soledad penadés

I don't even know why I bought this book. It had been praised by some blogger I trusted, I think, and I had been finding it in every design bookshop I visited for a while, so I thought that maybe that was a signal I had to buy it.

It actually makes for a very good lightweight non compromising read. Little capsules of thoughts you can read in a couple of minutes and then life goes on. So it was good for reading a little bit, maybe meditating on the idea for a while, then falling asleep like a log.

There are a few interesting thoughts or "inspirational stuff" on the book, but I don't think I'll be revisiting it often as I do with other books. The design isn't particularly appealing to me, and it feels a little bit like an egotrip for George, but I guess the whole point it to be cheeky and provocative, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Some of the interesting ideas:

• creativity should communicate in a nanosecond
• But always remember, you're trying to sell something. So ask for the sale!
• Reject group grope
• Make your presence felt
• Always do three things when presenting a Big Idea: 1) tell them what they're going to see 2) show it to them 3) tell them, dramatically, what they just saw
• Never, ever, work for bad people
• Never eat shit
• If you think people are dumb, you'll spend a lifetime doing dumb work
• 80% of life is showing up -- make things happen!
• Any great creative idea should stun momentarily -- it should seem to be outrageous
• or, what the hell, be totally outrageous
• inspire breakthrough creative thinking - go to the museums!
• crave immortality (what you leave behind when you're dead)
• Speak up, goddammit! (but if you're afraid to speak up, maybe it's not worth saying)
• Energy begets energy
• Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are 50 years old
• Extoll your mentors