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10 good design reads that aren’t written by white men
Yes, they exist!
Designers — Think about the books you’ve read throughout your design career. Think about the readings that come up in conversation when your colleagues ask for recommendations, whether it’s for seminal design theory or more current and niche design viewpoints and practices.
Now think about the authors of these books and readings. A whole bunch of white dudes, amirite? (Straight cisgendered white dudes, if you want to be specific.)
But surely, since our industry has had so many years to mature and we spend so much time talking about diversity and inclusion, we are recommending and discussing more books and articles authored by women, people of color, LGBTQ folks, and others who have been underrepresented in design and tech as a whole. Right?
When I came across the article “The designer’s summer reading list” created by InVision’s Design Leadership Forum, I decided to do an experiment. I found photos of the authors of the recommended books and articles and put them all in one view:
Zoinks. Welp, I guess we haven’t come all that far in diversifying the readings we are recommending and discussing (although I guess one whole row of women is better than no whole rows of women?).
Granted, there isn’t a way to diversify the existing body of foundational design discourse. But that’s still not an excuse to have a recommended reading list with hardly any representation from authors who aren’t white men.
We must be much more intentionally inclusive in representing diverse viewpoints when choosing the materials we recommend to our colleagues, mentees, and the Design Internet™️ as a whole.
And when recommending podcasts. And videos. And speakers. And job and internship applicants. You see where I’m going with this. It’s not a new or radical viewpoint; it’s just an area in which the needle doesn’t seem to be moving.
