![Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential within Us All [By TK]-[Paperback]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41nlRmzSpbL._AC_UL160_SR160,160_.jpg)
Creative Confidence by Tom Kelly & David Kelly
Score: 6.5/10
Amount of Content 5/10
Value of Content (Usefulness) 7/10
Originality of Content 7/10
Relevance of Content (To a Product Designer) 8/10
Entertainment Level 6/10
Length of Read 6/10
Inspiration 7/10
I’m sitting at gate F10 at the Saint Paul Minneapolis International airport en route to the Los Angeles International Airport. I just finished reading Creative Confidence, by David and Tom Kelly while on my last flight and figured, I should write a book review. The industrial designers out there are likely familiar with David and Tom Kelly, who are known for starting the near-legendary design firm IDEO as well as the Stanford D.School. David and Tom Kelly are brothers as well as respected authorities and advocates of design and innovation.
Creative Confidence is all about exposing the creative potential within all of us. It leaves behind conventional ideas like ‘only artists are creative’ and ‘creativity isn’t for corporate settings’. This book first establishes why and how we all have creativity within and then explains what can happen when that creativity is harnessed and utilized. The authors then explain how to tap into our creativity and share exercises to train our creative muscles.
This book is not written for or to designers, rather to anyone who is employed and wishes to solve meaningful problems with break-through discoveries as a result of creative confidence.
Amount of Content
At 256 pages, this book is neither short nor long. It’s a standard paperback book (roughly 8.5” tall and 5.5” wide). The book is broken into 8 chapters, each of which dives into either a different aspect of creative confidence or a different setting or implementation of creative confidence. There are a few illustrations and some artwork on new chapter pages, but the book is primarily all written copy. I scored it 5/10 because as mentioned before, it didn’t seem terribly full of information, but it certainly wasn’t sparse.
Value of Content
It’s hard to judge a book’s value without actually trying to implement all of the authors’ suggestions and measuring the outcomes. I will say that I perceive the value of this book to be pretty high. This is why I scored it a 7/10. This books is more about big ideas and concepts and the large impacts these ideas have on those who implement them. For example, there are many instances when talented but unfulfilled people found tremendous success and purpose after making drastic career changes thanks to their experiences with finding their creative confidence. There is evidence to support that when a creative and innovative, collaborative approach to problem-solving is set into motion, great things happen in businesses both large and small. David and Tom give plenty of examples in which this happened.
I believe the value to be there but it’s entirely based upon the situation of the individual and how he or she chooses to implement the ideas throughout this book. For those who are familiar with many concepts in this book, the anecdotes and examples are great reminders of what happens when we (designers) practice what we preach.
Originality of Content
Creative Confidence earns a 7/10 for originality. I haven’t read many books that highlight the importance of creative confidence. Furthermore, the success stories highlighted throughout are pretty monumental. To read about real-world results of what IDEO founders believe and teach is a unique piece of insight many designers hunger for. And to those not labeled as a creative professional, I think the ideas in Creative Confidence are big, yet simple enough to grasp to be impactful.
Relevance of Content
This book scores an 8/10 for relevance, specifically to a product designer. There were plenty of principals I was previously familiar with thanks to my formal industrial design education. Since I was fortunate enough to attend a very successful art and design college, I’d learned about the methods highlighted by David and Tom’s book. Since I’ve worked as a professional for the past 4 years since then, I’ve noticed how easy it is to shrug off the habits and skills learned in school while on the job. This book serves as a good reminder and brought me back to thinking about innovation and creativity on a rudimentary level.
Entertainment
Unfortunately, this is where Creative Confidence scored the lowest for me. A 6/10 isn’t bad. It’s not a ‘D’ like a 60% is in school. In this case, it means I felt neutral about it. I wasn’t terribly entertained, but I wasn’t bored with it either. The strongest part of the book was the introduction when David’s experience with cancer brought a sobering sense of clarity to the Kelly brothers’ mission and purpose, which in part, fueled the writing of this book.
