Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
Estimate time to read this page: 2 – 4 minutes Edition Reviewed: Paperback Recommendation: Read it if want a little summer fun […]
American Trademarks by Eric Baker and Tyler Blik
American Trademarks: A Compendium is just that, a compendium of trademarks from Blik and Tyler’s previous books, Trademarks of the 20’s and 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, and 60’s and 70’s. This book collects them all in one place, but also includes a series of fantastic essays by a dozen or so trademark design luminaries.
Off Book | Typography by PBS Arts
Type is everywhere. Duh. If you don’t know that, you’re not paying attention. But, ever since a little film called Helvetica it seems like people can’t miss the opportunity to bring it up. PBS Arts piles on with a very sweet, if not terribly insightful, mini-doc. At least it’s short. Maybe you can get your clients to watch it.
The Daily Heller—Swoosh: 40 Years Fly By by Steven Heller
The Nike logo is perhaps the most recognized logo in the history of trademarks. Here at DRL/ohTwentyone we use it as an example of branding neuroefficiency all the time. Over on ImPrint Steven Heller takes us through a brief history and shows some internal documentation that makes my heart sing. Did you know that the swoosh is 40 years old? Check the old girl out. She barely looks a day over 19.
Buy-ology by Martin Lindstrom
Buy-ology is summary of a series of fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) tests designed to test the effectiveness of modern marketing techniques, as well as some traditional marketing axioms. He also tackles some interesting topics like the similarities between brands and religion, subliminal advertising, and why scents may become the logos of the future.
The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier
You could say that The Brand Gap is a concise, insightful primer on the fundamental theories behind building solid brands. Or, if you think about it, it’s the unified field theory. It’s a cheap, fast read, and worth reading and rereading again and again.
Proust was a Neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer
In Proust Was a Neuroscientist Jonah Lehrer spends ~250 pages setting up the argument that artists have incredibly valuable (but frequently unprovable, at least temporarily anyway) insight into human cognition. Then he blows it in the epilogue. It’s worth the read for the chapter on Cézanne alone.
How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer
Jonah Lehrer’s How We Decide is a dissection of the unconscious systems we use to make decisions. He takes us through the impossibly complex system of rewards that form our emotional decision making system and ultimately make us supremely efficient decision makers, even if it seems like we make bad decisions all the time. Awareness (I won’t say understanding) of these systems is incredibly enlightening for designers.