The Pocket Universal Principles of Design: 150 Essential Tools for Architects, Artists, Designers, Developers, Engineers, Inventors, and Makers

by William Lidwell

Whether a website, marketing campaign, museum exhibit, a video game or a complex control system, the design we see is the culmination of many concepts and practices brought together from a variety of disciplines. Now, there's a handy travel companion for any designer, so that you always have the essentials at your fingertips. Portable, condensed, and armed with 150 principles, Universal Principles of Design, Pocket Edition is like a Swiss Army knife of design knowledge. Richly illustrated and easy to navigate, it pairs critical need-to-know design knowledge with visual examples of the principles applied in practice. An indispensable field reference for designers of all types, this pocket edition of the best-selling Universal Principles of Design will sharpen your design thinking and expand your sense of the possible.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Reference, Art, Psychology, Art Design, Architecture

320 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2015

Reviews

[Crina Bucur · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most amazing little book filled with design guidelines, psychological effects and biases as well as references to Gestalt's principles of perception. It has drawn my attention while browsing through some paraphernalia in an architecture exhibition so I decided I must have it.

I was familiar with many of the concepts, while others such as the Uncanny valley or the Sunk cost effect were mere intuitions.

Structure-wise, it is concise and contains eloquent examples showcasing each principle. "The Pocket Universal Principles of Design" is especially useful to front-end engineers / UX designers creating user interfaces. Its applications include product ease of use, user retention, marketing manipulation and deceptive reasoning.

I really enjoyed reading it despite being a "know-how" pocket book and will surely keep it within easy reach for future reference.

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads in exchange for an honest review.

What a neat little book! The book itself measures 5x5 inches and is about 1 inch thick! It is packed with information.

I really didn't know what to expect with this book, or if I could decipher the information within it to give it a fair and accurate review. I have an interest in design, but, no connection professionally with it, or so I thought.

The book is largely devoted to perception, and how to create it to get the desired perception. It covers subjects like the 80/20 rule, Classical Conditioning and Horror Vacui; (as a formal retail manager of a clothing store, I now understand why store executives made certain choices based on price points). This a only a small list of the principles contained in the book.

The book is illustrated for each subject explained. Which I found extremely helpful and enlightening.

I think this would be a valuable resource/ reference book for anyone who is interested in design on any scale. From creating electronics, retail spaces, to home design, the principles contained within the book could be used for any of this purposes. I think an artist working with anything from pencils to photography or even graphic design could gain a bunch of insight from the book as well. I know I did.

Happy Reading.

[anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

jobmesse

[Kevin Pachalski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will aid not only designers, but pretty much all professionals! Wonderful resource to have in handy

[Elizabeth Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Pocket Universal Principles of Design clearly explains 150 terms or concepts of design. Ideas presented pertain to disciplines including architecture, software design, security, marketing, and productivity. Every entry is concise, but includes at least one specific example. There is little to no room for misunderstanding.
This is more of a dictionary than an encyclopedia. It is not being marketed as a manual and should not be mistaken for one. As someone with no background in any form of design, I feel like I have a clearer idea about what I want to know.

[Anwer Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book with diverse examples of creative thinking in technology, industry, architecture, design, planning and other fields. This book is a must read for creative people across different disciplines.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good principles in bite-sized pieces!

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little book is a handy little reminder, one page at a time, with examples, of things I may or may not know or remember. Useful for any designer as a thoughtful refresh or when fresh eyes are needed on a problem or challenge. Just a nice succinct book to have around at your bedside or desk. I just liked the short examples and one page summaries. The cause map showing 'root causes for the sinking of the titanic' points out graphically in 15 boxes, several steps and mitigating factors that ultimately resulted in the historic disaster . A series of boxes containing 52 words that sum up a very complex situation. A visual and thinking tool to help clarify complexity that anyone can use.
This book contains lots of little nuggets of wisdom, explanations and clarifying details in plain language. Probably most useful for its nudge effect.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Pocket Universal Principles of Design is a condensed version of 150 principles explained in bullet points and assisted by examples. One thing though, is that a pocket principle book is far from an easy read.

As someone who struggled to read this, I wished the explanations were be clearer. There were many times where I had to read the page a couple of times to understand, even when it was written in bullet points! One thing great was the clear and interesting examples.

It is definitely not advisable to read a lot of this book in one sitting. It takes a whole ton of brain power and sometimes, it all blurs into one large bundle of information.

While I did find most of the content to be very interesting, I wished it didn't cause me great dread to read it.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

★★★★★

The categorical organization of concepts?
The brief yet detailed overviews?
The fact that there’s a whole supplementary website?

This book is the best.

My only complaint is the lack of modern examples. For a book published in 2015 it uses too many dated examples, most notably when it showed software interfaces. Good design is good design and ultimately it didn’t take away from my personal reading experience, but as the dated examples get more entrenched in the past (and perhaps become obsolete?) this book would cease to be so informative for future generations.

[Miguel Manzano García · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buen libro sobre cómo ciertos patrones influyen en la percepción de algo que construimos. También se explican conceptos como el 80/20, KISS... Interesante el formato pocket como libro de consulta. A nivel personal algunos enfoques no me han terminado de cuadrar como un momento en que se habla de que los niños prefieren unos juguetes y las niñas otros... No sé, me chirría un poco en ese sentido en varios puntos.

[Esin Ozcan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is short, easy to carry around and read whenever you have some free time. I really liked that the principles were explained concisely and with concrete examples that could be applied to daily lives. You start to see design principals everywhere in your life. Great read for makers / creators of any kind. :-)

[Germain Pearce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice little book full of indispensable concepts, principles,, terms, industry standards and useful tips. This book is quite detailed and perfect for designers of any and all mediums and should always be kept within reach for quick referencing.

[Stephen Rynkiewicz]

Constraints make for sharper design. No wonder I prefer this backpack/game table/nightstand version of a familiar design reference. The concise text encourages casual reading and reflection on commutes or while watching TV.

[Eric Xia · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's "nice".

Possibly the most influential book on my thinking over the grades 7-11th and why I find similar ideas are so interesting -- because they are hidden patterns and people aren't catching them.

[Christian G.T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

pretty much a reference guide that breaks down ~150 design principles. Really useful when working on projects that require purposefully directing people's attention to specific elements. Also lots of interesting examples and ways that people seem to automatically perceive things. 5/5 good book

[Jon S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty much essential for any designer, maker, artist, etc. Even possibly some art/design-orientated psychologists. A small but info-packed book, with clear definitions and examples of the listed principles.

[kamal · Rating 5 out of 5]

To the point and laid out examples for execution. Brilliant

[Patricio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente libro. Muy recomendable para cualquier persona que le interese aunque sea poquito el diseño. Cualquier tipo de diseño.

[Ngoneh · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book is my food

[Abby Epplett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This guide was concise, thorough, and contained great illustrations.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing pocket book people working in any creative outlet should read.

[Kate McGhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific little reference book.

[MS · Rating 4 out of 5]

4. 2 starzzz

[Mikulas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, short, informative entries. Harder to read due to small size and rectangular shape.

[Alison Colvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of design principles.

[Wieke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible! I highly recommend this to anyone who is planning to make anything ever. When the writers say universal, they mean it!

[A. Reiter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic and short read that will have you flipping back to refresh. Simple concepts like the 80/20 Rule and chunking information are defined, expanded, and practically applied. It's these kinds of tactical collections that make you approach problems in a fresh way. Would recommend before starting something new.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent and succinct introduction to design. Organized alphabetically as well as numerically, it's easy to search when you're trying to remember a specific design principle. Applicable to all sorts of fields.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely marvellous compact reference work. I love it!