This is a great reference book to have regardless of the branch of design you're in... Personally I'm an architect and I have found it to be very useful!

This is a really good read for aspiring designers who want to consider different approaches to the creative process, whether you are designing print or reinventing the bottle opener. It gives 100 principles, with examples, and doesn't claim to be exhaustive. For the most part, the insight is useful, but I feel compelled to point out two glaring errors and how ironic it is that such would exist in what is an otherwise very useful book.

1. The section about how to warn future civilizations of radioactive waste is utterly incorrect. The very solutions they offer in the book would draw people towards dangerous areas, not repel them, because of natural human curiosity. If I was hiking around and I saw the visuals suggested I would naturally want to go get a closer look. So, that was clearly overcooked design, when the simplicity of using depictions of skulls and related pictograms would do the trick, regardless of race, culture, background or language.

2. Part of the book regards how to not deter customers from entering an establishment, such as a store or a restaurant. One example they give is to avoid having salespeople waiting for you at the door. In another part of the book, they use the Apple stores as an example of a successfully inviting design, which is ironic given that the first thing you see upon approaching an Apple store is salespeople waiting for you at the door.

I'm not sure how these errors made it into the book but it is otherwise very good and I recommend it.

A short review, but this book is a very good reference book and refresher, but nothing more. It includes spreads of design principles, one side describing the principle and one side illustrating it with examples. It is organized in alphabetical order, another obvious indication of its use as reference material.

I bought this book intending to use it as a tool for a basis for design education, but find that I can't really use it as such. I'll need another book that has more in-depth, coherently organized content as a teaching tool. Still don't know if I will return it, but I am sure I will find it useful later in my career.

I'm sorry to disagree with the effusive praise by others here, but I recently picked up this book at the store, and after leafing through most of it, I put it down again. And I had specifically sought it out due to the positive reviews here.

I was kind of surprised at the disorganized, scattershot presentation -- I could not tell what the book was about. The concepts of design that they present (and some of them are a stretch) are presented in alphabetical order, surely a design flaw that they themselves should have recognized. There is no sense of coherence or theme to each idea, which is forced to be described in the two pages (facing left and right). It gave the impression of reading a dictionary.

Of the pages I did read, some of the ideas were interesting, regarding layout/spacing/ease of use, but other ideas were sparsely described and you could see that they were using art to fill the space (barely relevant/irrelevant photos/graphics).

In essence, I had expected much more from this book, like Envisioning Information by Tufte, but instead it was disappointingly disorganized. Too scatterbrained to be a good guide, not comprehensive enough to be a good reference.

This well written reference to design characteristics. I has good descriptions of the characteristic, examples, and graphics. I got it to apply to user interface design, but it applies to any design field. I would recommend this along side the Tufte books.

This is one of my favorite books and I wish I'd found it years ago. It covers exactly what you'd expect from the title - the Universal Principals of Design. And that's design in the broadest sense so these fundamental principals can be applied to a variety of disciplines from UI design, industrial design, to photography. This is another one of those books that should be owned by anybody with an interest in design.

First off...I love design! And this book practices what it preaches. It's simply laid out in an easy to read format. The principles listed are explained in a clear, concise, coherent fashion, with example illustrations that help you understand the concept. You can apply them immediately to your projects. The principles talked about on each page also redirects you to the other relevant principles mentioned in the book. It's also a helpful way to conceptualize how 2 or more principles work together. Yet, the only thing that's going to stop you from applying them are the limits of your imagination. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to make their product more effective.

Go Buy it and Read It, and Re Read it and Re Read it till you understand design completely.

This is a fun book to flip through. It does contain information that isn't readily available online, so it's useful as a reference as well, though I'm not sure how often you'll feel the need to invoke things like the "Most Average Facial Appearance Effect" for your work (unless your work is in research psychology). I would recommend this as an entertaining and modestly informative design book, but it's not essential.

This is a good overall book. It was required for my college class. I have enjoyed learning about all different ways to present written information

This book is never far from my reach. I get asked lots of basic design questions to which I'd like to provide accurate answers. When I'm at a loss for how to explain a design principle, I just reach for this handy guide. I have a Bachelors degree in fine art, so flipping through this book is like a college refresher course. If you're new to design or want to learn the basics, this book is an excellent place to start. It's also worth keeping handy as a reference.

The great thing about this book is that each principle is explained as its own short, illustrated chapter. Each chapter is a two-page spread so you can quickly learn new principles. The illustrations are simple and assist in making each principle clear and easy to understand. There are 100 principles (or chapters), so there is very little that's not covered in the book.

