A shelf on creative good reads by Somebody&Mariela

holamarielagomez — 2024-07-12 17:05:01 UTC

Great book if you’re a newbie in the (professional) creative field.

Apart of having a beautiful editorial design, this book has very interesting case studies and sometimes quite scary advices that will push you to work and think in an unusual way.

holamarielagomez — 2024-07-12 17:10:07 UTC

Easy to read, great images but a little bit too “motivational”.

In my opinion, the content could have been more profound. Maybe I’m being too harsh.

holamarielagomez — 2024-07-12 17:15:53 UTC

Not a design book but it has become one of my favorites.

Erin Morgenstern’s writing is clever & she literally takes you back and forth in time through her pages. The story is beautiful AND she indirectly teaches about importance of stimulating the senses while desinging spaces.

holamarielagomez — 2024-07-12 17:18:10 UTC

Must read even if you’re not a graphic designer. Great insights, tons of tips on how to present yourself as a designer and your work. Perfect book for any designer who just got out of school. The reading is a bit dense though, took me more than expected to finish it.

holamarielagomez — 2024-07-12 17:20:30 UTC

This is a very pretty book. Great design, amazing visuals, and beautiful details. Great source of inspiration & is amazing to see all of these women thriving BUT the structure of the interviews is a bit repetitive. I recommend to read up to 3 cases on a row, otherwise the reading becomes tiring.

holamarielagomez — 2024-07-12 17:22:34 UTC

From Silicon Valley to crashing planes in WW2, about power horses and lawnmowers, this book mindfucks everything you think you know about technology and innovation in a very exciting and binge-reading way.

holamarielagomez — 2024-07-12 17:29:05 UTC

This book is a deserved slap to the face for those who sometimes don’t question design enough (myself included).

Fun, clever, and a bit harsh, especially if you’re a white male. From how non-paid internships reinforce segregation and homogeneity, to ableism, racism, and how design can sometimes be everything but inclusive. A must-read (not only for designers). Eye-opening.

holamarielagomez — 2024-07-12 17:31:01 UTC

An essay on human intellectual evolution starting with the Great Pirates and ending with automation. I didn’t enjoy it so much, but it’s just my ignorance speaking (a lot of things just went over my head). Nonetheless, the things that I did understand are clever and I agree with most of them. I have to re-read it.

holamarielagomez — 2024-07-12 17:33:03 UTC

This essay questions the role of a gallery as a neutral space. Talks about its evolution along how art itself has changed overtime and how us, as spectators, have taken a different role when consuming art. A good read for anyone who’s interested in galleries and contemporary art. It was a bit confusing to me, though.

holamarielagomez — 2024-07-12 17:34:30 UTC

I’ve always been a fan of Monocle. I got this book while visiting its café at Marylebone just because I wanted to get something there. To my surprise, some of the essays are really good. Others… not so much. Overall, quick reads, good content, and interesting ideas to think about. My fave essay is a letter to 2040 that forecasts a dyed-blonde American president governing form jail. Mysteriously accurate I might say...

holamarielagomez — 2024-07-12 17:41:16 UTC

If you are a woman, it is worse than you think. If you are a man, it is worse than you think.

This eye-opening book exposes the sooo many things that must be improved. From public toilets to misleading medical diagnoses, it is a reminder that design has to be inclusive and approached with a gender perspective.

holamarielagomez — 2024-07-16 14:38:03 UTC

Practical, straightforward, and helpful.

A book on advertising tactics, narratives, and relevant references that exposes the content in an entertaining but informative way.

holamarielagomez — 2025-07-01 21:20:53 UTC

Not exactly about design, BUT still (indirectly) a lot about experience design. Throughout Francesca’s character, we learn how every detail, every touchpoint, shapes how an experience will be. From the scent in each room of the brand new hotel she has created, to the way the members of staff talk, to the uniforms they wear. Every aspect is deliberately thought of and shaped with a purpose. And if you have read this book, don’t come at me. I know Frankie is cray cray.

holamarielagomez — 2025-07-01 21:25:57 UTC

As the title says, it is literally a manual to build your startup. From frameworks, tools for decision-making, user discovery, iteration, and scalability, it is quite a good resource. As suggested in the first page, this book is not meant to be read in one go; it is not a novel, it is a companion you reach back to consult. Among other resources, this book has become my Bible when teaching the undergrad course “Design of new services and products”.

holamarielagomez — 2026-03-11 11:37:58 UTC

I am afraid I’ll have to be a bit harsh with this one. The topics have a lot of potential, there are useful tips here and there, and the design is pretty, although the orange periods at the end of each section threw me off. I read 3/4 of the book, thinking there were no periods and therefore believing the book lacked attention to detail. Near the end, I noticed there were periods, but in a very neon orange that is extremely hard to see in such a small element. I am a Graphic and UX designer, so for me, that was a bad visual decision. Getting back to the content itself, I put some Post-its in several pages, but what I found tedious while reading it is that in almost every other sentence, there is a metaphor. I get the point, but that made the reading experience not fluid for me, and I perceived the writing as lacking depth.

It is a reassuring book, but as someone more realistic, I found it a bit too corny.