Nine Free Books, Free to Read, Free to Keep
Everything on this site is also written up as complete, free study books — the same material, in a longer, illustrated, textbook format you can read start to finish, print, or keep as a personal reference. All are free for any student or teacher to use, share, or adapt (see each book's own Preface for the full license). Read any one online below. Books One through Three (the core curriculum) also have a short preview PDF for a fast look or a quick print; Books Four through Nine are newer additions covering the rest of the Adobe toolset, UX/UI design, real design-career economics, 3D design/printing, and video/animation.
The Path to Design — Book One
Everything a designer knows before opening any software: how designers actually work (a real process), how the people on the other end of a design actually see and think (real psychology, not guessing), and a real history of visual communication — from cave paintings and yellow journalism through wartime propaganda, the Bauhaus, and today's AI-assisted design. 5 chapters, no software required.
Paper First — Book Two
The hand skill in between: drawing, hand-lettering, and real design-industry ideation techniques (Crazy 8s, SCAMPER, mind-mapping), all with nothing but a pencil, ending in a complete paper mockup. A true workbook — trace-over-the-dots warm-ups and generous blank drawing space on nearly every page. 6 chapters, no software required.
The Digital Path — Book Three
Picks up exactly where Book Two ends: the same process, audience, drawing skill, and history — now actually executed in real Photoshop, aligned to the current Adobe Certified Professional exam. 5 chapters covering the workspace, selections and masks, layers and layer styles, building and publishing original work, and what the real exam looks like.
The Layout Path — Book Four
Adobe InDesign, aligned to the real Adobe Certified Professional “Print & Digital Media Publication” exam. 7 chapters: working in the design industry, project setup and the workspace, organizing documents (layers, master pages), text and tables, visual elements (including InDesign's real Firefly AI features), publishing documents, and what the exam looks like.
The Vector Path — Book Five
Adobe Illustrator, aligned to the real Adobe Certified Professional “Graphic Design & Illustration” exam. 6 chapters covering the Pen tool and paths, artboards, brushes/symbols/patterns, and Illustrator's own real AI features (Text to Vector Graphic, Generative Recolor).
The Experience Path — Book Six
UX/UI design — not tied to a software exam, since none exists for this discipline. 7 chapters following the real process: research, ideation, wireframing/prototyping in Figma, visual design and accessibility (real WCAG standards), usability testing, and UX/UI careers.
The Career Path — Book Seven
Real numbers on design careers and how design work actually gets paid — built entirely on cited, current sources (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, verified tax rates, real creator-economy research), not guesses. 8 chapters: the real design job market, employee vs. contractor vs. business owner, taxes and benefits, real contracts, side-by-side paychecks, the creator economy honestly explained, the production journey from concept to launch, and making an informed choice.
The Dimensional Path — Book Eight
3D design and printing: spatial thinking, understanding CAD, and hands-on chapters in TinkerCAD, Fusion 360, Onshape, and Blender, ending with real 3D printing and slicing on this classroom's own Bambu Lab P1S and Ender 3 printers. 8 chapters.
The Motion Path — Book Nine
Video editing and animation, in three parts, each aligned to its own real Adobe Certified Professional exam: Premiere Pro (editing a real sequence — rough cuts, text-based editing, color, keyframes, audio, export), Adobe Animate (2D animation — symbols, tweens, the 12 principles of animation, interactivity), and After Effects (motion graphics & compositing — masks, tracking, 3D space, keyframe animation, expressions). 19 chapters total.
Which Chapters Back Which Grade
Both books track the real curriculum — here's roughly where each grade's units connect to a specific chapter, if you want the fuller textbook version of what a lesson page covers.
| Grade / Unit | Book & Chapter |
|---|---|
| Grade 9, Unit 1 — The Client & The Designer | The Digital Path, Ch. 1.1–1.3 |
| Grade 9, Unit 2 — Understanding Digital Images | The Digital Path, Ch. 1.4 |
| Grade 9, Unit 3 — Elements & Principles Studio | The Digital Path, Ch. 1.5 & 2.1 · The Path to Design, Ch. 1 |
| Grade 10 — Hands-On Digital Production | The Digital Path, Ch. 3–4 |
| Grade 11 — Design History & ACP Depth | The Path to Design, Ch. 4 · The Digital Path, Ch. 5 |
| Grade 12 — Yearbook & School Design Studio | The Path to Design, Ch. 2 · The Digital Path, Ch. 4 |
A rough map, not exhaustive — individual lessons often pull from more than one chapter.
Grade 11, Unit B: A Brief History of Design — Day by Day
This is where the connection is tightest. Every Unit B topic already runs Day 1 (History & Analysis) then Day 2 (Applied Studio — a hands-on piece imitating the movement). The Path to Design's Chapter 4 now has a real hands-on “Analog Skill” activity for that same movement — use it to replace or supplement the existing Day 2 studio prompt.
| Unit B Topic (2 days each) | Book Section(s) | Day 2 Activity, Ready to Use |
|---|---|---|
| Before Print: Symbols, Seals & the Golden Ratio | Ch. 4.1 | “Symbol Design” — sketch a family/crew emblem, shapes only, no letters |
| The Printing Press & the Birth of Typography | Ch. 4.2 | Measure real leading with a ruler; hand-letter your name and mark its x-height |
| The Industrial Revolution & the Birth of Advertising | Ch. 4.3 | “Display Lettering” — hand-letter a product name with thick/thin stroke contrast |
| Art Nouveau & the War Poster | Ch. 4.4 & 4.5 | “Organic Line” (trace a real plant into lettering) or “Reduction & the Diagonal” (3 shapes, one strong diagonal) — pick one, or run both across the 2 days |
| Bauhaus & Modernism: Form Follows Function | Ch. 4.6 | “Geometric Construction” — a ruler-and-compass composition, circle/square/triangle only |
| The Swiss Style & the Grid System | Ch. 4.8 | “Grid Construction” — rule a 3-column grid by hand and place a headline/image/text strictly inside it |
| Counterculture to Today: Psychedelia, Punk & Current Trends | Ch. 4.9 & 4.12 | “Lettering Distortion & Collage” (warp a word, then ransom-note it from scraps) or “Speculative Sketching” (design the 2036 movement) |
The book's Chapter 4 also now covers several topics Unit B doesn't currently have a lesson for — American Modernism/WWII (4.7), Saul Bass & motion graphics (4.10), yellow journalism (4.13), patriotism as a design tool (4.14), industrialized propaganda (4.15), design around the world (4.16), and design as a tool for change (4.17) — each already has its own real Analog Skill activity ready to go, if Unit B ever grows past its current 7 topics.