Lesser Spotted Creative Resources
Life as a creative means hoarding more reference material than you could conceivably use in 37 careers. When you start out (as an art director or designer at least) this tends to be visual. Photos, design blogs, stock sites, free vectors, type libraries, award annuals… All the usual suspects, and more.
At some point though, you realise that having the most stuff sitting in a folder doesn’t get you anywhere other than onto IT’s radar. What you need more and more as your career moves on are a range of skills and understanding that nobody tells you will become vital.
Critical thinking, mental models, incentives, scepticism, philosophy, politics, psychology, behavioural economics, and myriad others apply to creativity in surprisingly important ways that are seldom taught at art school.
Below is a very incomplete collection of resources I’ve found interesting and useful over the years. The plan is to update it from time to time, we’ll see how that pans out.
Podcasts:
Sam Harris – Making Sense
An invaluable study in clarity of thought, this podcast touches every topic under the sun. A few highly recommended episodes if you need somewhere to start, but there are nuggets to glean from even the episodes you are absolutely sure you won’t enjoy.
Understanding Humans in the Wild – A Conversation with Adam Grant
Mental Models – A Conversation with Shane Parrish
The Trouble with Facebook – A Conversation with Roger McNamee
Stephen Fry
The Keys to the Mind – A Conversation with Derren Brown
Hidden Motives – A Conversation with Robin Hanson
The Knowledge Project – Shane Parrish
Shane Parrish is an ex-Canadian spy who runs Farnam Street, a blog that “helps you master the best of what other people have already figured out". I discovered Shane through his conversation with Sam Harris, and quickly worked my way through his own podcast, The Knowledge Project. His insight and analysis is incredibly unique – you’ll be rethinking much that you thought you had a firm perspective on. The blog itself is a treasure trove of mental models and critical thinking tools and you can do worse than signup for the weekly newsletter (trust me, I’ve never recommended a newsletter before). A few episodes to get you going:
Irrationality, Bad Decisions, and the Truth About Lies: My Conversation with Dan Ariely
Thriving in a Digital World: My Conversation with Stratechery’s Ben Thompson
Doing the Enough Thing: My Interview with Basecamp CEO and Co-founder Founder Jason Fried
Popping the Filter Bubble: My Interview with DuckDuckGo CEO, Gabriel Weinberg
Freakonomics Radio – Stephen J Dubner
Discover the hidden side of everything. Applying an economists’ lens to everyday minutiae is far more interesting than this description makes it sound. Try any episode at random, they’ve been going for 10 years so there are tons, and they’re all awesome. For those with decision anxiety, try this one:
People Aren’t Dumb. The World Is Hard – Richard Thaler
or this one:
Yes, the Open Office Is Terrible — But It Doesn’t Have to Be
The Joe Rogan Experience
One of the most listened to podcasts in the world for good reason. 1800+ episodes and a new one almost every day means there is something to interest literally everyone. Comedy? Check. UFC? Check. Politics? Religion? Sociology? Check x 3. These are as good as any:
JRE #1159 – Neil DeGrasse Tyson
JRE #1169 – Elon Musk
JRE #1158 – Chuck Palahniuk
The Tim Ferriss Show
The podcast that got me hooked on podcasting. I don’t listen as much anymore unless the guest interests me, but Tim pioneered long form podcasts, so there’s no better place to dip your toes in. Each episode, Tim deconstructs world-class performers from eclectic areas (investing, sports, business, art, etc.) to extract tactics, tools, and routines you can use. Try these out:
Neil Gaiman: The Interview I’ve Waited 20 Years To Do
A.J. Jacobs: Self-Experimenter Extraordinaire
Debbie Millman: How to Design a Life
Strategy:
Julian Cole’s Planning Dirty Newsletter
A goldmine of curated strategy resources from a truly world class planner. Up to date and delivered to your inbox free every couple weeks. Sound unbelievable? Check out the 2019 Brand Actions Library deck or Brainstorm Bible and then subscribe immediately. Follow him on twitter while you’re at it @juliancole.
