Best Creativity Books

Great books on design, animation, drawing and creativity to learn how to create projects that people will love.

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Creativity

In my business, I have to work a lot with graphics in many of its forms. This project is no exception. While working on Ocwoy I had to study and work on animation, graphic design, drawing, font creation, color theory and much more.

Here I’ve collected the most useful and best books on creativity and design that have had the greatest impact on my life and work.

If you like, you can use this page navigation:

  1. Design 101
  2. Design and Creativity
  3. Creativity Training
  4. Animation
  5. Drawing
  6. Fonts and Typography

Best Creativity Books

So here’s a list of the best creativity books I’ve read that help me create my projects. I hope these books will help you too.

Design 101

Editing by Design: The Classic Guide to Word-and-Picture Communication for Art Directors, Editors, Designers, and Students

Jan V. White

eBook | Print 

Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

Krug Steve

eBook | Print

Universal Principles of Design

William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, Jill Butler

eBook | Print 

Universal Principles of UX: 100 Timeless Strategies to Create Positive Interactions between People and Technology

Irene Pereyra

eBook | Print

Graphic Design for Beginners

Anita Nipane

eBook | Print 

Universal Methods of Design

Bruce Hanington, Bella Martin

eBook | Print 

Introduction to Design Thinking for UX Beginners

Uijun Park

eBook | Print 

Design and Creativity

The Design Of Everyday Things

Don Norman

eBook | Print | Audiobook

Non-Designer’s Design Book

Robin Williams

Print 

Graphic Design: The New Basics

Ellen Lupton, Jennifer Cole Phillips

eBook | Print 

Actionable Gamification: Beyond Points, Badges, and Leaderboards

Yu-kai Chou

eBook | Print | Audiobook

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative

Austin Kleon

eBook | Print | Audiobook

Made by James: The Honest Guide to Creativity and Logo Design

James Martin

eBook | Print 

Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Field

Helen Armstrong

eBook | Print 

Design Of The Times

Lakshmi Bhaskaran

Print 

The War of Art

Steven Pressfield

eBook | Print | Audiobook

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know

Adam Grant

eBook | Print | Audiobook

Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity

Keith Sawyer

eBook | Print 

Creativity Training

Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques

Michael Michalko

eBook | Print | Audiobook

And Suddenly the Inventor Appeared: TRIZ: Theory of Inventive Problem Solving

Genrikh Altshuller

eBook | Print 

Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills

David Sherwin

eBook | Print 

Continuous Discovery Habits

Teresa Torres

eBook | Print | Audiobook

One Plus One Equals Three: A Masterclass in Creative Thinking

Dave Trott

eBook | Print 

Creative Thinking: Be Creative – Now!

Steve Rawling

eBook | Print 

Exercises in Style

Raymond Queneau

eBook | Print 

Six Thinking Hats

Edward de Bono

eBook | Print | Audiobook

Animation

The Animator’s Survival Kit

Richard E. Williams

Print 

The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation

Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas

Print 

Cartoon Animation with Preston Blair

Preston Blair

eBook | Print

Sketching for Animation

Peter Parr

eBook | Print

Simplified Drawing for Planning Animation

Wayne Gilbert

eBook | Print

Drawing

How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way

Stan Lee

Print 

Dare to Sketch: A Guide to Drawing on the Go

Felix Scheinberger

Print 

Artists’ Master Series: Color and Light

3dtotal

eBook | Print 

You Can Draw in 30 Days

Mark Kistler

eBook | Print 

Sketch Every Day: 100+ simple drawing exercises

Simone Grünewald

Print 

Fonts and Typography

Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Type

Kimberly Elam

eBook | Print 

The Complete Manual of Typography

James Felici

Print 

Designing with Type

James Craig, Irene Korol Scala

eBook | Print 

Type on Screen: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Developers, and Students

Ellen Lupton

eBook | Print 

«Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else ever thought»

— Albert Einstein

What to Read Next

In addition to these books, you can find more of my book recommendations below, divided into separate categories.

Recommendations

Here are some recommendations to help you be more productive, be happier, make more money, and learn faster.

Books

Breakthrough Rapid Reading. Peter Kump

How to Read a Book. Mortimer J. Adler

Speed Reading. Kam Knight

Articles & Posts

Speed Reading: How to Read Faster and Understand More

Maximize Productivity: 5 Powerful Time Management Principles

Useful Tools

EarthFM - High-quality nature sounds that can be turned on while you work to help increase your focus and concentration.

Pomofocus - Simple Pomodoro timer for focused work.

Book Summaries

The Productivity Project

Deep Work

In Search of Excellence

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