Remeber when references used to come from books?

One of my favorite design references is The History of Design 1890–1959. I keep coming back to it whenever I want to get away from the same references that circulate online. A few pages I bookmarked:

1️⃣ Henry van de Velde — one of the founding figures of Art Nouveau, and a great example of how typography and ornament could become one visual language.

2️⃣ Edward Johnston, London Transport — a completely different approach, where typography becomes a functional system rather than decoration.

3️⃣ Schweppes, 1908 — an anonymous advertisement that shows how much personality early commercial graphics could have.

4️⃣ Erberto Carboni, Barilla, 1953 — a reminder that packaging and advertising can become part of a brand's visual identity long before we start calling it “branding.”

Now your turn: what’s one design book, archive, or weird reference source you’d recommend to another designer? Drop it below 👇

The Edward Johnston pick is such a good example of restraint actually being the design decision. For me it's old apothecary packaging, tiny type, zero color, and it still had to feel trustworthy. Do you keep a physical copy of the book or do you mostly reference the pages digitally?

From problem to polished product. I started by identifying the UX problems, then refined the same product through better structure, hierarchy, spacinga navigation, and interactions making the experience clearersimpler, and easier to use.