Length of Read
Creative Confidence gets a 6/10 for length. The longer it takes me to read a book, the higher it scores in this category. This book is a pretty quick read. I did however put it down for a couple of weeks. I blame the break on it not being as entertaining as it could have been. However, when I did pick it back up, I read large chunks of it quite quickly. I estimate my total time reading this book to be around 6 or 7 hours maximum.
Inspiration
7/10 for inspiration. This is due to the concrete and simple stories supplied by the authors that prove the power of unleashing and harnessing creative confidence. It’s not an abstract phenomena that needs to be ‘willed into existence’, but a tool that’s both fun and challenging to use. I felt inspired to examine and write about numerous ideas as they struck me during my reading of Creative Confidence.
Final Thoughts
Creative Confidence isn’t for designers, but everyone who wants to learn to think differently and gain an edge over their old way of problem solving or their competition if they’re in a business setting. The authors are no-nonsense creatives who understand the psychology of collaboration and groups in a professional environment and make the benefits of having creative confidence clear. A student in any design discipline or young professional will likely feel inspired to challenge the status quo and workplace conventions after reading this book. Anyone in a managerial role will likely find a nugget or two of useful approaches to the challenges they regularly face.
The Verdict
Buy and read it.
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Flip to back Flip to front
Follow the Authors
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
| Price | New from | Used from |
|
Audible Audiobook, Unabridged
"Please retry" |
$0.00
| Free with your Audible trial | |
Frequently bought together
- +
- +
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Creative Confidence by Tom Kelly & David KellyScore: 6.5/10Amount of Content 5/10Value of Content (Usefulness) 7/10Originality of Content 7/10Relevance of Content (To a Product Designer) 8/10Entertainment Level 6/10Length of Read 6/10Inspiration 7/10I’m sitting at gate F10 at the Saint Paul Minneapolis International airport en route to the Los Angeles International Airport. I just finished reading Creative Confidence, by David and Tom Kelly while on my last flight and figured, I should write a book review. The industrial designers out there are likely familiar with David and Tom Kelly, who are known for starting the near-legendary design firm IDEO as well as the Stanford D.School. David and Tom Kelly are brothers as well as respected authorities and advocates of design and innovation.Creative Confidence is all about exposing the creative potential within all of us. It leaves behind conventional ideas like ‘only artists are creative’ and ‘creativity isn’t for corporate settings’. This book first establishes why and how we all have creativity within and then explains what can happen when that creativity is harnessed and utilized. The authors then explain how to tap into our creativity and share exercises to train our creative muscles.This book is not written for or to designers, rather to anyone who is employed and wishes to solve meaningful problems with break-through discoveries as a result of creative confidence.Amount of ContentAt 256 pages, this book is neither short nor long. It’s a standard paperback book (roughly 8.5” tall and 5.5” wide). The book is broken into 8 chapters, each of which dives into either a different aspect of creative confidence or a different setting or implementation of creative confidence. There are a few illustrations and some artwork on new chapter pages, but the book is primarily all written copy. I scored it 5/10 because as mentioned before, it didn’t seem terribly full of information, but it certainly wasn’t sparse.Value of ContentIt’s hard to judge a book’s value without actually trying to implement all of the authors’ suggestions and measuring the outcomes. I will say that I perceive the value of this book to be pretty high. This is why I scored it a 7/10. This books is more about big ideas and concepts and the large impacts these ideas have on those who implement them. For example, there are many instances when talented but unfulfilled people found tremendous success and purpose after making drastic career changes thanks to their experiences with finding their creative confidence. There is evidence to support that when a creative and innovative, collaborative approach to problem-solving is set into motion, great things happen in businesses both large and small. David and Tom give plenty of examples in which this happened.I believe the value to be there but it’s entirely based upon the situation of the individual and how he or she chooses to implement the ideas throughout this book. For those who are familiar with many concepts in this book, the anecdotes and examples are great reminders of what happens when we (designers) practice what we preach.Originality of ContentCreative Confidence earns a 7/10 for originality. I haven’t read many books