Over past few years I have
collected many free (i.e. genuinely free) eBooks. I really love reading these
and have helped me overcome some obstacles in past. Based on a recent mail by Rohan I decided to share the best of these with
you. Feel free to download them at the link provided.
1. Why design? by AIGA
AIGA is "American Institute of Graphic Arts" is an American professional organization for design. What designers offer to clients is a way of thinking? The “Why design?” booklet outlines the role of design in business strategy. It seeks a common framework for why design adds value to clients’ interests. It provides some core messages for which we can create a common chorus. It defines the power of Designing, a larger concept that includes strategy as well as artifacts across a variety of disciplines.
AIGA is "American Institute of Graphic Arts" is an American professional organization for design. What designers offer to clients is a way of thinking? The “Why design?” booklet outlines the role of design in business strategy. It seeks a common framework for why design adds value to clients’ interests. It provides some core messages for which we can create a common chorus. It defines the power of Designing, a larger concept that includes strategy as well as artifacts across a variety of disciplines.
2.
The Design Funnel: A Manifesto for Meaningful Design by Stephen Hay
Stephen
Hay is co-founder and Creative Director of Cinnamon Interactive. In his own
words, "Are you a professional designer? Would you like a process to
create more consistently creative work which distinguishes itself from the work
of your peers? Would you like a process which would help translate the often
vague, unclear wishes of your clients (and yourself, for that matter) into a
clear and solid basis for your design? This manifesto will show you how."
More about the book
Download the eBook
3. How To Be Creative by Hugh MacLeod
MacLeod, an advertising executive and popular blogger with a flair for the creative, gives his 26 tried-and-true tips for being truly creative. Each point illustrated by a cartoon drawn by the author himself. If you've ever felt the draw to do something creative but just haven't been able to pull it together, you'll love this manifesto.
More about the book
Download the eBook
4. 20 Little Ways to Stop and Smell the Roses
Download the eBook
3. How To Be Creative by Hugh MacLeod
MacLeod, an advertising executive and popular blogger with a flair for the creative, gives his 26 tried-and-true tips for being truly creative. Each point illustrated by a cartoon drawn by the author himself. If you've ever felt the draw to do something creative but just haven't been able to pull it together, you'll love this manifesto.
More about the book
Download the eBook
4. 20 Little Ways to Stop and Smell the Roses
A pretty famous book that is a must
read as a creative tool as well as a good stress buster!
5. Why Color Management?
This PDF file contains plenty of
images and text to explain various theories behind color management and how it
affects Adobe tools that designers use for Web design and color (or vice
versa). I found this book pretty useful especially in understanding various
terminologies used in Adobe Photoshop.
6. DESIGN creation of artifacts in
society
(Thanks to Varada Kulkarni for pointing out this wonderful
book)
This wonderful PDF contains
interesting study on why different forms of a product evolve. This book will
teach you how to think like a designer and will surely broden your perspective.
A must read book, written by legendary Prof. Karl Ulrich of Wharton School of
the University of Pennsylvania.
46 comments:
thanks a lot!
Hey Prasanna...
The first 2 links are working fine......But i could not get the 3,4,5 links to open. Could you please check if they are working...
Hello Indrajeet,
Thanks for bringing the non-working links to my notice! You saved the blog. Thanks :)
hey prasanna thanx for the books...
last 2 links r not working,cud u plz check them.......
thanx in advance :P
Hi karishma,
Thanks for pointing this out! The site that uploaded the books had some problems. Hope these books help u.
Best of luck :)
Thank You.. the books are out of the usual and nice choice.
Sir,
I am in Mechanical and automation engineering(3rd yr)...as a career option i think this is my spot...
i m good at PRO/E,drawing,sketching,visualizing objects ...the "problem is" everyone around seems this as a stupid idea and they think i should consider working hard for GATE rather than thinking about CEED or "design"...
