Design Is Storytelling

by Ellen Lupton

Ellen Lupton, award-winning author of Thinking with Type and How Posters Work, demonstrates how storytelling shapes great design

Good design, like good storytelling, brings ideas to life. The latest book from award-winning writer Ellen Lupton is a playbook for creative thinking, showing designers how to use storytelling techniques to create satisfying graphics, products, services and experiences. Whether crafting a digital app or a data-rich publication, designers invite people to enter a scene and explore what’s there. An intriguing logo, page layout or retail space uses line, shape and form to lead users on dynamic journeys.

Design Is Storytelling explores the psychology of visual perception from a narrative point of view. Presenting dozens of tools and concepts in a lively, visual manner, this book will help any designer amplify the narrative power of their work. Use this book to stir emotions, build empathy, articulate values and convey action; to construct narrative arcs and create paths through space; integrate form and language; evaluate a project’s storytelling power; and to write and deliver strong narratives.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Art, Business, Art Design, Writing, Reference

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 21, 2017

Reviews

[Patricia Ayuste]

Un manual sobre storytelling aplicado al diseño. Un conjunto de estrategias para desarrollar la percepción visual, aplicar las técnicas narrativas en la creación de ideas, productos, servicios y experiencias y en su proceso de comunicación para lograr captar la atención del usuario, orientarlo y acompañarlo en un viaje que transforme su experiencia.

Ellen Lupton estructura el libro en tres actos para explicar las diferentes técnicas: Acción (patrones narrativos que sostienen las historias), Emoción (vínculo del diseño con nuestros sentimientos y estados de ánimo) y Sensación (percepción, procesos activos y transformadores clave).

✔️ Puntos fuertes: lenguaje sencillo, ejemplos muy visuales y su aplicación, lecturas recomendadas, cuidada presentación y la estructuración de los conceptos.

❤ Te gustará si: buscas nuevas formas creativas de aplicar el storytelling en tus servicios/productos, te interesa el diseño o ampliar tu poder narrativo.

[Esteban Mulki · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice compendium of the latest trends that affect design. Nothing more than that, really. PS: the book design is so beautiful that it makes you want to lick the pages (?)

[Traci · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm an interaction designer, and a game designer. I frequently find myself working with people who want to add more story to things, in the traditional sense. They want to add more cut scenes, more dialogue. They wouldn't put it this way, but they want more blathering and passive activity, which inevitably clutters up the joint and gets in the way of active involvement.
In interactive mediums, story is something the user / player / learner / participant should engage in and experience through direct action. It's a challenge and sometimes a delicate dance to pull this off, of course. This book is excellent because it gives both food for thought in how to execute such a mission, AND it gives vocabulary for how to communicate these things to your team members and stakeholders. My copy is full of flag stickies and underlines. I'll definitely be returning to it again and again, as I already have in the few months it has been in my possession. I strongly recommend!

[Ian Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant introduction to a wide variety of psychological and storytelling ideas that can be and are successfully applied to the thinking and problem solving involved in the practice of designing things.

[Mai M Ibrahim · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب لطيف طلعت فيه بشوية حاجات بس مش كتير

الرسومات حلوة واحسن مليون مرة من ألف كلمة لأنها موضحة الأمثلة بطريقة كويسة

ف المجمل هو كويس كبداية لمصممين الجرافيك

فيديو ريفيو الكتاب وشرحه هينزل قريب .. هبقى اعمل update باللينك إن شاء الله 🙏

[Danilo Weiner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Design e Storytelling são duas discliplinas bacanas e que se cruzam em diversos momentos. O que a autora do livro tentou fazer - nem sempre com sucesso -, foi colocá-las como sinônimos. Então as vezes você vê que há uma forçada de barra pra dizer que muitos produtos / serviços são compostos de 3 partes, já que uma boa história tem que ter começo-meio-fim. Mas o livro é bacana, traz cases legais, tem diagramas legais e pode ser útil pra quem tem interesse no tema. Deixei umas 5 orelhas dobradas, então tem seu valor...

[Ilona · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine intro to different design concepts. With pictures!

[Masha M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fine but shallow intro. Great printing and a lot of links for deeper research on topics.

[Victória Molgado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boa leitura, bem didática e dá uma visão geral e indica algumas ferramentas de narrativa. A bibliografia é muito boa e dá várias referências interessantes.

[sol encuerpado · Rating 4 out of 5]

me encanta que el diseño multisensorial ya sea una buena práctica implícita, pero cómo me caga que sigan utilizando mal el lenguaje para referirse a la discapacidad 😩 no puedo creer que un libro tan interesante y con bibliografía tan amplia utilice términos como "invidente" para referirse a personas ciegas (o con discapacidad visual), o "padecer autismo" para personas autista

mi otra queja es en la última sección del libro, "Acto 3: Sensación", pq qué aburrido se puso JAJSJAJ entró en descripciones demasiado científicas sobre el funcionamiento de la vista y de cosas que la neta no me interesaban tanto, así que estuvo medio de hueva

pero en general me gustó mucho, gran complemento para seguir especializandome en áreas de diseño de experiencias, y me encanta cómo se puede complementar con mi gusto por la escritura ✨

[Jurene · Rating 3 out of 5]

The design of this book and its illustrations are very clear and easy to understand. I was disappointed in the content as it seems more fitting to be a coffee table book. Although it wouldn't be appropriate for that setting either for there are some sexual images that would be clear enough for a 2 year old to understand. I was hoping for more in- depth applications. The author seems to lose the entire premise at the end of the book and lost my interest.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful, clear and practical. Exactly the type of book to read with a handy notebook to take notes, or to fill it with post-it notes inside.

