Read up on Dieter Rams and Bauhaus for some foundational lessons on aesthetics and design. (Go to some museum exhibitions if you can in your area.) Look into Jeff Veen and his work on HotWired in the 90's.
Hoefler & Frere-Jones have some great blurbs on typography. IDEO and Frog Design have written good stuff. Tufte, as mentioned,is great for information architecture.
When it comes to actual design, I recommend starting with scrap paper and a fat marker. The bigger marker prevents one from getting too detail oriented -- particularly helpful when designing for mobile.
Hoefler & Frere-Jones have some great blurbs on typography. IDEO and Frog Design have written good stuff. Tufte, as mentioned,is great for information architecture.
When it comes to actual design, I recommend starting with scrap paper and a fat marker. The bigger marker prevents one from getting too detail oriented -- particularly helpful when designing for mobile.