This is a thought-provoking book that challenges designers to think about their role in the world in a modern way. The author offers that designers have a responsibility to consider the impact of their work on people, society, and the environment. He provides a framework for designers to create work that is both effective and ethical. It's a great resource for designers and anyone interested in design. I particularly appreciated the correlation of design with telling a story.

Design isn't a field I'm very familiar with, but this book helped me better understand what it means to be a "designer" in the current day and age. I'm very grateful to have been given access to such a great resource. If I ever break into the design field, I'm sure I'll come back re-read to this book!

Whether new the design or further along in your career, this is a MUST READ if you have a career in the field of design.

The New Designer should be required reading for aspiring designers. While I have encountered much of the content of this book over the course of a design-adjacent career, I would have certainly benefited from having a resource like this available to me as I was getting started. Even now in a well-established career, the author gave me plenty to consider about how I should approach my work.

I appreciated the structure of the book, gradually increasing the scope of the topics being discussed, and using a consistent format from chapter to chapter, breaking down common design myths and concluding each chapter with actionable advice.

The material is well resourced, drawing on a vast amount of writing and research from other sources, as well as the occassional anecdote from the author’s own career. My only criticism of the book, in fact, is that it does not present much in terms of novel ideas. Most of the times that I would highlight something I found particularly insightful, it was a quote from another source. That being said, the author succeeds in weaving these references together in a cohesive and useful way that provides plenty of opportunity for the reader to add to their reading list and pursue deeper insight on topics of particular interest.

Ultimately, The New Designer provides both useful career advice and a strong philosophy around design ethics that practitioners ought to give greater consideration.

This review is based on a pre-release copy of the book provided without charge by the publisher and NetGalley.

This was a very interesting read. I learnt a lot that I didn’t have much of an idea about before. Designers have always had my attention - as a concept and what they are. Very happy I read this and highly recommend!