No matter what field you're in, if you are a designer this book is for you. The book's title says it all, this is information that is helpful no matter what kind of design you're doing. It explains how people absorb information and ways a design can be improved to aid in this.

The book is well layed out and easy to get into just one topic without having to read everything. Great for reference and education. A beautiful hardcover book. Whether you design products, webpages, software systems or entire buildings this one is for you.

Some of these 100 principles will be familiar, but are explained better here. Others may be new to you, and are referenced to other related concepts. This is not only a bone-up on what you should know, but a good cross-referenced tool for defending your design decisions to your boss or client. A great addition to the library of any systems, graphic or interaction designer.

This book was great but it left much to be desired.
It is separated into two page sections complete with illustrations and a brief summary of the section topic. and thats it. thats all they leave you with. they do give you a suggested reading list, citing the seminal work on each topic discussed for further study.

This book was fun and quite addictive! It contains a collection of unrelated design principles that can be browsed and read in random order. The presentation is very attractive. Can be recommended not only to marketers and designers, but also to anybody merely remotely interested in this topic.


The weakness is that there is no attempt to create a frame work, overall guidance, or step-by-step advice on how to combine these principles.

Simplemente excelente, 100 prácticos tópicos de diseño.
Es ideal para los no-diseñadores, que quieren aplicar conceptos de diseño gráfico.

This is a great book if you are looking for short explanation about design principles.

What's great about this book is it's organization and brevity. The authors articulate the design concepts in clear manner and supply concrete examples (on opposing pages) to add weight and understanding to the written explanation. Furthermore all concepts are linked to the canonical papers from which they come as well as the more modern advances in the field.

It's a book your feel comfortable trusting.

A design book that takes the additional care to give the audience a conceptual table of contents (of concepts grouped by type) *as well as* an alphabetical table of contents is the type of book that is, well...

Well designed.

This book is indispensable for anyone looking for a grasp on design fundamentals without going to design school. The organization, examples and presentation are top-drawer. So intuitively done. For the non-designer, a wonderful reference and primer on classic design principals and why they matter. Should be on the desk of any marketer who works with creatives and wants a better understanding and appreciation of great design.

Universal Principles of Design is an accessible addition to design understanding. The information has been distilled into a consistent and clear format that allows key design principles to be quickly appreciated. It is the product of a considerable research endeavour; references sources are quoted allowing further exploration of the principles. The graphics and format, as to be expected in a book design of principles, makes delving into this book an enjoyable experience. I just wish I had a copy of this book as a student, many years ago, but you are never too old to learn and experience new ideas and perhaps reinforce design concepts that you have known for a long time.

Each of the 100 design guidelines ranging from photography to software design will present an explanation with references to relevant sources accompanied by one or more examples.

With this book you can simply recognize the good rules, not remember you read about them somewhere. ;)

This is, without a doubt, the best design book I have ever read. While everything in the Rockport Publishers tends to be wonderful, this book is the greatest. The book is very accessible to the average reader, no matter the level of experience in the field. On top of that, it is one of the most comprehensive guides I have found. The layout of the book is also superb, which helps set the mood for design brainstorming.

I should also add that because each topic is only two pages long, it is very easy to keep on the nightstand and read a few sections before bed each night. Again, this book is extremely accessible.

Great book to keep handy for quickly explaining design fundamentals (and several more complex concepts) to coworkers and clients. Each two-page summary is rife with annotations and diagrams. Buzzwords aplenty, but great stuff.

This is a collection of practical ideas and ways of looking at design. I'm using it for the design of technical illustrations, but it covers other design problems too. Each idea is captured in about a page of text, which is perfect for practical use. Best book I've found for practical ways and criteria for design that communicates difficult information.

I bought this book after reading Don Norman's endorsement of it on his blog. Needless to say, this book is a gem.

This book gives you exactly what the title promises: 100 design principles categorized in various ways. Each page provides a description of the principle, examples showing its application in various domains as well as references for understanding more about the subject.

Many of these principles you probably already know while some others you will see in a new light. This book is a reference, though so use it to jog your memory, not as a textbook on graphic design. The amount of information on each principle is not sufficient to really understand its application, especially to software. Also, these principles are the ideal and I wished more than once that there were more guidance about how to prioritize them in the face of costs or conflicts. However, if you are involved in design, you will find yourself coming back to this book for a quick opinion on what works.

I would suggest that this book be used as a way to categorize design knowledge you might pick up from other, more in-depth sources.

This book is a reasonably good and concise overview of the major elements of good design. Although the book has a small number of errors it is competently written and makes for a good touchstone for further reading. The further reading section within every "principle" are invaluable to putting the book into proper context.