What should i do?...i saw there are so less seats for product design!!!...i myself feel that i can create a difference if i am quite clear about the goal...7-8 months are left...
my mind stops when when i study for GATE and starts working when i just think that how i'll prepare for CEED..:)
Hello,
I feel that CEED does not require any very special practice. You can practice sketching, idea generation and visualization anytime! Whereas GATE needs dedicated time and books. I suggest, you can keep you options open by balancing between these two preparations by studying for GATE and preparing for CEED in your break time. Now you will be working your courses of final year, so it might be hectic for you to prepare for any entrance exam. Besides, if you are appearing for campus interviews, then the available time will be even less. Therefore i recommend you to keep your options open, and prepare for both. You can see the CEED paper of past years at IIT-B site, try to solve them without any preparation. If you feel you can do well, then you can just go ahead and hone your skills for CEED while preparing for GATE.
Best of luck
sir,
i am a student of applied art (4th year- college of arts and craft lucknow) i want to prepare for ceed. i have been searching for books or sources but i couldn't get any until i explored your blog. its really a life saver. i want to know more about preparing - things like what all i should study and what topics are best suited for me to get a stronghold, being a student of art. i can do sketching,still life,colouring and all but i get stucked in tricky questions that involves math - which measure visual perception and design senstivity. please guide me with my doubts. thankyou
Hello Geetu,
Its wonderful that you already have the ability to sketch well!! It helps a lot in CEED. All you need to develop now is your ability to create awesome ideas and some basic engineering skills!! There is no straight answer to how to develop your visual perception and design sensitivity. Just as it is impossible to teach a baby to walk! I can show u the way though. First, start by examining everyday objects like spoons, pens, staplers, water heater, etc. And try to figure out why they exist as you see them. Like, why a pen is of only this length. What if you increase or decrease length or diameter of the pen? You will be simply amazed of how much thinking goes into these simple objects!! I used to keep a small blank notebook to figure out these things. I would recommend same for you. This will gradually enhance your sensitivity towards designs.
Secondly as a begining point in your preparation, plz go through ans try to solve last year's CEED papers. you can download them from IIT-B site here
Best of luck
Hi Prasanna ,
can you please tell the time required to prepare for the CEED test . Staring from now i have 3 months for exam and can take an hour out on daily routine for prep. i have sketchng knowledge , but lest knowledge of gineering drawing and technical real life object perspectve kill
Hello Ashish,
You can see how i prepared in 40 days here
Again it depends a lot on many factors, like how good you are at sketching, what you do in that one hour, what are your weak areas, etc. Therefore its hard to tell exactly how much time you might take to prepare. Again ceed paper varies a lot each year, so whether your preparation is good enough or not is never certain!
Try your best shot :)
Hi Prasanna,
It was very nice and helpful reading your article.
I am woking as IT professional since 2 years.
I was wondering if you can please explain the scope of the design courses. It will be very helpful.
Hi Amit,
I did not understand what you meant by "scope of the design courses". Do u mean to ask, what design courses teach you?
Hi Prasanna,
I wanted to ask if doing the course now will be useful for me in terms of the current experience I had in IT industry.
I really have interest in designig.So was wondering will it be worth doing now? And will my current experince in IT industry will add value to the course?
Hello Amit,
After doing a design course, especially interaction design course, you can use your past experience to develop new and interesting interfaces for applications and websites. This way, you won’t need to swith your filed and your experience will also be utilized. Also, having a masters degree will definitely add value in your career growth. This is what I feel. What do you think?
Hi,I want to do Industrial Design in M.Des.I just wanted to know if it really matters from which iit i do it(bcoz i have heard that the IDC is far better than other ones)..Can you help me with this que?
Hello Pankaj,
Each IIT have their specialization, even if the course is under the same name. I dont know how to compare IITs, each have their strengths. Therefore i cannot say which IIT is better. Each one is the best in my opinion. for example, you do your MDes from IDC, or from IIT-G, ultimately your career growth is largely dependent on your skills. If you are really skilled, in my opinion, you dont even need the MDes degree! If your dream is to reach IDC, its a good one, yet i feel even if you get in any other place, its equally good.
Best luck
Hi again,I have done some sketching work,can you please see it and tell me if it is good enough and how much I need to improve? The link is http://pankajkalan.blogspot.com/
Hello Pankaj,
Your skill at handling your medium is really good! And i admire your sketching skill. Yet, i cannot be a good judge of your skills in terms of those required for CEED. CEED is about generating a good idea and expressing it in sketching. You have displayed your competence in the later part, and i feel this is excellent for ceed, still i would need to know how good is your concept generation skill... and then expressing it :)
Enjoy sketching!