Since it's very visual (almost every page contains graphics, pictures or concrete examples) the reading becomes easy and pleasant. There is barely (if any) room for misinterpretation.

I enjoyed it, learned from it and took away several ideas to apply.

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

olen viimasel ajal lugenud palju raamatuid lugude jutustamisest ja kirjutamisest ja lugemisest; sobis hästi siia selline üsna lihtne ja väga visuaalne raamat sellest, kuidas sama teemat käsitlevad disainerid. ehk siis, kuidas inimestega suhtlemiseks on hea ikkagi jutustada lugu, kuigi sa võibolla pead hoopis tegema äpi või kujundama metroosilte või kureerima muuseumis näitust.

ühtegi uut mõistet ma enda jaoks ei õppinud, aga juba teadaolevaid räägiti lihtsal moel üle ja lahti ja hästi palju skeeme ja illustratsioone oli juures (ja see kõik muidugi väga kena, sest selle kallale olid lahti lastud disainerid). ma ei tea enamust neid sõnu eesti keeles, aga eks ikka narrative arc ja hero's journey, storyboardid ja personad, gestaldi printsiibid, värvid ja maitsed ja lõhnad ja kõik see.

ma ainult ei oska öelda, kellele see raamat täpselt suunatud on - disaineri jaoks kindlasti liiga lihtne, minusuguse uudishimutseja jaoks tore, aga mitte otseselt praktiline.

[Mind the Book · Rating 3 out of 5]

Som sagt, en vän som funderar på att starta butik läser den här och det smittade av sig på mig. Till det yttre ser det ut som en översiktlig bok man kanske får med sig hem från en museishop. Men innehållet är fylligare än så och författaren överraskar genom att nämna Steven Pinker samt ägna flera sidor åt Kurt Vonnegut!

Ett annat inslag vi kan kalla 'call to action for Cam' är alla spännade artiklar som nämns i fotnoterna på nästan varje sida. Titlar som A Closer Look at Personas and How They Work (av skribent vid namn Schlomo Goltz, bara det), The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore Sanity eller The Untold Story of How Lip Balm Upstart EOS Outdid Chapstick. Den allra sista påminner om en av mina favoritpoddar, 'How I Built This' från NPR.

[Maria Hristeva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Полезна, приятна и интересна :)

[Eliza (WithethornHerondale) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for school, I think that as a first approach to storytelling applied to design it is a great book, easy to understand, I loved that it is super schematic and gives many examples.

[Lukas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hablar de herramientas interesantes pero no profundiza demasiado, salta mucho de tema a tema sin sentido y gran parte del libro es unicamente ejemplos

[Bensterne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book helped me more deeply understand and fall in love with design. When I picked it up, I was not a designer yet and was pivotal in its influence for me to choose a career in design.

[Karisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Alejandro Gil · Rating 3 out of 5]

diseño bonico

[Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute lil book

[Rita Prates · Rating 4 out of 5]

"As a student, I felt that problem solving didn't account for everything I wanted to know about design practice. Problem solving wasn't enough. What about beauty, feeling, and sensation? What about humor, conflict, and interpretation?"

[Tim Belonax · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well composed and researched, this book is a good starting point for considering storytelling within design.

The end of the book was full of helpful prompts and writing tips.

[Sr.Anxy]

Me ha gustado mucho, lo he tomado como un descanso de lectura intensa y para coger ideas

[Sucheta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptionally brilliant

[Marcus Kazmierczak · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is quite nice, it has plenty of graphics, color, and excellent printing. The design ideas and concepts in the book seemed to be more around known stories and common sense, little seemed new to me. The book is put together well and flows nicely, maybe I'd give it 4 stars if I were newer to some of the ideas, though I was hoping for a little bit deeper from it.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

1) Visually pleasing
2) Promotes Action, Emotion, and Sensation
3) Be advised: tiny text
Enjoyment: 3

There's lots here for reference, to utilize, to inspire, and to learn from. Could be a book that is not required but a suggested read for product design or concept development curriculum. Along with useful and amusing illustrations, this book contains art work, real and imagined products, studies, brands, and theories that concisely showcase design principles. There are accessible anecdotes and industry stories offering concrete examples. Captions provide cited resources, including online URLs for more information and investigation.

Oh, my eyes! The font size of some text is small, some even smaller, especially the descriptive captions for the wonderful visuals. Perhaps if the book was a little larger format and proportionally the text was larger it would be easier on the eyes and the reading experience. Have a magnifying glass on hand.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. I've read other short UX or Design books for mindfulness, and because people are talking about them, but Ellen Lupton made reading this practical and in moments, frickin' hilarious. I mentor a lot of UX students or interns, and I would recommend this as a fun read. The best example of affordance in the typewriter example was wonderful. In the section for Sensation, she yields two wonderful examples of how people use apps. "Our working memory can hold onto only a few objects at at time." That section is a great practical breakdown for new UX designers. It's hard to explain cognitive load, but she did an amazing job at it, in simple and easy to understand metaphors. Love it.

[Raili · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is for you if you are curious about understanding the value of design or have just started off in the design field. Easy read with plenty of examples and supportive visuals.

However, if you are already familiar with the design and its most common theories, this book will not excite you.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Een interessant en leuk boek. Het is een klein en niet al te dik boekje, waar de schrijfster in gaat op design. Het boek leest makkelijk en het wordt ondersteund door mooie illustraties. Het is een kleine toevoeging om je met een andere of frisse blik naar design te laten kijken.