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The Shape of Ideas: An Illustrated Exploration of Creativity

Grant Snider

What does an idea look like? And where do they come from? Grant Snider’s illustrations will motivate you to explore these questions, inspire you to come up with your own answers and, like all Gordian knots, prompt even more questions. Whether you are a professional artist or designer, a student pursuing a creative career, a person of faith, someone who likes walks on the beach, or a dreamer who sits on the front porch contemplating life, this collection of one- and two-page comics will provide insight into the joys and frustrations of creativity, inspiration, and process—no matter your age or creative background. Also Available: The Shape of Ideas 2018 Wall Calendar (ISBN: 978-1-4197-2456-5)  

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Pictures in the Post: The Illustrated Letters of Sir Henry Thornhill to His Grandchildren

Foreword by HRH The Princess Royal GCVO (Princess Anne). Color illustrations throughout. From dust jacket flap: "In 1914 Sir Henry Thornhill, a distinguished soldier-administrator of the British Raj in India, started sending illustrated cards to his two-year-old grandson, Teddy. The pictures featured the adventures of a number of animals, principally Mr. Hare and an elephant called Hathi. Sir Henry continued to write once a week, not only to Teddy but also in turn to his three young sisters, Margaret, Elizabeth and Ann. As each child became five, the picture cards became letters written in bold capitals and colourfully embellished with drawings of birds and animals, insects and fishes, as well as all manner of new inventions from the great era of pioneering technology that followed World War One. ... a touching record of a grandfather's close relationship with his grandchildren....the letters rank in the very best English tradition of adult whimsy for the young...which will delight readers of all ages for many years to come."

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ART: AN INTRODUCTION TO APPRECIATION (ART AND LIFE SERIES)

Raymond Coxon

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The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Nov 30 2010)

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Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace

Joseph M. Williams

There is more to writing than simply obeying a list of rules. In this extensively revised fifth edition of "Style," Joseph Williams presents principles of writing in a new format designed to help writers diagnose problems with their prose quickly and revise it effectively. Divided into three parts-- "Style as Choice, Clarity, and Grace" --the text includes new principles of effective prose, boxed summaries for quick and easy review, and group exercises that encourage students to work and learn together. Williams encourages writers to use their writing not only as a tool to identify and solve problems but also as a method to explore their own thinking. In particular, writers learn how to use the revision process both to anticipate their readers' reactions and to understand better their own intended meaning.

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Ideas and Opinions (Condor Books)

Albert Einstein

IDEAS AND OPINIONS contains essays by eminent scientist Albert Einstein on subjects ranging from atomic energy, relativity, and religion to human rights, government, and economics. Previously published articles, speeches, and letters are gathered here to create a fascinating collection of meditations by one of the world's greatest minds.

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Rework: Change The Way You Work Forever

Jason Fried

From the founders of the trailblazing software company 37signals, here is a different kind of business book - one that explores a new reality. Today, anyone can be in business. Tools that used to be out of reach are now easily accessible. Technology that cost thousands is now just a few pounds or even free. Stuff that was impossible just a few years ago is now simple. That means anyone can start a business. And you can do it without working miserable 80-hour weeks or depleting your life savings. You can start it on the side while your day job provides all the cash flow you need. Forget about business plans, meetings, office space - you don't need them. With its straightforward language and easy-is-better approach, Rework is the perfect playbook for anyone who's ever dreamed of doing it on their own. Hardcore entrepreneurs, small-business owners, people stuck in day jobs who want to get out, and artists who don't want to starve anymore will all find valuable inspiration and guidance in these pages. It's time to rework work.

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What I Talk about When I Talk about Running: A Memoir

Haruki Murakami

In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later, he'd completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and on his writing. Equal parts travelogue, training log, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and settings ranging from Tokyo's Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston. By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, this is a must-read for fans of this masterful yet private writer as well as for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in distance running.

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Everyday Matters

Danny Gregory

In the tradition of Persepolis, In the Shadow of No Towers, and Our Cancer Year, an illustrated memoir of remarkable depth, power, and beauty Danny Gregory and his wife, Patti, hadn't been married long. Their baby, Jack, was ten months old; life was pretty swell. And then Patti fell under a subway train and was paralyzed from the waist down. In a world where nothing seemed to have much meaning, Danny decided to teach himself to draw, and what he learned stunned him. Suddenly things had color again, and value. The result is Everyday Matters, his journal of discovery, recovery, and daily life in New York City. It is as funny, insightful, and surprising as life itself.

