Make no mistake: CT’s team members love a good ol’ Netflix binge, and right now, we even have a pool going for what Chris Harrison says is ‘the most dramatic season of The Bachelor yet’. But in line with our affinity for crime documentaries and various reality TV shows is our love for good books – many of which we’re recommending to fellow creatives and marketers in the list below:
Burn Your Portfolio: Stuff They Don’t Teach You In Design School, But Should
By: Michael Janda
Ask our Creative and/or Art Director which book they’d recommend, and this one by Michael Janda is the first off their lips. Straightforward and funny, it calls upon Janda’s many career successes and failures to outline real-world practices, do’s and don’ts, and the unwritten rules creatives need to follow in business to get ahead.
Big Magic
By: Elizabeth Gilbert
Gilbert’s success with Eat, Pray, Love begged the question: could she write anything even remotely as good? Courtesy Big Magic, the answer is YES. With absolute humility and encouragement, Gilbert walks readers through the development of a healthy relationship with creativity (which she tends to treat more like a person than she does an ability), the worthiness of the work, and the habits and attitudes we need to adopt to ditch needless suffering when it comes to creating art.
Thinking With Type
By: Ellen Lupton
A definitive guide on how to use typography in visual communications, Thinking With Type is an excellent (if not foundational) inclusion in every graphic designer’s book collection. Throughout its pages, designers will find visual examples of how to be inventive with typography – what the rules are and how to break them for the better.
Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action
By: Simon Sinek
Fact: Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk based off this book is the most popular of all time – and for good reason. It, like the book, is a sweeping examination of how the world’s most influential leaders have all leveraged the power of why to help people buy into products, services, movements, or ideas: essential advice for any creative who’s in a leadership position!
Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t
(Also) By: Simon Sinek
What can we say? We’ve got a special place in our nerdy hearts for Simon. This book outlines how great leaders are born not by a thirst for recognition and glory, but by a willingness to sacrifice their own comfort and survival for the greater good of those in their care. It shares how the best teams are built on trust and cooperation due to leaders’ ability to create a ‘circle of safety’ – one that protects the security of the team from outside challenges.
A Place of Yes: 10 Rules for Getting Everything You Want Out of Life
By: Bethenny Frankel
We know: this is a surprising addition to our recommended list of reads – but hear us out. Bethenny’s celebrated ‘no-nonsense’ attitude on reality TV translates well to this list of rules, many of which are brought to life by interesting, funny, and sometimes outrageous examples from Bethenny’s personal life. Ranging from finding your truth to staying focussed on what you want; distinguishing yourself from the crowd to owning your shit, this book is a comprehensive guide on how to be more successful, happy, and fulfilled than ever before.
The War of Art
By: Steven Pressfield
Succinct and engaging, Pressfield’s take on how to overcome the obstacles of ambition is the tough love you don’t necessarily want but definitely need. It outlines a clear plan of attack against the naysayer within, and provides clear strategies for achieving success and the highest levels of creative discipline.
Happy reading!
