Yo. Some quick fast recommendations for y’all by people in my industry who I respect SO MUCH. Now that I’m working on the book I am buying/devouring more and more design/art books, with wonder if mine will ever come out (it will, there is a contract, fall, 2015, folks it just feels sooooo far away) and when it does, if it will be good. I thought my summer was going to be kinda relaxing but I have a feeling that i’ll be obsessing about every shot in this book. Its kinda like why even do it if you don’t make it REALLY good, right? It’s just wasted effort if its mediocre.
So this is my official ‘Nice job guys, you done good’ post.
Creative Block by Danielle Krysa of The Jealous Curator. I shocked how much I love this book considering I’m not an artist. Creative blocks come in so many different forms, for not just artists and designers and in this book Danielle Krysa asked 50 of her favorite artists how they deal with that. It’s not wordy, it’s not full of essays, just real life quick stories and advise of how they get over the natural, yet dreaded and often soul sucking, creative block. Plus Danielle is one of the nicest, most lovely to be around people on the planet.
Bright Bazaar by Will Taylor of Bright Bazaar Blog. Who doesn’t love Will Taylor. I missed his signings here last week since i was in New York, but I’ve always been a fan of his blog and his style. Its full of color, fun and whimsy, without being cheesy or too young. This book is full of a ton of great snippets of design advise that is approachable without being cheap.
Decorate with flowers by Holly Becker of Decor8. It’s a book full of beautiful houses with beautiful flowers so whats not to love? My old house is in it, so is DesignLoveFest and SFGirlbybay’s. I just got it last week and haven’t had a chance to read it but those pictures sure are nice.
Whatever you are be a good one by Lisa Congdon. I just purchased this but haven’t gotten it yet, but I’ve been a huge fan of Lisa for years and pretty much love anything she does. So I’m very excited to get this book.
Also as a general note – if you guys buy these on Amazon (which I do) and you like the book, go ahead and rate them 5 stars. I guess this is strangely important to their searchability or something. None of the authors asked me to say that or even told me about that, I’ve just heard it a few times so I wanted to throw that out there.
Am I missing any great new design books? Oh WAIT, I LOVE the new Remodelista book, too. Any others?