projects
Books
This is a list of books that I've been collecting from different "must-read books for ..." articles. I've read some of them. But definitely need to read at least half of the list.
List

Steven Heller
100 Ideas That Changed Graphic Design

Stefan Sagmeister
Beauty

Johaness Itten
Design and Form: The Basic Course at the Bauhaus and Later

David Lauer
Design Basics

Mike Monteiro
Design Is a Job

Ellen Lupton
Design Is Storytelling

Paul Rand
Design, Form and Chaos

Karen Cheng
Designing Type

Steve Krug
Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

Martin Lorenz
Flexible Visual Systems

James C. Collins
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't

Ellen Lupton
Graphic Design: The New Basics

John Clifford
Graphic Icons: Visionaries Who Shaped Modern Graphic Design

Josef Muller-Brockmann
Grid systems in graphic design

Nir Eyal
Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products

George Nelson
How To See

Josh Seiden
Lean UX: Applying Lean Principles to Improve User Experience

David Airey
Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities

David Ogilvy
Ogilvy on Advertising

Paul Rand
Paul Rand: A Designer's Art

Adham Dannaway
Practical UI

Ethan Marcotte
Responsive Web Design

Jake Knapp
Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days

Erik Spiekermann
Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works

Marty Neumeier
The Brand Gap

James Felici
The Complete Manual of Typography

Rick Rubin
The Creative Act: A Way of Being:

Donald Norman
The Design of Everyday Things

Johaness Itten
The Elements of Color

Jesse James Garett
The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web

Patrick Lencioni
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Jan Tschichold
The New Typography

Kenneth H. Blanchard
The One Minute Manager

Blair Enns
The Win Without Pitching Manifesto

Ellen Lupton
Thinking with Type

Jan Tschichold
Treasury of Alphabets and Lettering

Emil Ruder
Typographie: A Manual on Design
#4. Good design makes a product understandable.