Book picks similar to
My Creative Space: How to Design Your Home to Stimulate Ideas and Spark Innovation by Donald M. Rattner
non-fiction
nonfiction
interior-design
design
Vern Yip's Design Wise: Your Smart Guide to a Beautiful Home
Vern Yip - 2016
This New York Times bestseller provides both the inspiration and the clear, essential guidelines you need to create a home that perfectly reflects you. Have you ever wondered exactly how high to hang your artwork? How about the light fixture over your dining table? Do you know how to ideally size a rug for any room, or the best way to arrange your furniture? Beloved designer Vern Yip answers these questions, and more, by revealing the right formulas and measurements that can make any room feel just "right." And once you know these key design principles, you're free to confidently create a home that uniquely celebrates your needs and style. With gorgeous photos throughout, Vern Yip's Design Wise is a book you'll return to again and again.
For the Love of Books: Designing and Curating a Home Library
Thatcher Wine - 2019
For the Love of Books shares the vision of Juniper Books, a business that embraces the roles that books fulfill in our lives and their staying power. It recounts the history of books and private libraries, and champions the resilience of books in the digital era. Dive into the nuances that define books for reading, books for decoration, and books for inspiration. Instructive chapters provide useful details for creating and curating one's own home library, whether it be a single shelf or multiple rooms each with their own collection. You will never look at your bookshelves the same way again.For the Love of Books is about storytelling beyond the pages of our favorite books. Our books--the ones we choose to keep--tell the story of who we are. They remind us who we once were and who we aspire to be.Thatcher Wine founded Juniper Books in 2001. The company creates custom libraries and has perfected the art of turning books inside out to allow for books to tell stories not just to us, but about us. Working with booklovers, homeowners, and designers, Juniper Books has provided the world with a fresh new approach to the printed book. Thatcher grew up in New York City where his parents owned and operated The Quilted Giraffe, one of the most innovative restaurants in America. Thatcher graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in history and art history and lives in Boulder, Colorado.Elizabeth Lane is the founder of Quarterlane, a quarterly subscription book service which merged with Juniper Books in 2018. She is also the book buyer for her local independent bookstore, Partners Village Store and Kitchen in Westport, Massachusetts. Prior to working in books, Elizabeth worked in contemporary visual art--in galleries, nonprofit initiatives and museums in New York, Austin, and Chicago. Elizabeth graduated from Davidson College with a degree in art history and received her masters degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
How to Set Up Your Desk: A Guide to Fixing a (Surprisingly) Overlooked Productivity Problem
Matt Perman - 2014
There is some good advice here and there, but it's typically scattered. There is no single go-to book that brings together into one spot the best principles and practices for getting a clear view of how to make your desk work for you as effectively as possible. So that’s what this book aims to do. We will look at why desk setup matters, basic principles for setting up your desk well, where to put your desk (and where not to!), what goes on your desktop (less than you think), how to set up the drawers, and how to set up the rest of your office. Along with this, we will also see the connection between setting up your desk well and changing the world, which is what all productivity practices are ultimately about.
The Story of the Great British Bake Off
Anita Singh - 2017
Fill with 12 amateur bakers. Garnish with one venerable cookery writer, one blue-eyed bread-maker, and two comedy queens with a love of innuendo. And there you have the recipe for the most popular show of our times.When The Great British Bake Off made its debut in August 2010, it had the makings of a modest hit. But nobody – not the programme-makers and certainly not those first contestants – could have predicted what was to come. Here was a show in which the biggest weekly drama was whether or not a sponge cake would sink in the middle. And oh, how we loved it.Here is the ultimate Bake Off fan book: from bread lion to bin-gate; heart throbs to Twitter trolls; soggy bottoms to sticky buns. This is the celebration of Britain's most popular cookery contest.
