Looking to boost your creativity, seeking advice on creative problem-solving, or contemplating a new direction in life? Check out these 10 books focused on all things creative:
1. Creative Acts for Curious People: How to Think, Create, and Lead in Unconventional Ways
By Sarah Stein Greenberg
All issues demand solutions, and Creative Acts for Curious People is designed to help you discover how to uncover them. Penned by Sarah Stein Greenberg, the executive director of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (Stanford’s “d.school”), this book blends narratives and exercises to inspire readers to confront and conquer challenges through innovative means.
Featuring activities like “Units of Energy Critique” to refine judgment and evaluation skills and “Expert Eyes” to promote the development of observational skills, the book is both educational and light-hearted, aiming to educate without critiquing your current skill level. And for good reason—these unique activities, each the brainchild of a different inventive mind or minds, are also taught at the d.school.
2. Rebel Ideas: The Power of Diverse Thinking
By Matthew Syed
Whether problem-solving or forming personal opinions, our worldview is heavily influenced by the voices surrounding us. It’s natural to want to be surrounded by those who share our viewpoints, leading to confirmation bias as we create our own “echo chamber” of opinions.
In Rebel Ideas, Matthew Syed argues that we need exposure to individuals with differing perspectives to achieve optimal results, as these varied opinions enable teams to challenge each other and generate fresh, superior ideas. Drawing upon a range of fields with a mix of case studies and insightful arguments, Rebel Ideas challenges readers to exit their “echo chambers” and embrace discomfort to maximize their potential.
3. Design Your Thinking: The Mindsets, Toolsets, and Skill Sets for Creative Problem-Solving
By Pavan Soni
Creativity is elusive, often seen as fickle as a wary cat. Yet, discipline is not typically associated with creativity; nevertheless, creativity thrives despite constraints. In Design Your Thinking, author Pavan Soni delves into design thinking—a fusion of creativity and discipline—and its role in creative problem-solving.
Soni’s design thinking framework consists of five stages: “inspire,” “empathize and define,” “ideate,” “prototype and test,” and “scale.” By first identifying a consumer need and then devising a solution, this model, with its blend of creative problem-solving skills and structured goal focus, equips individuals and businesses with the tools for success. Combined with studies and existing design thinking frameworks to craft a skill set toolbox, Design Your Thinking serves as an ideal guide to creative problem-solving.
4. You Are an Artist: Assignments to Spark Creation
By Sarah Green
While the notion “You can be anything you want to be” may have lost its motivational edge for many, it remains a sincere sentiment in the context of You Are an Artist. Curated by author Sarah Green, this compilation of 50 assignments originated in her 2014 PBS series The Art Assignment, with an additional 13 challenges commissioned for the 2020 book.
Requiring no specific skill or expensive materials, and with guidance from leading creative minds, the book presents a non-judgmental, inspiring path to acquiring new artistic skills. Delving into art history techniques not only provides a rich historical context for various art styles and practices but also showcases the trials and errors of past artists—inspiring readers to pursue their own creative endeavors.
5. Life in the Studio: Inspiration and Lessons on Creativity
By Frances Palmer
Life in the Studio isn’t your typical art book—it’s a deep dive into the life of author Frances Palmer and the journey that led her to become a potter and business owner, intertwined with photography and practical instructions for some of her pieces.
Although she started on the path of an art historian, Palmer has been crafting art by hand since delving into ceramics in 1987. Transitioning from printmaker to cook to gardener to potter, her passion for creating items for others to enjoy ultimately culminated in the establishment of her pottery business. Instead of settling into a predetermined path, Palmer explored all possibilities open to her. The lessons gleaned throughout this journey—one that ushered her into a fulfilling, hard-earned life—are chronicled in the book, alongside her fusion of creative pursuits designed to inspire readers on their personal odyssey.
6. Mindwandering: How Your Constant Mental Drift Can Improve Your Mood and Boost Your Creativity
By Moshe Bar
Wandering thoughts are often viewed as a hindrance, an unwarranted and at times bothersome deviation from our tasks at hand. Worries, doubts, and mundane distractions litter our minds, disrupting our focus.
But what if there’s an upside to something people spend hours trying to suppress? Enter Mindwandering by Moshe Bar. Head of the cognitive neuroscience lab at the Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center at Bar-Ilan University, Bar combines his neuroscience expertise with psychology and philosophy to explore the advantages of mind-wandering. From enhanced self-understanding to increased creativity, permitting—and knowing when to permit—a lapse in concentration can enrich your life in unexpected ways.
7. The Art of Noticing: 131 Ways to Spark Creativity, Find Inspiration, and Discover Joy in the Everyday
By Rob Walker
We’ve become adept at focusing on work—students, employees, and artists alike find themselves united in the need to maintain focus. But how often do we pause to focus on the world around us, deflecting our attention from duties? The perceptive eye is capable of discerning expressions, clues, and details in the environment that elude those who haven’t trained themselves to observe.
In The Art of Noticing, Rob Walker shares strategies for learning to see more in people and places. Through five sections—”looking,” “sensing,” “going places,” “connecting with others,” and “being alone”—the book offers activities suitable for all ages. It merely urges readers to detach from work momentarily each day and redirect their focus onto something that can be advantageous regardless of their profession.
8. The Entrepreneurial Artist: Lessons from Highly Successful Creatives
By Aaron Dworkin
Entrepreneurship and artistic pursuits are rarely intertwined—unless an artist has the resources and time to establish a business. However, The Entrepreneurial Artist by Aaron Dworkin dispels this dichotomy, spotlighting cases, past and present, where artists from varied backgrounds have successfully straddled both domains.
The book blends personal anecdotes, profiles of artists like Lin Manuel Miranda, Rachel Barton Pine, Marin Alsop, and William Shakespeare, and key takeaways from each chapter. Through personal interviews with eleven artists and Dworkin’s insightful correlation between entrepreneurship and art, The Entrepreneurial Artist is bound to inspire any creative spirit.
9. Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential
By Tiago Forte
We’re inundated with information from all sides, rendering it impossible to retain even half of the data we encounter throughout our lives. This is where Building a Second Brain steps in. Tiago Forte, founder of Forte Labs, melds the power of our minds with technology to craft a system for preserving insights, inspirations, and other crucial information prone to slipping through the cracks.
The second brain serves not only as a storage facility but also facilitates the weaving of connections and generating ideas by juxtaposing various pieces of information, instead of fleeting focus. Forte’s “C.O.D.E” method—”capture,” “organize,” “distill,” and “express”—paves the way for incredible concepts. Coupled with Forte’s additional insights, this methodology equips readers to cultivate brilliant ideas.
10. Burn After Writing
By Sharon Jones
Journaling, even guided journaling, is not a novel concept. It’s been advocated for processes ranging from creative ideation to shifting mindsets to navigating intense emotions. Burn After Writing, however, doesn’t pose just one question—it presents many, all aimed at unraveling your past, present, and future, with insights from the amalgamation of the three shedding light on your identity. The section on the future prompts contemplation on the person you might evolve into—and perhaps delving into pathways that previously seemed unattainable.
While not a locked diary or clandestine tome of secrets, this journal is solely for your eyes—it doesn’t demand you divulge your reflections. Once you’re done, you can retain it as a reminder of your discoveries or, as the title suggests, you can opt to adhere to the instructions on the cover—just keep in mind that the matches are not included.
