Every year AIGA (Professional Organization for Design) publishes a booklet of sorts to distribute to their members. This year they teamed up with consulting/strategy firm Cheskin to create “An Ethnography Primer.” Ethnographies are a research tool anthropologists use to study/observe cultures in their natural environments (rather than in a laboratory setting). The Primer (available here) shows how these analytic skills can be applied to design and clients.

AIGA has a ton of great design resources, including an extensive design archive that is loaded with inspiration.