My Bookshelf

Multipliers — leadership
Braiding Sweetgrass — ecology and Indigenous knowledge
Mismatch — inclusive design
Good Services — service design
Design for the Real World — socially responsible design
Algorithms of Oppression — technology and racial justice
Extra Bold — inclusive graphic design
Design Justice — community-led design
The Checklist Manifesto — systems and process
Enabling Acts — disability rights
The Body Keeps the Score — trauma and healing
Designing Accessible Learning Content — accessibility and learning design
No Need for Sight When You Have a Vision — disability and leadership
Irresistible Change — organizational change
Represented — Black history, photography, and representation
The Elements of Typographic Style — typography and design systems
Dark and Silent Office — workplace accessibility and inclusive communication
Weathered — street art, climate, and visual activism
Connections — disability, technology, and human connection
Living the California Dream — Black history and California leisure spaces
The Secret Ingredient — picture book, love, and belonging
Interface Frictions — digital culture and platform design
Mes Confitures — jam, preserves, and French cooking
Beyond Skin — medicine, representation, and racial equity
The Hidden Treasure of Black ASL — Black ASL, Deaf culture, and linguistics

neurodiversity

Don’t make me think… like a designer

March 7, 2026

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Ted Drake

You walk up to a door with a big handle that clearly says pull. So you pull. Nothing happens. Then you notice the tiny sign that says PUSH. That moment is small, but it stays with you. You hesitate. You feel a little foolish, even though the problem was not you. The design told you… Continue reading
Face Blindness – prosopagnosia

July 7, 2022

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Ted Drake

What is prosopagnosia, aka Face Blindness? In this article, Brad Pitt talks about his inability to recognize faces and how people mistake this as aloofness and disrespect: Brad Pitt opens up about suffering from undiagnosed prosopagnosia, or ‘face blindness’. I have prosopagnosia. I have a terrible time remembering names and faces. I used to think… Continue reading