Creative Sparks : An Index of 150+ Concepts, Images and Exercises to Ignite Your Design Ingenuity

by Jim Krause

The author has put together a collection of thought-provoking concepts, suggestions, anecdotes and exercises to stimulate the creative, innovative thinking that designers need in order to do their job well. He focuses not only on cleverely designed creativity tips and anecdotes, but also on practical advice and idea starters.

Genres: Design, Art, Nonfiction, Self Help, Reference

Hardcover

First published August 11, 2003

About the author

Jim Krause has worked as a designer in the Pacific Northwest since the 1980s. He has produced award-winning work for clients large and small, including Microsoft, McDonald's, Kodak, Cingular Wireless, Washington Apples, Levi Strauss, Paccar/Kenworth, and Seattle Public Schools. Jim Krause has written over 15 books on design, creativity, and digital photography. His books are widely popular and are on sale around the world. Several have been translated into multiple languages.
Krause's latest books are Color Index XL, Lessons in Typography, Visual Design and Color For Designers.
When Jim isn't working on books, he can usually be found riding or racing either a motorcycle or a bicycle, hiking, reading, roasting coffee beans in his back yard, drinking espresso, or doing an art project of some kind or another.

Reviews

[Ilana (illi69) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coming up

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I purchased it, I was not aware that it is aimed for the commercial artist. As a person who likes to dabble in art-like adventures, it appealed to me... I took a lot of notes on the Life Practices sections and also the Projects and exercises sections... Since I don’t do art as a business, I will pass this little tome on to someone who might make daily use of it... it is a gem of a resource. It was also fun reading about some of the challenges of being a commercial artist.

[Natty Peterkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great advise and exercises- the only reason I didn't give this 5 stars is that the actual graphic design of the book isn't the best (ironically!)

[Katie]

A good quick-start guide and stimulus for practice.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely not the kind of book you would pick up and "read", but it's great to pick up every now and then and get some ideas. I mainly stick to photography, but sometimes you really need to break out of your mold and experiment with other forms of art...and Creative Sparks really helps you find something different to do!

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like graphic design and/or anything creative, this is a fun book to use for gathering new ideas.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good ideas to chase away art block.