Productivity for Creative People: How to Get Creative Work Done in an "Always on" World
Mark McGuinness - 2016
His tips are always realistic, accessible, and sticky. It's not just talk, this is productivity advice that will change your life."Jocelyn K. Glei, author and Founding Editor, 99UWe are living in an age of unprecedented creative stimulation--via the internet, social media, all-pervasive technology, and an "always on" working culture.Which means we are living in an age of unprecedented distraction from focused creative work--from all the same sources.First, computers and the internet transformed the work we did at our desks. Then along came smartphones to transform our social lives and make our work mobile.Now we have our work, our network, our media, and our social media with us wherever we go. Augmented Reality (AR) is layering more and more virtual elements over the physical world we inhabit, and Virtual Reality (VR) promises us escape to unlimited virtual worlds.The pace of change is exciting, overwhelming, and unstoppable.And creators are increasingly discovering a downside to the brave new world:
countless distractions and interruptions
endless email
pressure to keep up
anxiety about falling behind
difficulty concentrating
aches and pains from too much time at the keyboard
Dig a little deeper, and the biggest concern for many creatives is a nagging sense that their most important work is being left undone.If you're excited by the opportunities of the creative age, but worried about the effect of all those interruptions and digital distractions on your creative work, Productivity for Creative People has been written for you.For the past twenty years creative coach Mark McGuinness has helped hundreds of creatives like you to overcome these challenges.A poet and creative entrepreneur, he is the author of Motivation for Creative People and Resilience: Facing Down Rejection and Criticism on the Road to Success. He is also a co-author of the bestselling books from 99U, Manage Your Day-to-Day and Maximize Your Potential.Mark's latest book, Productivity for Creative People, is a collection of insights, tips, and techniques to help you carve out time for your most important work - while managing your other commitments. All the solutions he shares have been tested with real people in real situations.You will learn:
How getting organized can make you more creative
Why multitasking doesn't work
How to tell if you're really overloaded - and what to do about it
The importance of panicking early
How doing nothing can make you more productive
The crucial difference between incubation and procrastination
How to carve out time for your most important creative work
Why boredom is necessary for creativity
What to do about all that email
How to nap like a NASA pilot
A simple technique to reduce smartphone addiction
Productivity for Creative People is the perfect guide to creating extraordinary work without (necessarily) disappearing to a cabin in the woods,
Handmade for the Garden: 75 Ingenious Ways to Enhance Your Outdoor Space with DIY Tools, Pots, Supports, Embellishments, and More
Susan Guagliumi - 2014
Among the myriad projects in this hardworking book are mini hothouses; painted, stamped, and stenciled terracotta planters; hypertufa and cement pots and decorations; rustic and formal fencing and trellises; plant markers and stakes; and sieves and baskets. With Handmade for the Garden to inspire them, gardeners of all skill levels will be empowered to experiment with form and function to discover creative, artful ways to personalize and beautify their gardens with handmade objects.
The Geometry of Hand-Sewing: A Romance in Stitches and Embroidery from Alabama Chanin and The School of Making
Natalie Chanin - 2017
But when Natalie Chanin and her Alabama Chanin and The School of Making teams began to look at needlework closely, they realized all stitches are based on geometric grid systems—and by using grids as guides, they could make learning stitches, even seemingly elaborate ones, as easy as child’s play. In The Geometry of Hand-Sewing Chanin presents their breakthrough method, featuring illustrated instructions (for both right- and left-handed stitchers) for more than 100 stitches—from the most basic straight and chain to the more fanciful feather and herringbone; photos of both right and wrong sides; and guidelines for modifying stitches to increase one’s repertoire further. To simplify learning, the book also includes two plastic stitching cards die-cut with the grids on which every stitch in the book is based. These reusable cards can be stitched through for practicing ( just as children use lacing cards to learn to tie shoes) or used as stencils for transferring grids to fabric.
Study with Me: Effective Bullet Journaling Techniques, Habits, and Hacks To Be Successful, Productive, and Organized - With Special Strategies for Mathematics, Science, History, Languages, and More
Jasmine Shao - 2019
Inspired by the global "study with me"/#studygram phenomenon: Study smarter, stay motivated, improve your grades—all by taking better, more effective notes! Written by Jasmine Shao, founder of popular YouTube channel and Instagram account @studyquill, and Alyssa Jagan, founder of @craftyslimecreator and author of the DIY book Ultimate Slime,
Study with Me
includes everything you need to set and achieve your study goals using simple-to-master bullet journaling techniques:The basics of bullet journaling, and how to adapt them to your specific studying needs and goalsMethods for organizing your time and schedulingIdeas for page and spread layouts for specific topics and how to set them upPlus: Dos and don’ts, hacks, and assorted tips for beginnersWith Study with Me, you’ll learn the note-taking and organizational skills you need to achieve success!
Writing to Be Understood: What Works and Why
Anne H. Janzer - 2018
When you recognize what what's happening, you can apply those same methods to your own writing. Writing To Be Understood is the thinking writer's guide to effective nonfiction writing techniques, such as: - Using analogies effectively to illustrate unseen concepts - Appealing to the reader's innate curiosity - Alternating between abstraction and detail in explanations - Balancing humility with credibility For each topic, the book combines insights from cognitive science with advice from writers and expert practitioners in fields of psychology, technology, economics, medicine, policy, and more. Whether you're an expert trying to communicate with a mainstream audience or a nonfiction writer hoping to reach more people, Writing to be Understood will help you expand the impact of your words.
The First Apartment Book: Cool Design for Small Spaces
Kyle Schuneman - 2012
Luckily, twenty-seven-year-old decorating prodigy Kyle Schuneman knows that a paper-thin wallet and four plain walls don’t have to stand in your way, and the ten amazing, real apartments in this book show it.From coast to coast, these fabulous first homes are the perfect balance between cool design and comfort, and they offer plenty of practical ideas for making your apartment feel open, organized, and inviting. Examples include:■ Multifunctional studios■ A loft that was sectioned into livable areas■ Cookie-cutter apartments with one-of-a-kind personality■ Shared spaces that accommodate different decorating tastes■ Fantastic examples of how to display collections, hide unsightly stuff, and manage picky landlordsKyle’s creative solutions reveal how you can make your space feel much larger than it really is—and how it can reflect your passions, your travels, and your location. He will inspire you to use your surroundings for decorating ideas (think taxi-cab-yellow accents in New York or graffiti-like dip-dye curtains in Seattle). Short on time and long on style, the thirty DIY projects here include no-sew pillows and a dresser update using a little glue and decorative paper. Full of bold, vibrant photos, an extensive resource section, and hundreds of big ideas for small spaces, this book proves that there are no limits on how spacious and how cool your first apartment can feel.
