Best Design & Graphics Software Books of 2025

Drawing Digital is a comprehensive guide for learning digital drawing and painting on your tablet. Lisa Bardot, the author, offers step-by-step instructions and tips to create 12 drawing and painting projects, from still life to city scenes, using Procreate or any other digital drawing app. The book also covers finding creative inspiration, app basics, and instructions for layering, duplicating, exporting, and more. Bardot's signature vibrant artwork accompanies each project. Whether you're a beginner or an expert, this book is a great resource to improve your digital art skills.

Design for How People Learn is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to improve their teaching and communication skills. This book provides insights and techniques for creating engaging and effective learning experiences that help the audience gain and retain knowledge. The second edition features new chapters on designing for habit and evaluating learning, as well as updated research on how people learn and remember. The author uses accessible visual metaphors and concrete examples to explain the fundamental concepts of instructional design. Overall, Design for How People Learn is a must-read for anyone who wants to create meaningful and impactful learning experiences.

Graphic Design Fundamentals: An Introduction & Workbook for Beginners is a concise and easy-to-follow guide for anyone who wants to learn the basics of graphic design. This book covers the essential principles and ideas, from colors to layouts to fonts, and includes illustrations for everything. The bonus workbook included in the back is an excellent resource for practicing what you've learned. The author, Kris Taft Miller, is a seasoned graphic designer with over 20 years of experience in the industry, making this book a valuable resource for anyone interested in branding and logo design.

Get Set Procreate 5 is a practical guide for those who want to learn how to use Procreate on their iPads to create professional illustrations and animations. The book provides step-by-step instructions, tips, and hands-on tutorials that will help readers explore Procreate's features and develop their artwork. The author covers topics such as creating brushes, applying effects, using assistive tools, and animation. This book is highly recommended for iPad users who want to paint on the go and improve their skills in digital illustration.

This book, titled "Strategic Writing for UX: Drive Engagement, Conversion, and Retention with Every Word," provides practical strategies for writing effective UX content. Author Torrey Podmajersky offers frameworks, patterns, and processes to help align content with product principles, measure effectiveness, and create collaboration for success. The book also delves into how to structure a brand's voice for easy audience recognition. This marketing and consumer behavior book from O'Reilly Media is a must-read for anyone looking to improve their UX writing skills.

The eLearning Designer's Handbook is a practical guide for new eLearning designers who are tasked with creating their first eLearning course. Author Tim Slade simplifies the eLearning development process, providing tips and advice based on his own experience. The book covers planning, needs analysis, drafting project plans, defining learning objectives, and creating course outlines and storyboards. This book is a valuable resource for those new to eLearning. Overall, it is a well-written and informative guide that can help new designers create effective eLearning courses.

The Sketchnote Handbook by Mike Rohde is a beautifully illustrated guide to visual note-taking. Rohde introduces sketchnote techniques that can help you better process information and remember key points by incorporating drawing into your note-taking process. The book features step-by-step instructions for drawing out notes and addresses common fears of drawing. This book is a great introduction to visual note-taking and a useful how-to guide for anyone looking to improve their note-taking skills. Overall, it is an entertaining and memorable read that will leave you itching to attend a meeting just so you can draw about it.

SketchUp All-in-One For Dummies is a comprehensive guide to using the SketchUp software for building, woodworking, and design projects. With the help of SketchUp insiders, readers will learn the basics of modeling, how to create models for objects, buildings, and interiors, and how to view and share their models. The book also covers how to apply textures, use components, and design for 3D printing. This book is an excellent resource for both beginners and those who want to take their SketchUp skills to the next level.

The book "Fundamentals of Data Visualization: A Primer on Making Informative and Compelling Figures" by Claus O. Wilke is an essential guide for scientists, engineers, and business analysts who want to create clear and compelling figures from large datasets. The book provides practical solutions to commonly encountered visualization problems and teaches the elements critical to successful data visualization. Wilke explores the basic concepts of color and redundant coding to ensure key information is presented in multiple ways. The book also includes extensive examples of good and bad figures and a graphical guide to commonly used types of data visualizations. Overall, this book is an excellent resource for anyone seeking to effectively communicate complex information through data visualization.

Measuring the User Experience: Collecting, Analyzing, and Presenting UX Metrics (Interactive Technologies) is a must-read for any UX professional or student. This book provides quantitative analysis training, covering everything that researchers should know to start running good quant studies, striking the right balance between detail and approachability. The third edition includes new research and updated examples, several new case studies, and new examples using the most recent version of Excel. The authors have expanded on the area of behavioral and physiological metrics, covering eye-tracking and measuring emotion. This book is an excellent resource for anyone looking to justify their design decisions with solid, reliable data.