About
When I was asked to give a breakout session at the Dallas Society of Visual Communications National Student Show & Conference, I immediately began working on the development of a topic for this session. After some consideration, I finally settled on the topic of Thinking for a Living™. I decided to create a companion piece for my breakout session so the students would have something to take home with them. A starting place for a career in graphic design.
Thinking for a Living™ was created for those who believe that while design is a profession, it’s above all a passion. And as passionate graphic designers, we are obliged to ourselves, our industry and our clients to provide creative solutions that have persuasive branding messages, but also emotional power and aesthetic value. I believe great design is an art, not a commodity or a formula.
Students of design, young and old, literally have the world at their fingertips. More so now that at any time in history. There is virtually no limit to information nor access to it. No longer do you have to rely only on frayed design annuals, hearsay, and your campus library to explore design history, principles and applications. Google returns 1,140,000,000 results for the search term “design” in 0.07 seconds. That’s one point one four billion. Blogs and online magazines can inform you instantly of new developments. Cultural awareness feeds great design, but where do we begin the feast? My hope is to shine light from different sources on designing in a flat world.
Here I offer you a collection of recommended readings and online links that I have gathered over the years from various reliable sources. Together they illustrate the wide variety of tools modern designers have at their disposal and the breadth of influences we should have. My hope is that these resources will help guide you in your own research and growth as a designer. You should find your own priorities within my list of suggested resources, but you should also find a balanced offering of content as a beginning for your own explorations. What began as a short talk evolved into a print piece, and eventually, this site. The Thinking for a Living series is an ever-growing platform dedicated to the concept of open source design education. This site will continue to grow with additional features and updated resource lists. If you know a great book or link, we’re missing – let us know. We also have additional print companions that are already in the works. Thanks for visiting.
Duane King
Creative Director
BBDK, Inc.
