Bookshelf

Books I own, have read, and recommend. Some for the ideas, some for the stories, some for the way they make you look at things differently.

  • Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

    Sapiens

    One of my favorites, a sweeping history of how humans came to rule the planet through shared stories and beliefs.

  • Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

    Shoe Dog

    Phil Knight’s candid memoir of building Nike from a car trunk into a global brand.

  • Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

    Steve Jobs

    The definitive biography of the obsessive taste and vision behind Apple.

  • Ex Machina by Alex Garland

    Ex Machina

    The screenplay for one of my favorite movies, Alex Garland’s study of consciousness, control, and the line between human and machine.

  • Creative Selection by Ken Kocienda

    Creative Selection

    An insider’s look at how Apple’s demo-driven design process shaped the iPhone.

  • Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull

    Creativity, Inc.

    Pixar’s cofounder on building a culture where creative teams can do their best work.

  • Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products by Leander Kahney

    Jony Ive

    The story of the designer whose relentless craft defined Apple’s greatest products.

  • Eames by Gloria Koenig

    Eames

    A compact tour of Charles and Ray Eames and their playful, functional approach to design.

  • The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst

    The Elements of Typographic Style

    The essential guide to typography as both a craft and an art.

  • House: The Process Is the Inspiration by House Industries

    House

    House Industries opens up its process, showing how inspiration turns into type and objects.

  • The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman

    The Design of Everyday Things

    The classic case for designing around how people actually think and behave.

  • How to by Michael Bierut

    How to

    Michael Bierut walks through decades of work with candid stories about how design gets made.

  • The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin

    The Creative Act

    Rick Rubin’s meditation on creativity as a way of being, not just something you do.

  • Architectural Digest at 100: A Century of Style

    Architectural Digest at 100

    A must-have coffee table book collecting a century of the world’s most influential interiors.

  • The Art of Home by Shea McGee

    The Art of Home

    Shea McGee on creating warm, livable spaces with a thoughtful eye for detail.

  • The Animal Kingdom by Randal Ford

    The Animal Kingdom

    Randal Ford’s striking studio portraits that capture animals with startling personality.

  • House Industries Lettering Manual by Ken Barber

    House Industries Lettering Manual

    Ken Barber’s hands-on guide to the fundamentals of drawing letters well.

  • Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson

    Elon Musk

    Love him or hate him, this is an unflinching portrait of the risk-taking drive behind Tesla, SpaceX, and more.

  • The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte

    The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

    A vivid, science-driven retelling of the dinosaurs’ reign and extinction.

  • I Can’t Make This Up by Kevin Hart

    I Can’t Make This Up

    Kevin Hart’s funny, honest memoir about the setbacks behind his success.

  • Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki

    Rich Dad Poor Dad

    A simple, influential reframe on money, assets, and financial independence.

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Updates05
Talkar
Talkar

Principal Designer

Product design and creative direction for global brands. A player-coach who stays close to the making—shaping product, brand, and systems from concept through launch.

Name Eric Talkar
Location New York, NY
Email erictalkar@gmail.com
Website erictalkar.com
LinkedIn LinkedIn

Experience

Square

Principal Designer Present

Lead Catalog, Retail, and Inventory. In the first weeks, built a Design Hub in Cursor so designers can showcase work across Block’s brands, and presented it at Design Week. Shipped Scheduled Updates, redesigned option sets and variations in listing, and designed Catalog Cleanup for Managerbot, Square’s AI assistant. Set the vision for a Scheduled framework. Now designing Scheduled Resets, so sellers can schedule item availability, and inventory intake through Managerbot.

Expedia Group

Principal Designer 2025

Designed AI Agent experiences across Hotels.com, Vrbo, and Expedia. Co-led the agent end to end — trip planning, shopping, and support in one journey — debuted by the Chief Product Officer at Explore ’25 and called one of the company’s most polished launches. Directed the Explore ’25 keynote visuals and launch film. Authored the Hotels.com Evolution vision, setting design principles, digital brand expression, and product direction across brands. Led a unified AI visual identity, from legacy characters to a human-centered system, and the guide for how AI shows up across traveler touchpoints. Co-authored the 2025 AI Agent roadmap, ran discovery offsites, and presented the strategy to senior leadership, including the CEO. Mentored designers in weekly critiques and at Traveler Day of Learning.

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