This reminded me of an old textbook, having very few visual examples and loads of text. That said I have found it a good read with more information than other similar design books. It is a good book to grasp the whole spread of design.

I loved this book for its illustrations, organization & its selection of principles. It covers pivotal ideas from visual design, interaction design, industrial engineering, an communications design & cross-references each principle to related principles & sources for further exploration. It's hard to image a professional in any design field that would appreciate this uniquely valuable & enjoyable reference.

This book has great visual examples of the concepts in design. Designers, teachers and commercial art directors should have it on a shelf near by.

This book does have some useful and interesting principals of design. However most any person who is thoughtful and careful in designing a human interface will figure these things out without this book. In fact a fair percentage of the principals discussed are painfully obvious to anyone.

This is an invaluable resource for any designer. Well-organized and easy to read, with a multitude of cross-references. One of the best values I've come across in recent years.

I think this book is an excellent introduction and reference for all things design oriented. I am doing primarily graphic design, and although some of the sections don't even come close to applying, they give you a gleam of knowledge that you can use somehow... almost every section you can learn a little and apply a bit to whatever you are doing. If not it still gets your mind into the correct mindset quickly to help you get more creative instantly.

Very Good reference. Collates many ideas I've come across from different fields that apply to good design. Excellent book to have sitting at your desk for casual browsers.

A well thought-out work, with concise topics covered on each page. More of a reference work than a "how-to" book, but if there is a topic in design in which you are interested, this book will give you a great start.

My quibble, mentioned before by some others, is that the body text is done in a very small, light gray, sans serif font. To be honest, this is very hard to read, with my failing eyes. I am not sure why a book discussing the core elements of visual communication would be printed in a way that the content could not be read....

I'm afraid this book didn't quite live up to my (high) expectations, which was to learn something new and practical. The book is well done and contains good references, but the descriptions of the "principles" (none of which were completely new to me) are a bit superficial, IMHO.

A well thought-out work, with concise topics covered on each page. More of a reference work than a "how-to" book, but if there is a topic in design in which you are interested, this book will give you a great start.

My quibble, mentioned before by some others, is that the body text is done in a very small, light gray, sans serif font. To be honest, this is very hard to read, with my failing eyes. I am not sure why a book discussing the core elements of visual communication would be printed in a way that the content could not be read....

I'm afraid this book didn't quite live up to my (high) expectations, which was to learn something new and practical. The book is well done and contains good references, but the descriptions of the "principles" (none of which were completely new to me) are a bit superficial, IMHO.

I borrowed this book from a friend and have enjoyed it immensely. As another reviewer pointed out, the book follows good design principles and is laid out very well, making it simple to gather much information, whether you skim or read it in depth. Each two-page spread has a concept on the left, a quick summary, more detailed paragraphs, and graphics illustrating the concepts on the right.

In fact, this book was so facinating and well laid out, I am reading it with my 8-year-old son, who loves to understand how things work. The design of the pages, the illustrations, and the explanation of the concepts are done so well that my son can understand most of what is presented. I think that says quite a lot!

Now that I have seen so much of it, I am ordering my own copy.

I borrowed this book from a friend and have enjoyed it immensely. As another reviewer pointed out, the book follows good design principles and is laid out very well, making it simple to gather much information, whether you skim or read it in depth. Each two-page spread has a concept on the left, a quick summary, more detailed paragraphs, and graphics illustrating the concepts on the right.

In fact, this book was so facinating and well laid out, I am reading it with my 8-year-old son, who loves to understand how things work. The design of the pages, the illustrations, and the explanation of the concepts are done so well that my son can understand most of what is presented. I think that says quite a lot!

Now that I have seen so much of it, I am ordering my own copy.

The organisation of the book means whenever you've got an idea of a design issue you want to tackle, you can find the relevant section easilly. Most books like this I enjoy reading as a narrative, you can't do that with this book as it's set up to be a reference. But it's a great reference, spanning many aspects of design that can be applicable in many situations (although how I'll end up applying Waist-to-Hip ratio to web design will be a challenge).

Very well written, and it uses its own advise in a number of occasions.

The organisation of the book means whenever you've got an idea of a design issue you want to tackle, you can find the relevant section easilly. Most books like this I enjoy reading as a narrative, you can't do that with this book as it's set up to be a reference. But it's a great reference, spanning many aspects of design that can be applicable in many situations (although how I'll end up applying Waist-to-Hip ratio to web design will be a challenge).

Very well written, and it uses its own advise in a number of occasions.

Has topic is covered in a page. It's great to pick up sometime, flip to a random page and read about a design topic. It's like how some people flip open their religious text for spiritual guidance. This book is like that for design principles.