You are a life saver man! thanks, keep writing looking forward to more posts.
Hello Vagabond
Welcome to the blog and thanks for the nice words!
Lifesaver? Oh no, i am not David Hasselhoff of Baywatch :P
lol sure! but you are close =P
OK, a quick question, do GATE scores also hold valid for admissions into various M.Des programs? I googled it up and saw only IISc considers the GATE scores.
Hello Vagabond,
M happy that u feel m close to David Hasselhoff of Baywatch!!
GATE score is valid for MDes admission only at IIT-K and IISc
And, since it is only a qualifying score, it has same weightage as CEED score. I recommend you to appear for both GATE and CEED, if you want improve your chances of getting into these institutes.
... and by the way, you have a nice blog out there :)
Take care
Thanks and Thanks =)
m shrikant here...
mech studnt...its 1month nly 2 stdy 4 ceed,,,..
m really want 2 do ceed...i cn sketc fairly...
wt shld i do 2 make ceed hapn....???
plz sir help mi
Hi shrikant,
You can find many useful links here
And apart from this, you can go through this blog and especially though the post on how to prepare for Part-A here
If you have any questions feel free to write in the comments
Best luck :)
hello sir,
m right now in second year btech for electronics and telecomm.,im good at painting n pretty much ok at sketching..i just checked the links u mentioned for CEED previous yrs papers..is there any site where i might find the solutions for them too? as in atleast one paper solved..so tht i get the basic idea wat exactly we are supposed to do..also i havent given elementary and intermediate drawing exam..are they important??
sorry to bother you with so many questions
Hello Namrata,
Nice to know you are good at painting and sketching :)
I am afraid, i didn't find any site where solutions are given. On this blog you will find solutions to a selected problems.
I feel, you should preserve your skill and style. there is no "right" answer in CEED. So even if you find a paper it will not do u any good.
Also you need not worry about grade exam. One funny observation, no one from our MDes class had appeared for these exams :D
Plz don't hesitate to ask any more questions. If you want you can mail me or send me a facebook messege too. The address is given in my introduction on this page.
Best luck
thanks sir,another question..wat all exams do i need to appear for industrial designing other than CEED??
Hi Namrata,
IISc and IIT-K consider GATE score also for MDes course. So you can appear for GATE, if you feel like, to increase your chances of getting selected.
thanks a lot! :D
Here is one more book --http://opim.wharton.upenn.edu/~ulrich/designbook.html
It says more about how to go about when you are designing something. I found it interesting
Hi Varada,
Thanks for the nice link. Its really amazing book. I have updated the post with this link :)
Hi sir,
I am pravash chettri b.tech mech 2012 pass out this time i m goin to appear for ceed exams, before apply for the same i need urs suggestion
Sir i heard that we can prepare design aptitute from any AIEE b.arch book? Also
plz comment on my sketching skill this my fb page
https://www.facebook.com/DynamicCreativityWorldForArtists?ref=hl
Sir I m good at sketching but I can't understand how to use it creatively
Hi Meet,
I have described a method to solve your problem here
Hope you find it useful :)
I would like to add: The Design Sketchbook starter kit by Chou Tac Chung.
It is really great for begginers!!
Hi Jitesh,
Thanks for the tip, but i was not able to find a genuinely free copy of this book online
Do you have a source for the same?
hello sir, today i found your site and i am very glad that i found such a good explainatory material.i am preparing for UCEED and given Nid on 10th.the former is online so there is no need for preparing for sketching as i am already quite good at it but the need is to get the questions of design thinking and problem solving and visualisation and spatial ability.please suggest some site or make post in accordance witb my request.thankyou
Dear Sir,
I am glad to find your blog. It is very informative and descriptive. I had gone through the 40 days ceed preparation schedule. Is it possible for you to share few videos regarding object sketching and other stuffs? If yes then please share few links related to it. Thank you so much
Hello,
There are 2 best sources for these:
1. D'source of IITB
2. Spencer Nugent channel on YouTube :)
All the best!
Can you please tell me link for 40 days ceed prep schedule.
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