that highlight the importance of creative confidence. Furthermore, the success stories highlighted throughout are pretty monumental. To read about real-world results of what IDEO founders believe and teach is a unique piece of insight many designers hunger for. And to those not labeled as a creative professional, I think the ideas in Creative Confidence are big, yet simple enough to grasp to be impactful.Relevance of ContentThis book scores an 8/10 for relevance, specifically to a product designer. There were plenty of principals I was previously familiar with thanks to my formal industrial design education. Since I was fortunate enough to attend a very successful art and design college, I’d learned about the methods highlighted by David and Tom’s book. Since I’ve worked as a professional for the past 4 years since then, I’ve noticed how easy it is to shrug off the habits and skills learned in school while on the job. This book serves as a good reminder and brought me back to thinking about innovation and creativity on a rudimentary level.EntertainmentUnfortunately, this is where Creative Confidence scored the lowest for me. A 6/10 isn’t bad. It’s not a ‘D’ like a 60% is in school. In this case, it means I felt neutral about it. I wasn’t terribly entertained, but I wasn’t bored with it either. The strongest part of the book was the introduction when David’s experience with cancer brought a sobering sense of clarity to the Kelly brothers’ mission and purpose, which in part, fueled the writing of this book.Length of ReadCreative Confidence gets a 6/10 for length. The longer it takes me to read a book, the higher it scores in this category. This book is a pretty quick read. I did however put it down for a couple of weeks. I blame the break on it not being as entertaining as it could have been. However, when I did pick it back up, I read large chunks of it quite quickly. I estimate my total time reading this book to be around 6 or 7 hours maximum.Inspiration7/10 for inspiration. This is due to the concrete and simple stories supplied by the authors that prove the power of unleashing and harnessing creative confidence. It’s not an abstract phenomena that needs to be ‘willed into existence’, but a tool that’s both fun and challenging to use. I felt inspired to examine and write about numerous ideas as they struck me during my reading of Creative Confidence.Final ThoughtsCreative Confidence isn’t for designers, but everyone who wants to learn to think differently and gain an edge over their old way of problem solving or their competition if they’re in a business setting. The authors are no-nonsense creatives who understand the psychology of collaboration and groups in a professional environment and make the benefits of having creative confidence clear. A student in any design discipline or young professional will likely feel inspired to challenge the status quo and workplace conventions after reading this book. Anyone in a managerial role will likely find a nugget or two of useful approaches to the challenges they regularly face.The VerdictBuy and read it.
Images in this review
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 3, 2015
Creative Confidence by Tom Kelly & David Kelly
Score: 6.5/10
Amount of Content 5/10
Value of Content (Usefulness) 7/10
Originality of Content 7/10
Relevance of Content (To a Product Designer) 8/10
Entertainment Level 6/10
Length of Read 6/10
Inspiration 7/10
I’m sitting at gate F10 at the Saint Paul Minneapolis International airport en route to the Los Angeles International Airport. I just finished reading Creative Confidence, by David and Tom Kelly while on my last flight and figured, I should write a book review. The industrial designers out there are likely familiar with David and Tom Kelly, who are known for starting the near-legendary design firm IDEO as well as the Stanford D.School. David and Tom Kelly are brothers as well as respected authorities and advocates of design and innovation.
Creative Confidence is all about exposing the creative potential within all of us. It leaves behind conventional ideas like ‘only artists are creative’ and ‘creativity isn’t for corporate settings’. This book first establishes why and how we all have creativity within and then explains what can happen when that creativity is harnessed and utilized. The authors then explain how to tap into our creativity and share exercises to train our creative muscles.
This book is not written for or to designers, rather to anyone who is employed and wishes to solve meaningful problems with break-through discoveries as a result of creative confidence.
Amount of Content
At 256 pages, this book is neither short nor long. It’s a standard paperback book (roughly 8.5” tall and 5.5” wide). The book is broken into 8 chapters, each of which dives into either a different aspect of creative confidence or a different setting or implementation of creative confidence. There are a few illustrations and some artwork on new chapter pages, but the book is primarily all written copy. I scored it 5/10 because as mentioned before, it didn’t seem terribly full of information, but it certainly wasn’t sparse.
