Stocking Stuffers for the Design Lover
When you walk into DDSTUDIO, one of the first things you encounter is our library. Our collection has been curated for over 25 years, and contains everything from Isamu Noguchi Sculptural Design to a book solely dedicated to fountain pens. With the holidays upon us, we asked our designers to share their favorite book from our collection or their own–hopefully we can help inspire a gift idea or stocking stuffer for the designophile in your life!
Charles Curbbun {Chief/Englishman}
Seeds: Time Capsules of Life
by Wolfgang Stuppy
Photography: Rob Kesseler
Preface by Prince Charles HRH the Prince of Wales
“The book presents a natural history of seeds, illustrated with close-up photographs. The diversity of shapes and features is stunning. As a design firm we are very interested in bio-mimicry, and have been talking with experts in the field – I am sure that our designs are influenced by nature at every level. 3M has been investigating “nature inspired chemistry” for years. Recently, this area has been growing rapidly in an attempt to capture nature’s wisdom and develop biological structures. It has always been amazing to me that the closer-up you get to nature, the more is revealed and it’s all beautiful.”
Ant Creed {GM Experience Design/Motorcycle Enthusiast}
Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace
by Gordon MacKenzie
“Orbiting the Giant Hairball teaches us how to avoid becoming a corporate drone and still thrive in a corporate environment. MacKenzie teaches us how to orbit the hairball, not become a part of it, and how to gain the tools necessary to accomplish a great deal despite the limitations of an administrative mentality.”
Lee-Anne Stossell {Industrial Designer/Karaoke All-Star}
How To See: A Guide to Reading our Manmade Environment
by George Nelson
“How to See is about identifying and appreciating the objects and landscapes that you encounter every day. Nelson reminds us that design is not about how products look, it is about how we experience them within our environment.”
Bill Leach {Design Manager/Hockey Fan}
Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change
by Victor Papanek
“Designing for the Real World inspires you to design without the constraints of outside requirements. Papanek encourages you to focus purely on the needs of the user, not consumer-based desires.”
Designing Interactions
by Bill Moggridge
“In Designing Interactions, Moddridge gives insight to the careful blending of hardware and software solutions–which is what we do here at DDSTUDIO.”
Matt Kranz {Industrial Designer/Guitar Collector}
Between Silence and Light
by Louis Kahn
“There are many books that I am fond of, but this one in particular I found by chance in a second hand shop about ten years ago for $5, so it has this kind of hidden treasure aspect for me. Inside, Kahn has laid out his thoughts, philosophies and mantra in a manner that captured me and that I’m sure other writers and designers certainly would wish to emulate. Not only was he one of the masters of architectural practice, but also a visionary poet and thinker. Its quite easy to find a “design” book with diluted, over-inflated philosophical blather. For me, this one is sincere and honest.”
Deni Cook {Interaction Design Manager/Lead Singer}
SPECK
by Steven Guarnaccia
“I love how beautifully simple some things can be, and oftentimes when common things are looked at much closer or in a different context they become so delightful. This book to me epitomizes that exact idea. It is a collection of perspectives with some really interesting and sometimes downright hilarious observations or outcomes.”