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Life and Work of George Studdy, Bonzo

Paul Babb

Story of Studdy, a gifted artist and illustrator and Bonzo, the dog character he created.

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On Reading, Writing and Living with Books (The London Library)

The London Library is the world's largest independent library. Founded in 1841 by Thomas Carlyle (in reaction to the "museum headache" brought on by the crowds in the British Museum Reading Room), it has become a haven for readers, writers and all who draw strength, solace or inspiration from the presence of books. Some of the most illustrious figures of the last two centuries have written, thought and walked there: George Eliot, Charles Dickens, E.M. Forster, Virginia Woolf and many more were members.

And over time, some of these celebrated members have shared--with each other, or with an interested public--their views on the delights, challenges and joys of reading, writing and living with books.

The books in "Found on the Shelves" have been chosen to give a fascinating insight into the treasures that can be found while browsing in The London Library. Now celebrating its 175th anniversary, with over seventeen miles of shelving and more than a million books, The London Library has become an unrivalled archive of the modes, manners and thoughts of each generation which has helped to form it.

From essays on dieting in the 1860s to instructions for gentlewomen on trout-fishing, from advice on the ill health caused by the "modern" craze of bicycling to travelogues from Norway, they are as readable and relevant today as they were more than a century ago.

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Episodes with Wayne Thiebaud

In Episodes with Wayne Thiebaud, Eve Aschheim and Chris Daubert interview Wayne Thiebaud in four extensive conversations in his studio. Thiebaud, known for his iconic paintings of cakes, pies and counter displays, is one of the last living painters of the Pop era. Staunchly maintaining his independence from that group and others, he went on to develop vertiginous cityscapes, deeply abstracted rural landscapes and, most recently, monolithic mountains. In these extended conversations, conducted between 2009 and 2011, Thiebaud reveals himself to be extremely well read, articulate, humorous, self-deprecating and opinionated. Covering a wide range of topics, he discusses his early years in New York, where he became friends with Willem and Elaine de Kooning and hung out at the Cedar Tavern; his return to California; the many influences on his work (Krazy Kat, Persian miniatures, de Kooning, Diebenkorn, Hopper, Balthus, de Chirico); his working methods and thoughts on painting; and his advice to young artists.

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Man Who Was H.M. Bateman

Anthony Anderson

Book by Anderson, Anthony

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Probably Nothing: A Diary of Not-Your-Average Nine Months

Matilda Tristram

Probably Nothing by Matilda Tristram - a moving, funny and inspiring graphic memoir by a woman who discovered she had cancer whilst she was pregnant 'This deeply personal memoir, written as a graphic novel is one of the most darkly funny, bittersweet and moving cartoons you will ever come across (and that includes the hunting scene in Bambi). It also has (spoiler alert) one hell of a happy ending. Add it to your basket now' Stylist At 31, Matilda Tristram was 17 weeks pregnant and looking forward to having her first baby. Then she discovered she had bowel cancer. This touching and hilarious graphic memoir, which is never morose or self-pitying, starts at the moment Matilda was diagnosed and ends when her course of chemotherapy finishes in October 2013. Recording the awkward conversations, the highs and lows of treatment, the mixed blessings of receiving 'Get Well' cards, and the reality of still having to queue too long for croissants, Matilda captures her experiences with style and warmth. Along the way she learns to cherish the small details of life. Her beautiful and boisterous son was born without complications and is reliably keeping her up most nights. Charming, witty and uplifting - this unique and beautifully illustrated book will leave you cherishing the good things in life, and ready to face your own challenges. Will be enjoyed by readers of The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil by Stephen Collins, Fun Home by Alison Bechdel and Building Stories by Chris Ware. 'A beautiful account ... Apart from how funny Tristram's comic is, it's hard to pinpoint what makes it so magnetic ... the honesty makes you feel, as a reader, like a companion on her journey' Zoe Williams, Guardian Matilda Tristram studied animation at the Royal College of Art, graduating in 2008. Since then she has worked as a children's writer, lecturer and filmmaker. She was co-writer on two animated BBC TV shows for CBeebies with Ragdoll Productions, The Adventures of Abney and Teal and Dipdap. Dipdap won a BAFTA in the short from category. Her short films have screened at over 30 festivals internationally.

