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RESOURCES

LAUREN KELLY

Founder and design psychologist, Dura

dura.studio

Inside the Nudge Unit by David Halpern

tells the story of how a team of

behavioural economists set up the

government’s Behavioural Insights Team

and went to task aiming to help people

make ‘better choices for themselves’. I

read this book at an important time; I was

thinking a lot about psychology and

design and how both seemed to be siloed.

Reading this book solidified my ideas that

behavioural insight should – and could –

be brought into the design process. It led

me to start my studio specialising in

behaviour design and design psychology.

SUSH KELLY

Interactive designer,

Imaginate

sushkelly.co.uk

As a designer/developer I tend to find myself

reading technical books. For a change, I decided to

try The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson.

I’ve had as many aha moments reading it as I would

when reading a book on something like CSS Grid. With

the constant stream of information from social, it’s

easy to compare yourself with the prominent designers

and developers you see. Not everyone can be

exceptional: once you accept this and set your goals

appropriately, life becomes much more satisfying. We

have a limited amount of fucks to give in life; this book

has helped me start to choose them wisely!

WARREN

CHALLENGER

Senior designer, JH

wearejh.com

Like many other designers, I’ve had frustrations convincing certain clients of
the value of UX resources and time on projects. The User Experience Team of
One: A Research and Design Survival Guide by Leah Buley reminded me that I’m not
alone in this fight: larger projects and budgets suffer in the same way. In the
book, the author talks you through exercises and teaches you only to do what
you need to complete your goals. You can achieve a lot when you remove the
formal process: be more flexible and cut to the chase.

DON’T MAKE ME THINK: A
COMMON SENSE APPROACH TO
WEB USABILITY BY STEVE KRUG
If you work in web design and haven’t
read this classic tome, make sure you
correct that ASAP. Basically the bible of web
usability, it’s written in a concise way that
makes it easy to consume on your commute.

STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST: 10 THINGS

NOBODY TOLD YOU ABOUT BEING

CREATIVE BY AUSTIN KLEON

This bestselling book should be on any

creative’s shelf. In it, the author dedicates

each chapter to one of the ten basic principles

to boost your creativity. Fun and inspiring, you’ll

come back to it time after time.

DANA JAMES MWANGI

Founder and branding and website

strategist, Cheers Creative

cheerscreative.com

The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding

by Al Ries and Laura Ries is

hands-down one of the most

influential books in my career. It was a

huge shift in mindset for me, changed

my company’s approach to web design,

and increased the value of our

offerings. Just as Mercedes owns the

word ‘luxury’, we want to help brands

own a word in the minds of consumers.

From aesthetic choices like colours and

typefaces to tone of voice, 22 Laws

helps us develop website strategy and

design for clients with this aim in mind.

THE ELEMENTS OF TYPOGRAPHIC

STYLE BY ROBERT BRINGHURST

Before you understand the technical

aspects of typesetting on the web, you

have to understand the principles underpinning

it. First published in 1992, this beautifully

written manual sets out the history of

typography and is a practical guide to its use.