My Favorite books for my Design Business from 2020
I’m an avid bookworm and I love sinking my teeth into a book that helps me grow and improve my business. I also love taking courses, listening to podcasts and watching YouTube videos to learn new skills, but reading an old-fashioned printed book will always be one of my favorite ways to absorb new information.
So, before launching too far into 2021 I’d love to share a few books that I read in 2020.
Show Your Work by Austin Kleon
A short, fun book from the author of “Steal Like an Artist” this is a pep talk in a book for any creatives marketing themselves or their business online. It’s full of good advice and practical tips for sharing your creative process and approaching social media as an extension of your process.
One of my favorite take-aways is the chapter called “Think Process, not Product” which shares why people are far more interested in seeing how you work than a beautiful, polished result. As a designer this was a bit of a shock to me! But then thinking about how much I love to watch behind the scenes clips from movies or read about how other people run their businesses, it made perfect sense!
Building a Storybrand by Donald Millar
This is a classic book in the web design world, and for good reason. The easy to follow, yet profoundly clear and helpful guide to talking about and writing about your business is a revelation.
I particularly love the link to scriptwriting for films. I studied film for years and am very familiar with the traditional structures used in that format. So, translating this same storytelling format to websites made a ton of sense to me!
An unexpected result from reading this book has been a growing interest in copywriting, and using storytelling within myblog posts.
Learn to Code Now by Rik Lomas
While learning to code might not sound like the most exciting thing to read about, the easy structure of “Learn to Code Now”really helped make this subject palatable.
I learned to build websites from the design first and while working in WebFlow I learned a bit more about how websites are actually structured and written in code. I was curious to better understand how all of this worked, and see how I could implement some custom coding to bring my designs to life.
The book is a great stand alone, but it is also offered as a supplemental guide to SuperHi’s Foundation HTML, CSS +Javascript course (affiliate link).
How to Style Your Brand by Fiona Humberstone
A beautiful book to flip through and full of helpful, actionable steps for branding your business. It offers a helpful overview of the branding process which you could either use to create a brand yourself or as a guide as you work with a professional designer.
I particularly love the way Fiona talks about color theory and uses the seasons to break down the overarching tones and styles of brands.
Another lovely part of this book is the sneak peek at some of the brand identities she and fellow designers have created. It’s a great resource for inspiration and a treat for the eyes in general.
I hope you’ve enjoyed snooping in my bookshelf and have gotten a few ideas for your reading list. I’ll make sure to share my next round of book recommendations with you, and if you have any books that you loved from 2020, I’d love to hear about them! Share your recommendations with me on Facebook and I’ll add them to my list for this year.
