Praise for How Design Makes the World
Nobodys better at explaining how the world really works than Scott Berkun.
Jeffrey Zeldman, web design legend and cofounder of A List Apart
What makes a Jacuzzi better than a Segway? Why do street grids work in some cities, but maybe not in yours? Whats wrong with calling an interface intuitive? This fascinating book will help you see design everywhere and question why it worksor why it fails.
Ellen Lupton, curator of contemporary design at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
An invaluable, essential resource that demystifies and democratizes design for everyone who lives with itwhich is to say, all of us.
Khoi Vinh, principal designer at Adobe and former design director of the New York Times
Scott Berkun captures the essence of what makes design so incredibly important in our lives. He frames how we should think about design in a fun and accessible way. How Design Makes the World explains why our world is the way it is, and lays out the questions we need to ask to make it better.
Jared Spool, founder of User Interface Engineering
Everyone in the tech world knows that they need design, but few understand what it is and how it will help them succeed. Scott Berkun illuminates both the problem and the solution. A brilliant book.
Alan Cooper, design pioneer and author of About Face
Anyone can understand the designed world with this insightful and compelling primer. The daring will use their new understanding to analyze and improve their own worlds.
Ashleigh Axios, chief experience officer at &Partners and president-elect of the American Institute of Graphic Arts
Design does indeed make the world, and Scott Berkun has written a highly readable book about this fact.
Henry Petroski, author of Small Things Considered: Why There Is No Perfect Design
Design impacts everyone, but does everyone understand good design? If they read this book, they will.
Sam Aquillano, executive director of the Design Museum Foundation
Scott Berkun shows the true impact of design on the world and makes it fun to discover a new way to think and see.
Matthew Leacock, creator of the Pandemic board game
Whether youre figuring out what design even means or youre a designer looking to better explain what you do, youll be enlightened and entertained.
Karen McGrane, principal of Bond Art + Science and faculty member at the School of Visual Arts
After reading How Design Makes the World, youll know who to thank when you make the perfect toast, who to blame when you miss your flight and who to ridicule when you see that Segway tour drive on by.
Jon Kolko, partner at Modernist Studio and founder of the Austin Center for Design
Design is an inescapable force in our lives that determines our fates, whether or not we are aware of it. Scott Berkun makes a compelling case for how design makes our world, while helping us ensure it will make our lives better.
Alice Rawsthorn, author of Hello World: Where Design Meets Life and former design critic for the New York Times
Dont be fooled by the size of this powerful little book. Its packed with clever writing, insightful histories and compelling questions, showing us that design is all around us, and designers are needed now more than ever.
Ethan Marcotte, author of Responsive Web Design and Responsive Design: Patterns & Principles
If you want to discover your ability to shape the world, or learn how others secretly shape it for you, this book is a fun, quick primer.
Mike Davidson, VP of InVision and former VP of design at Twitter
How Design Makes the World is insightful, funny and thought-provoking. You wont look at the world around you the same wayand that is a good thing.
Gavin Kelly, cofounder of Artefact
Design not only makes the world we live init is all things worldly. Scott Berkuns clear, concise and inspiring book makes a brilliant case for the ubiquity of design in all aspects of life.
Steven Heller, cochair of the Design MFA program at the School of Visual Arts and AIGA medal winner
This thoroughly enjoyable book weaves together stories and insights about the important things around usthose we see and those we dontexplaining in everyday language how they came to be. The perfect book for anyone who wants to take a fresh look at the world.
Anna Slafer, vice president of exhibitions and programs at the International Spy Museum
An amazingly concise overview of the fundamentals of design. Scott Berkun helps you look at everything in this world in a new way. An awesome book.
John Vechey, cocreator of Bejeweled and cofounder of PopCap Games
To write a concise, engaging yet insightful book about something as unwieldy, yet fundamentally important as design is quite an art, and Scott Berkun has done it. He makes clear designs impact using real-world examples of toasters and cities, door handles and health care systems, social media and seat belts.
Dan Hill, author of Dark Matter and Trojan Horses: A Strategic Design Vocabulary
Scott Berkun helps us see the pervasive influence design has on every part of our lives and its profound influence on all we do. You wont see the world the same way after reading this book.
Aarron Walter, VP of design education at InVision
Reading How Design Makes the World inspires you to see everyday things in a new way, helping you to ask the right questions. How does it work and for whom? Will it work for years to come? And most of all, youll see how beautifully designed things come from beautiful teams.
Lili Cheng, vice president of conversational AI at Microsoft
Design impacts every moment of our lives. This book will help you see design and even participate in it.
Robin Williams, author of The Non-Designers Design Book
How Design Makes the World
Copyright 2020 by Scott Berkun
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations, embodied in reviews and articles.
Thank you for your curiosity in actually reading this page. We hope you have a well-designed day.
ISBN 978-0-9838731-8-1 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-9838731-7-4 (ebook)
Published by Berkun Media LLC
scottberkun.com
Produced by Page Two
www.pagetwo.com
eBook by Bright Wing Media
designmtw.com
What is your favorite thing in the world? Why is it better than everything else? The answer is how it was designed.
There are hidden reasons why the world works the way it does. This book will explain many of them to you through the lens of good design. No prior knowledge is required, only curiosity.
Ive worked for years to make this a fun, fast, challenging and memorable read, and I hope thats what you experience inside. Ive always been fascinated by how everything in the world works, and how it doesnt, and I hope I can spark a similar passion in you.
When you finish, please join me online, where the conversation can continue. Youll find more stories and bonus resources there. Ill see you at designmtw.com.