Beautiful Books for Gifts
The V&A Book of Colour in Design
V&A Museum
Going through colour by colour, this book has some incredible illustrations and images that really celebrate colour in design, and how it can be used as decoration or as symbolic. It's beautifully weighty and laid out brilliantly so it's both a feast for the eyes and great to dip in and out of.
Palette Pefect, Vol. 1 & 2
Lauren wager
Taking inspiration from colour combinations in fashion, art and style, Wager has taken themes and then the seasons and compiled a vast range of palettes that chime in with each, providing CMYK/RGB codes with them too so they can be recreated. If you know a colour-loving creative these books are a fabulous resource and is beautifully produced too.
The New Colourful Home
Home Milk & Neil Perry
This is a wonderful book for interior lovers. Inside are images of 30 brilliantly colourful homes, along with interviews from the homeowners themselves about their stories and how they came to live in such colourful surroundings. Not every space will be to everyone's taste, but the insight is wonderful and the imagery inspiring.
Secret Lives of Colour
Kasia St Clair
You can't have a list of colourful books and not include this one. The opening of this book is one of my favourite John Ruskin quotes - “ The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love colour the most” - which really is the perfect way to start such a thorough and thoughtful book on colour. Covering the histories behind 75 colours each one is equally as fascinating and intriguing and the concept that each colour has a biography really hits a chord with this ex-museology student.
Colours
Pantone
This is a brilliant kids book. There are 10 double page spreads in this board-book and there is no better introduction to understanding that the single term ‘yellow’ (or blue or whatever) covers a gamut of possibilities. From a designer perspective its less mind-boggling than a Pantone colour book (but does include the pantone codes just in case) and as a parent its been a great lead-off point for conversations about mixing, identifying and naming colours.
Why Fonts Matter
Sarah Hyndman
Whilst not colourful per se, Typography is such a keystone of design and the science behind why certain styles work more than others is just as fascinating as colour theory. Encouraging you to consider the emotional responses to typography this book isn't just for designers but is a great insight into how typeface can influence what we're reading and how we might react.
Things Are What You Make Of Them
Adam j kurtz
This is a great book of insights, encouragement and inspiration for creatives. Full of great quotes, common sense and motivation each page is perforated so you can tear out and put up, or share, the fantastic reminders of things you/they probably knew but also forgot along the way.
Think Like an Artist
Will Gompertz
The subheading for this book is "and lead a more creative, productive life" and that is what gives away it's unique angle, and why it's such a great read. As the BBCs Arts Editor Gompertz really got close to some wonderful creative thinkers and this book brings together a series of traits that they shared. Which are each fascinating and explained so brilliantly.
The Story of Art Without Men
Katy Hessel
Another one that gives away my Art History roots, but a beautifully written, insightful and fascinating book about female artists and their unique contributions to the art world from the Renaissance up to the present day.
I also want to give a mention to her more recent book 'How to Live an Artful Life' which is a little more bitesize and just as insightful and enjoyable.
Print and Pattern - Nature
Bowie Style
Compiled by Marie Perkins, who blogs as Bowie Style on Print and Pattern, this book is one of a series she compiled featuring a broad range of surface pattern designers. Wonderful for colour palette inspiration, and for different design style references too, this book is bursting with energy and is a great introduction to artists around the world you may not already be aware of.
Patterns: Inside the Design Library
Peter Koepke
A photo of this book's cover does not do it justice. The binding, the print quality and the paper textures are an absolute feast. The Design Library of the title is in New York's Hudson Valley, in an old mill building, and is a repository of millions of historic and contemporary paper and textile swatches. This book uses a small handful of those to illustrate different themes and categories seen within in which are wonderful for pattern, motif and colour inspriation.
Hype Yourself & Brand Yourself
Lucy Werner & Hadrien chatelet
If you know someone who is about to start a small business, is in their early days or, frankly, at any point of their business building journey, then these books are a must. They really are no-nonsense and take you through branding and PR step by step and work with you rather than being too prescriptive. They're great for referring back to as well.
Essentialism
Greg McKeown
This isn't an art, design or business book, but is still a really informative read that helps you reconsider your priorities, be more selective about what you consider 'essential' and help you streamline what you've got going on so you feel more in control. It's not a magic wand, far from it, but I found his approach really fascinating and not overwhelming which is why I wanted to share.
More Sales Please
Sara Nasser Dalrymple
Another no-messing business book, this one is great for the small business owner that might not be a natural sales-person but who suddenly feels like they need to be an expert. It touches on all the elements that work together to successfully promote a small business online, and with exercises to guide you through the process too it's another great resource to go back to and give you a bit of a confidence boost.