Universal principles of design
by William Lidwell · first published 2010
67% recommend28% neutral6% critical
Why HN recommends it
Alphabetical reference of design concepts, each with a description and illustrated examples on facing pages. Easy to digest and broad across UI, graphics and objects; suits beginners, programmers and engineers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A cross-disciplinary reference of design. Pairs common design concepts with examples that illustrate them in practice.
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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…Design were: Don't make me Think by Steve Krug http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Me-Think-Usability/dp/032134... Non-Designer's Design Book http://www.amazon.com/Non-Designers-Design-Book-Typographic-... Universal Principles of Design http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Principles-Design-Revised-Up... Also make sure you go through design's everyday on Behance.net, they have some really amazing designers and design.
on “Ask HN: How can I get better at design?” ↗…Guide to Human-Centered Design - IDEO's most practical book. (Close second: Designing Interactions.) * Universal Methods of Design - another deeply practical book, lots of good tips and examples. * Universal Principles of Design - Sister book to the Universal Methods. Again, straightforward, flip to any page and get an idea when you're brainstorming. * Thinking in Systems - I recommend you skim this book through, but come back…
on “Alan Kay's answer to ‘what are some forgotten books programmers should read?’” ↗Universal Principles of Design
on “Ask HN: Designers, what is the single book developers should read on design?” ↗…Godel's Proof that got me into the theoretical parts of computer science (even though it's a logic book). Strongly recommended. Godel, Escher, and Bach is the usual book to read after Godel's Proof. Universal Principles of Design - great when you need some UI inspiration.
on “Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf? ” ↗…for learning more. I haven't been able to pick them up yet, but I suspect you will find them helpful. 1. How Designers Think by Bryan Lawson 2. The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst 3.Universal Principles of Design by William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, Jill Butler 4. The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman
on “Ask HN:How do you become a really good web designer?” ↗Try to learn and understand design as a discipline before going into the specifics of user interfaces and interaction design. For that I recommend: - Universal Principles of Design - William Lidwell - The Design of Everyday Things - Donald A. Norman Then for more practical knowledge: - Forms that Work: Designing Web Forms for Usability - Caroline Jarrett - Don't Make Me Think:…
on “Ask HN: What is a good book for learning front end design?” ↗Universal Principles of Design - William Lidwell It's not explicitly computer UI design, but the book is essentially an alphabetical list of design concepts with illustrations/examples, and they're very applicable to computers. Amazon…
on “Ask HN: Good books or articles on UI design?” ↗…Digital Experience - (https://www.amazon.com/Branded-Interactions-Creating-Digital...) The Visual Display of Quantitative Information - https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Display-Quantitative-Informati... Universal Principles of Design - https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Principles-Design-Revised-U... The Interface: IBM and the Transformation of Corporate Design, 1945-1976 - https://www.amazon.com/Interface-Transformation-Corporate-19...…
on “Ask HN: Good books or articles on UI design?” ↗Universal principles of design, by William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler is a compilation of ideas, principles and techniques from several disciplines that can be used in all domains of design. It is a very good starting…
…rabbit hole is endless, but I recommend three entry points: - The Design Trilogy of films, made up of Helvetica, Objectified, and Urbanized. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_Trilogy - The book Universal Principles of Design by William Lidwell - The 101 Things I Learned In... series. There isn't one for typography, unfortunately, but the Fashion, Urban Design, Architecture, and Product Design books cover similar territories.
on “Neue Haas Grotesk (2011)” ↗…in many ways) is "The Non-Designer's Design Book." It covers the basic principles of graphic design: Proximity Alignment Repetition Contrast It also covers the basics of using color in design. Universal Principles of Design is also a fascinating read. I've found that reading these books, then trying to design something is helping. It helps if you've tried to design something before reading the books as well.
on “Ask HN: How can I get better at design?” ↗…do need some academia in the workplace, just look at Google for a good example. 8. Like to read books like... Coders at Work, The Laws of Simplicity, Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks, and The Universal Principles of Design. Loves to read Hacker News! Who love sites like Reddit, Hulu (The Office), YouTube, GitHub, StackOverflow, and a myriad of software blogs. If any of this interests you, or maybe you need somebody like…
on “Looking for Dream Job” ↗…this side compared to other areas. On the design side I'm currently taking courses through Kadenze and own every a large collection of design classics that I've been reading through. Everything from universal principles of design (strongly recommend) to the design of everyday things. Beyond thoughtful practical application of these skills in hundreds of websites and apps I've also exhibited artwork. It's a similar story for the…
on “Productivity and the Workweek (2000)” ↗If you enjoyed this article, check out the book "Universal Principles of Design"- it has a wider breadth and depth, and the approach is similar. They use it at my school to teach basic design to programmers.
on “The Principles of Great Design” ↗This is not new and is almost entirely covered in two reference resources I use as a designer. 1. Universal Principles of Design https://g.co/kgs/X19MeR 2. The Humane Interface by Jef Raskin https://g.co/kgs/JfdBkB
on “Laws of UX” ↗