FX.co ★ Five amazing books on creative thinking

In the turbulent information flow of the modern world, it is not static "encyclopedic" knowledge that comes to the fore but the skills to quickly extract the necessary information and generate effective solutions for a specific situation. The current trend in business is a continuous process of personal growth and creative search, attempts to predict or “create” the future. We have selected for you some amazing books that will help you develop creative thinking and perception of the world.

1. Austin Kleon "Steal Like An Artist"

Austin Kleon is an artist and author of original creative manuals translated into 12 languages of the world. He conducts lectures and developmental seminars in companies such as Google, Pixar, SXSW, TEDx, etc. His bold and extraordinary view of creativity can inspire anyone to create their own works.

The book convincingly proves that it is not necessary to be an outstanding genius to creat art, it is enough just to go your own way. The artist shares tips that he would like to hear at the beginning of his career. Austin claims that a person takes 90% of ideas from the outside world and only the remaining 10% comes from the inside. At the same time, even when we copy, we inevitably create something unique, deeply individual. This is a manifesto of a modern artist, simple and understandable.

2. Michael Michalko "Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques"

Michael Michalko is a world expert on creativity who became famous for his books: Cracking creativity, Creative thinkering, etc. He is deeply convinced that mood affects the ability to create, while the right ideas help people find a positive attitude. Thus, positive thinking acts as a catalyst for new ideas.

Thinkertoys will teach you to generate original ideas. Like the butterfly catcher, Michael Michalko calls for new ideas to be caught right out of the air. In addition, the reader is offered many interesting puzzles and exercises that train thinking and imagination to reach a new qualitative level of perception of the world around.

3. Marty Neumeier "The 46 rules of genius: An innovator's guide to creativity"

Marty Neumeier is an entrepreneur, designer, editor, speaker, and author of books. He currently works as a development director at Liquid Agency, an agency that launches and updates brands and shapes consumer perceptions. Its customers are PayPal, HP, Nike, Facebook, Motorola, Walmart and many Silicon Valley companies.

An innovator's guide to creativity is a practical guide, a set of 46 rules that will make a responsible reader if not a genius then a creative thinking person. It is designed not so much for dreamers and artists, as for those who want to bring their ideas to life.

4. The Brothers McLeod "A Book of Brilliant Ideas: And How to Have Them"

Greg MacLeod is an illustrator and animator, Greg Miles MacLeod is a screenwriter. Together they wrote many scripts, produced and created a large number of short films, animations for television, games and the Internet. They cooperated with BBC, Hit, Disney, ITV, Channel 4 and many other studios around the world.

A Book of Brilliant Ideas will not let you relax, because it contains a lot of fascinating and amusing exercises, from drawing bizarre creatures to creating your own universe living according to incredible laws. All this will be accompanied by recommendations, ideas, and examples from the MacLeod brothers, which will help a beginning creator.

5. Mike Rohde "The Sketchnote Handbook: The Illustrated Guide to Visual Note Taking"

Mike Rohde is a designer, illustrator of the bestseller books like The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau and Rework by Jason Fried. He conducts workshops on teaching visual thinking and using it to generate new ideas.

His book has been translated into Russian, Chinese, German and Czech, and has already managed to teach many people to use sketches in everyday life.

The Sketchnote Handbook: The Illustrated Guide to Visual Note Taking is an illustrated guide to creating sketches. The book teaches how to create sketches, explains why they are needed, and how they help to remember information. The material is presented in the form of step-by-step instructions, which greatly simplifies learning a useful skill.