79 Short Essays on Design
Michael Bierut - 2007
Bierut is widely considered the finest observer on design writing today. Covering topics as diverse as Twyla Tharp and ITC Garamond, Bierut's intelligent and accessible texts pull design culture into crisp focus. He touches on classics, like Massimo Vignelli and the cover of The Catcher in the Rye, as well as newcomers, like McSweeney's Quarterly Concern and color-coded terrorism alert levels. Along the way Nabakov's Pale Fire; Eero Saarinen; the paper clip; Celebration, Florida; the planet Saturn; the ClearRx pill bottle; and paper architecture all fall under his pen. His experience as a design practitioner informs his writing and gives it truth. In Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design, designers and nondesigners alike can share and revel in his insights.
Draw Every Little Thing: Learn to draw more than 100 everyday items, from food to fashion
Flora Waycott - 2019
The Inspired Artist series invites art hobbyists and casual art enthusiasts to have fun learning basic art concepts, relaxing into the creative process to make art in a playful, contemporary style. With Draw Every Little Thing, the first book in this new series, you can learn to draw and paint your favorite everyday items. From learning to draw and paint plants, flowers, and bicycles to the neighborhood café and the contents of the kitchen cabinet, this contemporary drawing book demonstrates just how easy it is to render the world around you with little more than a pencil, paper, and paint. Following a brief introduction to the joys of simplistic drawing and painting, this aesthetically pleasing book familiarizes you with a range of drawing tools and materials, including graphite pencil, pen and ink, colored pencil, and gouache, before offering a quick overview of basic color theory. Each subsequent chapter is then devoted to a specific theme—kitchenalia, hobbies, neighborhood haunts, and much more—and packed with simple step-by-step drawing projects. This accessible book encourages you to jump around so you can draw what immediately inspires you. Interactive prompts, creative exercises, and inspiring ideas make the process fun and engaging. Easy techniques and helpful instructions show you how to develop your own personal style, as well as add color to your drawings using gouache and colored pencil. Crafty projects round out the book, allowing you to use your newfound drawing and painting skills. Filled to the brim with whimsical artwork and loads of creative ideas, Draw Every Little Thing encourages artists of all skill levels to draw any time inspiration strikes.
The Urban Sketching Handbook Sketch Now, Think Later: Jump into Urban Sketching with Limited Time, Tools, and Techniques
Mike Yoshiaki Daikubara - 2017
Everyone wishes they could sketch stylish scenes, but busy lives leave almost no room for sitting down with a pad and pen to practicing. Many people give up on their potential hobby (and artistic outlet) because they feel they just don’t have the time to lay the groundwork. Here’s a secret though: you do! All you is a strategy for incorporate sketching into your daily life.Sketch Now, Think Later covers the tools, techniques and tips that author and Urban Sketching Correspondent of Boston Mike Daikubara has developed in his more than 15 years as a practicing artist, and will show you how to fully dive into any sketching situation with limited time and tools, and still be able to produce memorable, great looking, fun sketches!
Instant Pot Italian: 100 Irresistible Recipes Made Easier Than Ever
Ivy Manning - 2018
And Italian food is a perfect partner for your Instant Pot—think rich and meaty braises, one-pot pastas, risotto, stuffed artichokes, and more. This authorized Instant Pot cookbook offers 100 delicious, sure-to-please recipes for weeknight cooking and beyond. Recipes take advantage of the Instant Pot's many settings, allowing you to perfectly sauté and simmer a variety of dishes with just the push of a button. Long-cooking foods like grains and beans (Fall Farro with Pears and Walnuts, Corona Beans with Tomato and Sage) as well as slow stews and braises (Tuscan Beef Stew, Chicken with Creamy Artichoke Sauce) finish in half the time of stovetop cooking. But other hacks and surprises abound, too—set-it-and-forget it recipes for focaccia, quick pickles, no-oven-required cakes and cheesecakes, and even DIY ricotta.
Feel Better In 5: Your Daily Plan to Feel Great for Life
Rangan Chatterjee - 2019
For good.Feel Better in 5 is the first daily 5-minute plan that is easy to maintain, easy-to-follow and requires only the smallest amount of willpower.Top tips include:· A strength workout that you can do anywhere· Gut-boosting snacks you can eat on the go · Yoga moves to relax and stay supple · Breathing exercises to calm the mindDrawing on Dr Rangan Chatterjee's twenty years of experience and real-life case studies from his GP practice, Feel Better in 5 is your daily plan for a happier, healthier you at no extra cost.