Designer & Books is a new website dedicated to books related to design. The site is devoted to publishing lists of books that professionals in the design community have identified as being personally important, meaningful, and formative.

The website celebrates the relationship between designers and the books that inspired and influenced them to make great designs.

Designers & Books acts somewhat like a blog, encouraging open discussions on the site, comments, and debates about the books that are posted.

New designers are added to the website on an ongoing basis to keep the lists fresh and diverse. Chosen designers come from fields of architecture, fashion, graphic, interior, and product design.

The books are not chosen arbitrarily. The website asks that designer choose books which have been influential and pertain to a specific area of design (i.e. Books Every Graphic Designer Should Read).

This specification does not however limit the selection to only design related books. Perhaps a 'must read' book for an architect would be Ayn Rand's fictitious novel, The Fountainhead.

Fashion leader Isaac Mizrahi, a featured designer on the site, promotes Avedon: Photographs, 1947 - 1977, which he deems as the bible of style.

Other professionals who are currently featured are, architect Emilio Ambasz, whose list includes The Natural House; urban designer Elizabeth Diller, who recommends Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, and Nancey Green, who suggests The Fabulous Life of Diego Rivera.

The Designers & Books website was created by, Editor in Chief, Steve Kroeter. He is also the president of Archetype Associations.

Architecture