Half a century of ‘Marketing Science’
A repository of course reading courtesy of Dr. Michael R. Hyman, Distinguished Achievement Professor and Ph.D. Coordinator of Marketing at New Mexico State University.
Creativity:
Stuff From The Loft – Dave Dye
The single most valuable resource for an Art Director or Copywriter (and anyone interested in developing truly effective advertising). Dave Dye is a living legend. He interviews ‘greats’ of the industry as well as analysing the creative process, going into crazy detail on concept development, strategy, thinking and craft like nobody else.
Learn how to pitch from David Abbott, come along for a two-week pitch (with creative updated daily) for Innocent, sneak a peek at how discounted car ads should be created, experience the true power of proper positioning, or reminisce about perfect house ads from days gone by. Oh, and if you’re starting out, here are 10 Type Tips you’d be better off learning from someone other than your first boss. This seemingly endless blog will keep you busy for months and inspired for a lifetime.
Books:
The Choice Factory: 25 behavioural biases that influence what we buy – Richard Shotton
How To Make Better Advertising And Advertising Better: The Manifesto for a New Creative Revolution – Vic Polkinghorne & Andy Palmer
The Decision Book: Fifty Models for Strategic Thinking – Mikael Krogerus & Roman Tschäppeler
A technique for producing ideas: A simple five step formula for producing ideas – James Webb Young
The Art of the Idea – John Hunt
Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite – Paul Arden
The Anatomy of Humbug: How to Think Differently About Advertising – Paul Feldwick
Eat Your Greens – Weimer Snijders (and contributors)
How not to Plan: 66 ways to screw it up – Les Binet & Sarah Carter
Anything by Dave Trott
Twitter:
Twitter is quite vast. Here are a few quality accounts to get you thinking (and in some cases laughing).
@rshotton – Author of The Choice Factory, voted #1 in the BBH World Cup of Advertising Books 2018.
@markritson – If you’re in marketing and on twitter, you shouldn’t need this link.
@tomfgoodwin – ex-EVP Innovation at Zenith Media. He also has a few podcasts that are probably worth a look.
@juliancole – Independent Strategy Consultant, fortnightly email Planning Dirty.
@markpollard – Strategy CEO, Mighty Jungle.
@AdContrarian – ex-Agency Copywriter & CEO “Making Marketers Uncomfortable Since 2007”.
@davetrott – Follow the legendary creative director and author of books you should have read already.
@mweigel – Head of Planning, Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam.
@BBHLabs – When the world zigs, zag. R&D for creative businesses.
@tomroach – ex-Managing Partner, Effectiveness, BBH London.
@TomLewis_CPI – Commercial Performance Improvement advisor to businesses. Ex-adland; now law.
@blairenns – CEO, Win Without Pitching. Value based pricing models that go beyond hours worked.
@HumanProgress – Documenting the improving state of the world with data, charts & maps.
@econnaturalist – Robert H Frank is the Economics Professor at Cornell University. Bite-sized, real-world Econ 101 in layman’s terms.
@rorysutherland – Vice Chairman, Ogilvy Group UK and author of Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don’t Make Sense.
@Blitzboks – The only place you can still follow a world-class Springbok rugby team.
@danariely – Professor of Psychology and Behavioural Economics.
@WeAreSellSell – “First-class creative, strategy and design for people with ambitious targets.”
@davedyecom – If you haven’t followed based on the link to his blog above, what are you waiting for?
@natebargatze – Quite a funny comedian. Check out his latest special, The Tennessee Kid on Netflix!
@MrCCMiller – The best website of any copywriter, anywhere, ever.
@Dr_Draper – Acerbic wit from Associate Creative Director and Head of Copy @wellmark_health.
@johnlewis – The man often mistaken for the UK retail giant.