12 Books Every Design-Mind Should Read in 2026
Essential reading for a deeper understanding of design, taste, and the material world
I’m going to spend 2026 thinking seriously about objects, materials, and the intelligence inside good design. These twelve books, some of which I originally read during my university studies, are the ones I’m using to stretch my eye, refine my frameworks, and build a stronger foundation for the work I want to make and the ideas I want to stand behind.
Feel free to borrow and expand on this list!
Ways of Seeing John Berger
A foundational text for anyone writing about visual culture. This will sharpen how you articulate perception, representation, and taste.
The Craftsman Richard Sennett
The most important contemporary book on craft as a mode of human understanding.
It frames making as intelligence, discipline, and cultural memory.
Art in the Making: Artists and Their Studios from Materials to Crowdsourcing Glenn Adamson
One of the central voices in craft studies today.
Humanise Thomas Heatherwick
Material intelligence within contemporary design.
Vibrant Matter Jane Bennett
A philosophical but accessible entry into “thing theory” and material agency.
The Poetics of Space Gaston Bachelard
A cornerstone for understanding how environments shape emotion and memory.
Aesthetic Intelligence Pauline Brown
Language and systems to understand the aesthetics that drive us.
Design as an Attitude Alice Rawsthorn
Design as a method of thinking and action, extending far beyond objects into systems, behavior, and cultural change.
The Invention of Craft Glenn Adamson
Examination of how “craft” has been defined, dismissed, and reclaimed, and why those distinctions matter in contemporary culture.
Curatorial Activism Maura Reilly
A modern guide to curatorial practice that centers ethics, representation, and intervention.
On Weaving Anni Albers
A foundational meditation on material, structure, and discipline that frames weaving as both a technical practice and a philosophical way of seeing.
On Beauty and Being Just Elaine Scarry
Elegant defense of beauty as an ethical and cognitive force.