference guide for design enthusiasts, industry professionals, and all those interested in the creative process.

Find out more about 1000 Design Classics by Phaidon Editors →