The title makes it clear this is not an in-depth treatise, but an overview. As such, the marginal references are excellent launching points for deeper research on any of the principles.

I'm also using it as a sort of checklist for design, watching for the application of these overarching concepts in whatever I'm creating. As a web designer, programmer, song-writer, and fiction writer, the concepts have application in virtually everything I design.

Since the design of every day things impacts the quality of our lives, most people have a strong interest in things that are designed well, but just how do you arrive at a well designed thing? This book offers an extensive typology of design principles gathered from a wide variety of fields (ergonomics, human factors, psychology etc.) that have relevance for any design discipline, from web usability to product design for manufactured goods. If you do not have a design background, but work with designers, you may find some of these insights very useful for collaboration on design decision making scenarios. Some of the principles, such as the 80/20 rule or the pareto principle were pretty obvious but others were less so, making the book an interesting exploration of some old and new concepts from a cross-disciplinary perspective. After reading through these 100 design principles, you will arrive at a fairly good understanding of the factors that influence our preference towards one design over another. Of course, the all important "context" is missing from these generalizations, however, you can easily read through them and draw your own conclusions on how they relate to your particular design problem.

This book is a tremendous book. While I think the target audince of this book are graphic artists it is useful for any industry or occupation. As an IT professional, the techniques offered in this book helped me design better interfaces for software systems.

Great book

Every designer should own this book. It codifies an abundance of principles about usable design into a very useful reference.

This book is an exceptional resource to anyone involved in a creative design discipline. Many of the principles and ideas have been explored in other books and publications, but they are assembled here into a single reference text that is easy to read, clear in communication and powerful in arrangement. A complete read will awaken the reader to a host of ideas that will support any ongoing creative work. The book describes each principle, and provides examples on the adjacent page in order to better emphasize the benefit of the idea. Not all examples are home-runs, but the collection of ideas and their sub-categorization based on occupation and taks makes for easy reference. Additional research, books, and web-sites are also provided for further learning. Design is currently very high-profile, and this resource will provide new ideas and enhance existing concepts.

Don't even think it's a book about DESIGN PRINCIPLES.

The better name for it would be "100 assorted facts from all over you may want to know". The authors acknowledge that by writing in the introduction:

Quote from page 10:
"The concepts in this book, broadly referred to as "principles," consist of laws, guidelines, human biases, and general design considerations."

So, broadly referred to as "principles," eh ? Why not "fundamental laws of nature and humanity" ? The only thing that ever came close to being a DESIGN PRINCIPLE was the "Occam Razor".

And why would a book on design principles have design flaws in itself ? Sure, there are delighted reviews below saying "The book itself is a piece of art" and such, but let's take a closer look.

The first thing you note when you take it is its unusual format. Aha ! (you think), the unusual sides ratio probably has to do with the "Golden Section", to increase attractiveness for free. Guess what, you are right (see page 96). This already violates the "Form Follows Function" principle. Ok, I can see there could be other reasons - the book sticks out on the shelf all right, and wider pages allow for squeezing more text on them.

And there comes more deficiencies. Because of the big idea of having each principle to occupy a two page centerfold (text on the left, pictures on the right), all the text has to be put on a single page. This implies that the base font is small (about 9 points), and the sidebar font is even smaller. This violates the "Accessibility" principle. On top of it, it's printed on glossy paper, which (guess) reflects the light. This makes the book readable only in certain light conditions.

On the principles themselves. These are no principles, but rather a peculiar facts from many areas - from visual and computer interface design to math and iron construction. They would take a lot of thinking to become principles. How about this imaginary example:

* Principle of aboveness: if one thing is above the other, it's perceived as better.
* Principle of belowness: if one thing is below the other, it's perceived as worse.
* Principle of levelling: if two things stay beside on the same level, they are perceived as equal.

3 design principles right there, not bad huh ?

If you haven't been taught math, the normal distribution (aka bell curve) would make a nice design principle, no ? Or, in case you would want to build the next Eiffel tower - what more would you need to know except for the "Structural Forms" principle which says that in building there are solids, frames and tubes ?

So I believe the key problem here is that design has many meanings - it's the process and it's the result and in broadest meaning it's everything people do, so there is one design per discipline. So, which one is discussed here ? No answer.

All in all, it's not a book on design principles, it's a very cool illustrated album you can brag to your immediately envious friends.

This book is for someone who has a teacher or instructor who can guide the reader to be really effective. Self instruction with this book is possible, but difficult.

This book is a must for any design student or working professional. It is a FABULOUS desk reference for so many important concepts. Even the design of the book itself incorporates the principles of usability. One of my best purchases on the subject!!(And there have been many...)