Ways of Seeing

Not a design book at all — Berger's 1972 classic is about looking itself: how images persuade, how meaning changes with context, and how the way we see is shaped by history, advertising, and power. Its short chapters and image spreads are designed to be experienced, not summarized.

It belongs on this shelf because design is applied looking. Berger's questions — who made this image, for whom, and what is it selling you? — are exactly the questions a good designer asks of every brief, every moodboard, and every screen.