Sketching User Experience

Chloe Gottleib, SVP, ECD, Interaction Design, R/GA
The book by Bill Buxton talks about the importance of sampling and sketching to iterate on ideas. Buxton encourages the notion that creatives have to get the initial ideas out there quickly through sketching and then not be afraid to kill their darlings in order to find the gems that will resonate best with their audience.

                                                                          

The Opposable Min

Another favorite is a book by Roger L. Martin called. It's about big picture thinking and how to combine seemingly opposed ways of thinking.

I like these books as a pair because one is about deep creative thinking, and the other is about broad creative thinking. Csikszentmihalyi's book is about achieving mastery in practice whilst Martin's is about how to connect different practices to innovate. This tension is at the heart of our industry's challenges; making meaningful work in a complex environment. We will always need deep expertise to make beautiful and resonant work, but to really lead innovation we'll need to curate and recombine a diversity of expertise.

Flow

Nick Law, Chief Creative Officer,
Part of my job is to guide and evaluate creative thinking, so I'm interested in understanding how creative brains work and work together. A classic in creative cognition is Csikszentmihalyi's book Flow. In it he explores the Psychology of Optimal Experience and makes the observation that we are happiest and most effective when we are totally involved in something, lost in deep creative thinking.

           

its nor how good you are

Patrick O'Neill, ECD, , L.A.
Hands down my favorite book on creativity. It's a simple, small book, the most powerful and helpful one I've read and even re-read. Sometimes you just need a new way to look at things to open your mind and be reminded of the possibilities out there. And honestly, one quote from Mr. Arden can do the trick. When it was published I bought everyone a copy and taped it under their chairs.

Nik Studzinski, ECD, , New York
Paul was the ECD at Saatchi's when I first joined. I found him incredibly intimidating at first, but over time I came to see him for what he was: a creative one-off and incredibly inspiring. This was the first book he wrote and it neatly sums up his approach to creativity and, I suppose, his approach to life.

the book of doing

It also so happens that Ad Age and Creativity's publisher, Allison Arden, has just released her own book on creativity. The Book of Doing takes a different approach from Lehrer's. While Imagine gives insightful analysis about the many factors that go into nurturing creativity, The Book of Doing encourages you to jump in head first, get your hands dirty and just make stuff. (See Wieden's famous tag above). It features a set of laws and nearly 100 fun exercises to help you shed your inhibitions to create and give your brain's right hemisphere a boost. In a way, it's like a coloring book for adults--one that inspires you to embrace the act of creating as eagerly as you did when you were a child.

Both books present a ripe opportunity for us to compile a collection of the industry's favorite reads on creativity--whether or not they're specifically related to the job of advertising or marketing. Here's a list of a few. Share your thoughts in the comments section below or give us a shout on Twitter , and we'll keep a running, go-to library of inspiration here.

                                                                 

rejiggering

No wonder, as it's a mind-rejiggering read that sheds light on the many factors that go into nurturing creativity, the importance of which, of course, has been obvious to the ad industry, but whose value increasingly has been recognized in the larger world of business and marketing.

The book is rife with examples illustrating the alchemy of science, chance, intention, risk-taking and persistence that contributes to innovation. Some of his most telling stories include how Bob Dylan, drained of creative juices, was on the verge of ending his musical career before he had the breakthrough moment that led to "Like a Rolling Stone," and how Dan Wieden came up with Nike's famous "Just Do It" tagline--after thinking about a murderer named Gary Gilmore. He also talks about how the interior of Pixar's headquarters has been set up to fertilize the best ideas and--when it wasn't, it almost led to the company's biggest flop. And of course, there are the famous creation stories behind P&G's Swiffer and 3M's Post-It Note. He also goes into the biology behind some of the more familiar creative conundrums--why it figures that artistic genius is often linked to madness, why sometimes, the most talented individuals may be the more depressed ones and why children happen to be "effortlessly creative."

the artist to be true

“Maisel consistently challenges the artist to be true to his/her artistic self in all his books, and this is no exception. The Creativity Book targets the artist who has achieved a higher degree of self-knowledge and acceptance. He asks the reader to choose a Dream early in the year, which will be accomplished as the year unfolds. Each week highlights an aspect of living as a creative being, and includes exercises to clear the way to living more fully.

“Maisel has a no-holds-barred style that doesn’t permit excuses, whining, or hedging. His message is simple: one must actively pursue the muse at all times, and embrace her when she appears. You don’t HAVE to do any of the exercises, although he’d like you to do them all. He makes it clear, however, that choosing not to do the exercises is also a clear statement of your degree of commitment to your Dream, which ultimately boils down to art.

“If you’re looking for coddling, this is the wrong book. But if you’re ready to be gently but firmly led to create as you know you can, Maisel leaves you with a fuller, more satisfying relationship with your artistic self.” – M. Smith