EVER WANTED TO know what makes a genius tick?

What would you give to walk around the home of one of your idols, pawing through their bookshelf – finding out what inspires them?

Well, thankfully, it is possible for design-lovers to do so without being interrupted by a unsmiling security guard. A new portal, Designers & Books, allows users to peer inside the heads of some of the most influential figures in fashion, graphic, urban, architectural and product design – as they discuss the books and authors that most deeply impact their work and influence their careers.

Contributors include figures such as TED founder Richard Saul Wurman (who cites Paul Klee and Hermann Hesse as inspirations) and leading graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister (who praises works by Jonathan Frazen, Zadie Smith and Brian Eno).

Insights into how artists are affected by their favourite works of literature include graphic designer Sagi Haviv’s comment on Amos Oz’s How to Cure a Fanatic:

Growing up in Israel, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict was the most complex issue of my childhood. This book affirmed my view that it’s okay not to know who is right and who is wrong in this conflict, which by extension questions the very notion of a universal right and wrong.

Likewise, self-confessed modernist architect Michael Sorkin says of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein:

Has the dilemma of modernity been better expressed?

Even if you’re not a design nut, there are also hundreds of ideas about new reading material – just search by title.

Designers & Books >