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Abstract City

Christoph Niemann

In July 2008, illustrator and designer Christoph Niemann began Abstract City, a visual blog for the New York Times. His posts were inspired by the desire to re-create simple and everyday observations and stories from his own life that everyone could relate to. In Niemann’s hands, mundane experiences such as riding the subway or trying to get a good night’s sleep were transformed into delightful flights of visual fancy. The struggle to keep up with housework became a battle against adorable but crafty goblins, and nostalgia about New York manifested in simple but strikingly spot-on LEGO creations. This brilliantly illustrated collection of reflections on modern life includes all 16 of the original blog posts as well as a new chapter created exclusively for the book. Also available from Christoph Niemann: Sunday Sketching and I LEGO N.Y. Praise for Abstract City: “Everyday experiences—from looking at leaves to riding city subways—are funny and fresh and often a source of wonder when depicted by this brilliant graphic designer.” —Readers Digest “I will call Christoph when anything awful happens to me. And he will make me laugh like crazy about the whole thing. Because he is insanely funny and completely tenderly true. I love every column he did and will do.” —Maira Kalman, author/illustrator of And the Pursuit of Happiness “Christoph Niemann is the best illustrator alive. Every single time I come across a piece of his work, which is often as he either works all the time, or worse, draws incredibly fast, it is wonderful. While the rest of us are lucky to get a proper piece out here and there, Christoph produces hit after hit after hit. If he wasn’t such a genuinely sweet man, we’d surely hate his ass a lot.” —Stefan Sagmeister, author of Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far “Few books have more probingly and humorously gotten inside the mind and day-to-day experience of an artist.” —NPR.org "What’s terrifying (to me, certainly, and possibly to many of his peers) is that nearly every idea he has seems to be equally well formed . . . once again, performing neat, virtuosic circles around the rest of us, to our delight." —PRINT magazine "Irresistible." —Very Short List “A masterpiece of sophisticated humor, this is a brilliant one-of-a-kind work.” —Library Journal, starred review

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An Illustrated Life: Drawing Inspiration from the Private Sketchbooks of Artists, Illustrators and Designers

Danny Gregory

Find Insight and Inspiration for Your Creative Life

An artist's journal is packed with sketches and captions; some rough, some polished. The margins sometimes spill over with hurriedly scrawled shopping lists and phone numbers. The cover may be travel-worn and the pages warped from watercolors. Open the book, and raw creativity seeps from each color and line. The intimacy and freedom on its pages are almost like being inside the artist's mind: You get a direct window into risks, lessons, mistakes, and dreams.

The private worlds of these visual journals are exactly what you'll find inside An Illustrated Life. This book offers a sneak peak into the wildly creative imaginations of 50 top illustrators, designers and artists. Included are sketchbook pages from R. Crumb, Chris Ware, James Jean, James Kochalka, and many others. In addition, author Danny Gregory has interviewed each artist and shares their thoughts on living the artistic life through journaling.

Watch artists—through words and images—record the world they see and craft the world as they want it to be. The pages of An Illustrated Life are sometimes startling, sometimes endearing, but always inspiring. Whether you're an illustrator, designer, or simply someone searching for inspiration, these pages will open a whole new world to you.

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Arrival

Shaun Tan (author) Shaun Tan (author)

"Tan's lovingly laid out and masterfully rendered tale about the immigrant experience is a documentary magically told." -- Art Spiegelman, author of Maus "An absolute wonder." -- Marjane Satrapi, author of Persepolis "A magical river of strangers and their stories!" -- Craig Thompson, author of Blankets "A shockingly imaginative graphic novel that captures the sense of adventure and wonder that surrounds a new arrival on the shores of a shining new city. Wordless, but with perfect narrative flow, Tan gives us a story filled with cityscapes worthy of Winsor McCay." -- Jeff Smith, author of Bone "Shaun Tan's artwork creates a fantastical, hauntingly familiar atmosphere... Strange, moving, and beautiful." -- Jon J. Muth, Caldecott Medal-winning author of Zen Shorts "Bravo." -- Brian Selznick, Caldecott Medal-winning author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret "Magnificent." -- David Small, Caldecott Medalist