The holidays are always a good time for catching up on reading and reflecting on New Year’s resolutions. Kill two birds with one stone by picking up a few of these books on honing your business thinking and becoming a more productive creative…
NEW ON THE BOOKSHELF
Glimmer: How Design Can Transform Your Life, Your Business, and Maybe Even the World - Warren Berger
Berger sets the subtitle bar high with this ambitious how-to book, which draws heavily on the wisdom and insights of Bruce Mau. Chapters riff on concepts from Mau’s "Incomplete Manifesto" – with titles like “Go Deep,” “Ask Stupid Questions,” and our personal fave “Begin Anywhere” – as Berger puts forth case studies of IDEO, OXO, and Apple as well as Yves Behar, Lee Clow, and Dean Kamen.
The Collaborative Habit: Life Lessons for Working Together - Twyla Tharp
Choreographer Twyla Tharp follows up her bestselling book, The Creative Habit – which we would list below in “classics” if we weren’t already mentioning it here – with a slim volume on lessons learned from collaborations with Jerome Robbins, Mikhail Baryshnikov, David Byrne, Richard Avedon, Frank Sinatra, and many, many more.
Unclutter Your Life In One Week - Erin Doland
“Being overworked, overbooked, and overwhelmed is passé,” says Erin Doland (aka The Unclutterer). Covering everything from your desk to your closet to your schedule, Dolan breaks down how to get closer to zen in just seven days. A good option for new year’s resolutions about getting more organized.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami
Inventor and billionaire James Dyson has talked about how long-distance running gave him the endurance to pursue his game-changing inventions against all odds. Similarly, bestselling Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami’s memoir What I Talk About (new in paperback) is only nominally about running. Murakami uses in-depth descriptions of his marathon training as a vehicle for talking about his writing practice, and ultimately for a motivational treatise on the value of discipline, focus, and endurance.
Inside the Painter's Studio - Joe Fig
Artist Joe Fig digs deep into the painter’s creative process as he describes the daily routines of 24 painters using text, photographs, and miniature models. So what do Chuck Close, Mary Heilmann, Ryan McGinness, Dana Schutz, Fred Tomaselli, and more all have in common? They work incessantly, and follow rigorous daily routines.
TRIED-AND-TRUE CLASSICS
The Laws of Simplicity - John Maeda
Rhode Island School of Design president John Maeda wrote this nifty little book before “design thinking” was all the rage. Written with simple language and great wisdom, it outlines 10 laws of simplicity for design, technology, business, and life. Ranging from basic to intermediate to deep simplicity, Maeda’s insights apply to everything from arranging your living room to designing a visionary product.
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Groundbreaking at the time of its release, and no less impressive today, Csikszentmihalyi's bestselling book outlines the psychological conditions required to achieve "flow," a state characterized by intense focus, a lack of self-assessment, and loss of time awareness. Anecdote-heavy, Flow offers great incentives for altering your priorities and mindset.
The Art of Woo – G. Richard Shell & Mario Moussa
Nothing great is accomplished alone. No matter how brilliant your idea is, collaboration and an engaged audience are always required to have a meaningful impact. Looking at leaders from Walmart’s Sam Walton to Intel’s Andy Grove to U2’s Bono, Woo – written by two Wharton professors – digs into the art of marketing and selling your ideas.
How to Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul - Adrian Shaughnessy
Despite its title, this book – which contains an intro by Stefan Sagmeister as well as interviews with other major designers – is not just for graphic designers. Rather, it outlines need-to-know basics and tricks of the trade that will pertain to small creative studios of all kinds. From finding new work to managing persnickety clients, How to Be gives a straightforward breakdown of the commercial design business.
The War of Art - Steven Pressfield
"Art begins with resistance - at the point where resistance is overcome.” So said André Gide. Half warrior field manual, half self-help treatise, Steven Pressfield’s slim book offers easily digestible insights on overcoming the Resistance to turn daydreaming into doing.
**Image sourced from John Maeda’s The Laws of Simplicity.
***This post by J.K. Glei is based on research by the Behance team. Behance runs the Behance Creative Network, the 99% productivity think thank, the Action Method project management application, and the Creative Jobs List.
