What the industry's most succcessful writers and directors have in common is that they have mastered the cinematic conventions specific to the medium.

    Drawn from the authors’ work with companies like Lego, Samsung, Adidas, Intel, IBM, and Coke, the book will teach you how to understand people holistically in their environments—how they live, what they think and do all day, what their habits are, and how they understand the world. For brand fanatics and business leaders alike.

    

    

    Hopefully, you'll also laugh along the way.Each spread in this colorful, pocket-sized book contains a series of several questions illustrated in Stefan Bucher's unique, whimsical, hand-lettered style. The questions are designed to get you thinking and drawing and writing with room on each spread to fill in the blanks and jot down ideas. Sample questions include: Can you name 10 things that reliably stress you out? Do you need 10 more spaces? Was filling out lists on your list? Or the decimal system? What happens when you get stressed out? Do you think stress is heroic? Can you please convince me that that's really stupid?In addition to the questions provided by Bucher, the book features questions from creative celebrities who share some of the questions they were asked on the way to success, or, in some cases, the questions they wish they had been asked. The talented group of writers, musicians, and artists contributing to the book include: Jed Alger Judd Apatow Marian Bantjes Ken Carbone Tim Carvell Deanne Cheuk Wayne Coyne Russell Davies Arem Duplessis Dave Eggers Karen Fowler Ze Frank Jona Frank Jill Greenberg Stanley Hainsworth Peter Hannan Debbie Millman Rick Morris Seth Morris Christoph Niemann David Norland Patton Oswalt Martha Rich Stefan Sagmeister Meredith Scardino J.J. Sedelmaier Dave Stewart Lara Tomlin Jakob Trollb�ck Rick Valicenti Esther Pearl Watson Lynda Weinman Jan Wilker Doyald Young Tarsem If you answer even half of the questions in this book, it will change your life.

    Read the quotes, bizarre requests and elaborate communication failures that are all part of the daily life of working with clients.With anonymous submissions from over a thousand creative freelancers, Clients From Hell sheds an insider’s perspective on difficult — and all-too-often irrational and insane — interactions with clients.Anyone who has ever worked with clients may find these tales frighteningly familiar. New designers may think twice about their chosen profession — or at least find relief in the fact that they’re not alone in absurd client interactions. And non-designers? Well, they’ll just feel grateful — while they laugh and discover the new and uncharted territory of miscommunication.

    And today, that means lifestyle photography, also referred to as "fine art wedding photography." Fine art wedding photography isn't just a catchy phrase; it's a modern approach in which design is paramount. Fine art wedding images are more graphic and stylized than traditional wedding photojournalism, as if they were pulled from the pages of a glossy wedding or lifestyle magazine. Acclaimed wedding photographer Jose Villa was a pioneer in fine art wedding photography before it became a trendy buzzword. Here, he shares his secrets for bringing a stylized sense of composition, lighting, posing, and most important, design, to your images, while still keeping them organic and narrative. You’ll learn Jose’s trademark technique of capturing the more natural moment after a pose, and tips for getting images right in-camera to avoid the need for heavy postproduction. Final chapters show you how to integrate design through the delivered product, whether an album or slideshow, and continue nurturing clients after the wedding by expanding to baby and family portraiture. Packed with real-life examples, solid techniques, and stunning images from one of the wedding industry's brightest stars, this book will both educate and inspire photographers seeking to update their work and satisfy a new generation of brides.

    Artists' sketchbooks offer exclusive access into the creative processtheir dog-eared, paint-splattered, sometimes crumbling pages have an intimate and visceral appeal. Street Sketchbook includes never-before-seen works by new and acclaimed figures such as Banksy (UK), Alexander Purdy (US), and more, as well as sketches that have formed the basis of large public works. Ingenious throughout, these sketchbooks epitomize the audacious originality of vision that defines the street art scene today.

    But what if you could have your computer do them for you?In "Automate the Boring Stuff with Python," you'll learn how to use Python to write programs that do in minutes what would take you hours to do by hand no prior programming experience required. Once you've mastered the basics of programming, you'll create Python programs that effortlessly perform useful and impressive feats of automation to: Search for text in a file or across multiple filesCreate, update, move, and rename files and foldersSearch the Web and download online contentUpdate and format data in Excel spreadsheets of any sizeSplit, merge, watermark, and encrypt PDFsSend reminder emails and text notificationsFill out online formsStep-by-step instructions walk you through each program, and practice projects at the end of each chapter challenge you to improve those programs and use your newfound skills to automate similar tasks.Don't spend your time doing work a well-trained monkey could do. Even if you've never written a line of code, you can make your computer do the grunt work. Learn how in "Automate the Boring Stuff with Python.""

    You will learn to prepare yourself for a career in artist management - and then learn the tools to coach, lead, organize time, manage finances, market an artist, and carve out a successful career path for both yourself and your clients.The book features profiles of artist managers, an exclusive and detailed template for an artist career plan, and samples of major contract sections for artist management and record deals. Updated information including a directory of artist management companies is available at the book's companion website.A peer reviewer for Artist Management for the Music Business proclaimed ."this is going to be an excellent text. It contains many unique insights and lots of valuable information." This is essential reading for managers, students, and artists in the music business.

    But how can you be the person who comes up with those ideas? In this revised and expanded edition of his groundbreaking Thinkertoys, creativity expert Michael Michalko reveals life-changing tools that will help you think like a genius. From the linear to the intuitive, this comprehensive handbook details ingenious creative-thinking techniques for approaching problems in unconventional ways. Through fun and thought-provoking exercises, you’ll learn how to create original ideas that will improve your personal life and your business life. Michalko’s techniques show you how to look at the same information as everyone else and see something different.  With hundreds of hints, tricks, tips, tales, and puzzles, Thinkertoys will open your mind to a world of innovative solutions to everyday and not-so-everyday problems.

    For Catherine Anderson, it's just the beginning. In a wide array of projects using techniques from Photoshop to needle and thread, she shows beginner and experienced photographers alike how to turn their pictures into handmade objects of art-from books and collages to customized greeting cards.

    But what about the elements that make up a picture? Using the tale of Little Red Riding Hood as an example, Molly Bang uses boldly graphic artwork to explain how images -- and their individual components -- work to tell a story that engages the emotions: Why are diagonals dramatic? Why are curves calming? Why does red feel hot and blue feel cold?

    Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder

    That’s the message from Austin Kleon, a young writer and artist who knows that creativity is everywhere, creativity is for everyone. A manifesto for the digital age, Steal Like an Artist is a guide whose positive message, graphic look and illustrations, exercises, and examples will put readers directly in touch with their artistic side.