The debate about the future of books rages on. Personally, I love them and still buy them by the (UPS guy’s) armload. Many of us got into design for the ability to treat every gorgeous monograph coming out of the EU as a legitimate business expense.

The other day, I saw someone using a Kindle on the train. It really resembles a piece of hospital equipment. But I do read virtual reams of stuff online, and I’m glad we’ve stopped wasting paper on ephemeral technical documentation.

The interactive design industry has matured to the point where there are enough authors and readers to support a lively amount of publishing. Sadly, the actual books themselves often lack what we would call good design. As objects they disappoint—rough, flimsy, and poorly typeset—with terrible, uninspiring covers that fail to serve the ideas inside.

So, I was overjoyed to see the cover of Indi Young’s new book Mental Models: Aligning Design Strategy with Human Behavior.

That is a sweet cover. The appealing, abstract illustration relates to the material inside and reminds me of all of those swell, evocative mid-century covers. And, the material inside is useful, substantive, and nothing less than what I’d expect from Indi.

Lou Rosenfeld founded Information Architecture as a profession. It’s heartening to see that, as a publisher, he also promotes professional book design.

If you’re going to bother to embody intangible ideas in a material form, do it right and do it well.

Written by Erika Hall on February 28, 2008 |