Your Idea Starts Here

2016 Silver Nautilus Award Winner for Creative Process With change happening faster and faster in our tech-ruled world, being able to think creatively, flexibly, and quickly is more important than ever. In Your Idea Starts Here, graphic designer Carolyn Eckert offers 77 specific questions, techniques, and exercises cleverly combined with fascinating infographics and other visuals to jump-start creative thinking. Don t know what you want your project to be? Make a list of things you don t want it to be. Wondering where to start? Say one word that relates to your idea and invite a friend to say another word that relates to yours. See where five or ten rounds take you. Work within a time limit, look in unexpected places, think tiny, do the opposite, shuffle your papers, and explore your creativity to the fullest! There s something here to inspire and strengthen every smart idea, all in an innovative little book that makes a perfect gift for anyone, including yourself.

“"Gets the ideas flowing and helps you see the familiar in the unusual and the unusual in the familiar. Carolyn Eckert electrifies that little lightbulb over your head." -- Don Hahn, producer of The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast and author of Brain Storm: Unleashing Your Creative Self "Everybody has a hidden genius, and this book is a way to find it." -- Amy Maclin, Executive Editor, O magazine "To tell someone how to be creative may seem counterintuitive to the very practice of creativity itself. But this book proves that the opposite is true: Eckert's visual and verbal prompts are lively, unexpected, and inspiring, offering a fascinating prismatic lens on what it means to seek -- and find -- the essence of a new idea." -- Jessica Helfand, Design Observer "Compelling storytelling blends with outstanding visuals, creating a manual for creativity as captivating as it is beautiful." -- David Burkus, author of The Myths of Creativity and Under New Management "This book provides the inspirational support you need to stay motivated." -- Professor Franz Werner, Rhode Island School of Design "Inspiration delivered as visual dessert, this artful book is layered with graphic illustrations, photographs, and stories that encourage and embolden creative expression." -- Judy Bell, CEO of Energetic Retail and author of Silent Selling”

"Gets the ideas flowing and helps you see the familiar in the unusual and the unusual in the familiar. Carolyn Eckert electrifies that little lightbulb over your head."
-- Don Hahn, producer of The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast and author of Brain Storm: Unleashing Your Creative Self

"Everybody has a hidden genius, and this book is a way to find it."
-- Amy Maclin, Executive Editor, O magazine

"To tell someone how to be creative may seem counterintuitive to the very practice of creativity itself. But this book proves that the opposite is true: Eckert's visual and verbal prompts are lively, unexpected, and inspiring, offering a fascinating prismatic lens on what it means to seek -- and find -- the essence of a new idea."
-- Jessica Helfand, Design Observer

"Compelling storytelling blends with outstanding visuals, creating a manual for creativity as captivating as it is beautiful."
-- David Burkus, author of The Myths of Creativity and Under New Management

"This book provides the inspirational support you need to stay motivated."
-- Professor Franz Werner, Rhode Island School of Design

"Inspiration delivered as visual dessert, this artful book is layered with graphic illustrations, photographs, and stories that encourage and embolden creative expression."
-- Judy Bell, CEO of Energetic Retail and author of Silent Selling

Carolyn Eckert is an art director with more than 20 years experience designing books, magazines, logos, advertisements, and telephone operating systems. A BFA graduate of The Rhode Island School of Design, she s trained numerous graphic designers and has been a design consultant for classes at Smith College, Amherst College, and the Radcliffe Publishing Course. She lives and works in western Massachusetts.

Get Unstuck You can be an inventive problem solver. Jump-start the process with the stimulating prompts and inspired graphics collected by veteran designer and mentor Carolyn Eckert. Think like an innovator. Envision creative solutions. Develop ideas to their fullest potential.

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