Reading List for Visual Thinkers

Some of the books I was lucky to contribute to, either in the form of a drawing, a written piece or an interview. Books I contributed to are marked with an asterisk (*).

Sketching & Drawing

Make A World
by Ed Emberley

How To Think When You Draw
by Lorenzo Etherington


Visual Thinking

Presto Sketching
The Magic of Simple Drawing for Brilliant Product Thinking and Design
by Ben Crothers

Back of the Napkin
Solving problems and selling ideas with pictures
by Dan Roam

Visual Thinking
Empowering People and Organisations through Visual Collaboration
by Williemien Brand

Visual Doing
A Practical Guide to Incorporate Visual Thinking into Your Daily Business and Communication
by Williemien Brand

Gamestorming
A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers
by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, James Macanufo

Unfolding the Napkin
The Hands-On Method for Solving Complex Problems with Simple Pictures
by Dan Roam

Blah, Blah, Blah
What to Do When Words Don't Work
by Dan Roam

* Pencil Me In
The Business Drawing Book for People Who Can't Draw
by Christina Wodtke

* Draw a Better Business
The essential visual thinking toolkit to help your small business work better
by Cara Holland

 

Sketchnotes & Graphic Recording

* The Sketchnote Handbook
The Illustrated Guide to Visual Notetaking
by Mike Rohde

* The Sketchnote Workbook
Advanced techniques for taking visual notes you can use anywhere
by Mike Rohde

The Graphic Facilitator's Guide
How to use your listening, thinking and drawing skills to make meaning
by Brandy Agerbeck

The Idea Shapers
by Brandy Agerbeck

UZMO: Thinking With Your Pen
by Martin Haussmann

* Drawn Together through Visual Practice
by Brandy Agerbeck, Kelvy Bird, Sam Bradd, Jennifer Shepherd

 

Sketching for UX & Product Design

Sprint
How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
by Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky & Braden Kowitz

Sketching User Experiences
Getting the Design Right and the Right Design
by Bill Buxton

Sketching User Experiences: The Workbook
by Saul Greenberg, Sheelagh Carpendale, Nicolai Marquardt & Bill Buxton

 

Visual Storytelling & Comics

Understanding Comics
The Invisible Art
by Scott McCloud

Making Comics
Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels
by Scott McCloud

Making Comics
by Lynda Barry

See What I Mean
How To Use Comics to Communicate Ideas
by Kevin Cheng

The Mad Art of Caricature!
A Serious Guide to Drawing Funny Faces
by Tom Richmond

 

Information Visualisation

Visual Explanations
Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative
by Edward R. Tufte

Envisioning Information
by Edward R. Tufte

Raw Data: Infographic Designers' Sketchbooks
by Steven Heller & Rick Landers


Data Visualisation

Dear Data
by Giorgia Lupi & Stefanie Posavec

Observe, Collect, Draw!
A Visual Journal
by Giorgia Lupi & Stefanie Posavec

The Functional Art
An introduction to information graphics and visualization
by Alberto Cairo

The Truthful Art
Data, Charts, and Maps for Communication
by Alberto Cairo


Creativity & Process

Steal Like An Artist
10 Things Nobody Told Me About the Creative Life
by Austin Kleon

Show Your Work!
10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered
by Austin Kleon

Keep Going
10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad
by Austin Kleon

Let's Make Some Great Art
by Marion Deuchars


Most of the links on this list are Amazon affiliate links. If you use one of the links to buy a book, I’ll get a small commission (but it doesn’t cost you anything).