Value of Content
It’s hard to judge a book’s value without actually trying to implement all of the authors’ suggestions and measuring the outcomes. I will say that I perceive the value of this book to be pretty high. This is why I scored it a 7/10. This books is more about big ideas and concepts and the large impacts these ideas have on those who implement them. For example, there are many instances when talented but unfulfilled people found tremendous success and purpose after making drastic career changes thanks to their experiences with finding their creative confidence. There is evidence to support that when a creative and innovative, collaborative approach to problem-solving is set into motion, great things happen in businesses both large and small. David and Tom give plenty of examples in which this happened.
I believe the value to be there but it’s entirely based upon the situation of the individual and how he or she chooses to implement the ideas throughout this book. For those who are familiar with many concepts in this book, the anecdotes and examples are great reminders of what happens when we (designers) practice what we preach.
Originality of Content
Creative Confidence earns a 7/10 for originality. I haven’t read many books that highlight the importance of creative confidence. Furthermore, the success stories highlighted throughout are pretty monumental. To read about real-world results of what IDEO founders believe and teach is a unique piece of insight many designers hunger for. And to those not labeled as a creative professional, I think the ideas in Creative Confidence are big, yet simple enough to grasp to be impactful.
Relevance of Content
This book scores an 8/10 for relevance, specifically to a product designer. There were plenty of principals I was previously familiar with thanks to my formal industrial design education. Since I was fortunate enough to attend a very successful art and design college, I’d learned about the methods highlighted by David and Tom’s book. Since I’ve worked as a professional for the past 4 years since then, I’ve noticed how easy it is to shrug off the habits and skills learned in school while on the job. This book serves as a good reminder and brought me back to thinking about innovation and creativity on a rudimentary level.
Entertainment
Unfortunately, this is where Creative Confidence scored the lowest for me. A 6/10 isn’t bad. It’s not a ‘D’ like a 60% is in school. In this case, it means I felt neutral about it. I wasn’t terribly entertained, but I wasn’t bored with it either. The strongest part of the book was the introduction when David’s experience with cancer brought a sobering sense of clarity to the Kelly brothers’ mission and purpose, which in part, fueled the writing of this book.
Length of Read
Creative Confidence gets a 6/10 for length. The longer it takes me to read a book, the higher it scores in this category. This book is a pretty quick read. I did however put it down for a couple of weeks. I blame the break on it not being as entertaining as it could have been. However, when I did pick it back up, I read large chunks of it quite quickly. I estimate my total time reading this book to be around 6 or 7 hours maximum.
Inspiration
7/10 for inspiration. This is due to the concrete and simple stories supplied by the authors that prove the power of unleashing and harnessing creative confidence. It’s not an abstract phenomena that needs to be ‘willed into existence’, but a tool that’s both fun and challenging to use. I felt inspired to examine and write about numerous ideas as they struck me during my reading of Creative Confidence.
Final Thoughts
Creative Confidence isn’t for designers, but everyone who wants to learn to think differently and gain an edge over their old way of problem solving or their competition if they’re in a business setting. The authors are no-nonsense creatives who understand the psychology of collaboration and groups in a professional environment and make the benefits of having creative confidence clear. A student in any design discipline or young professional will likely feel inspired to challenge the status quo and workplace conventions after reading this book. Anyone in a managerial role will likely find a nugget or two of useful approaches to the challenges they regularly face.
The Verdict
Buy and read it.
Score: 6.5/10
Amount of Content 5/10
Value of Content (Usefulness) 7/10
Originality of Content 7/10
Relevance of Content (To a Product Designer) 8/10
Entertainment Level 6/10
Length of Read 6/10
Inspiration 7/10
I’m sitting at gate F10 at the Saint Paul Minneapolis International airport en route to the Los Angeles International Airport. I just finished reading Creative Confidence, by David and Tom Kelly while on my last flight and figured, I should write a book review. The industrial designers out there are likely familiar with David and Tom Kelly, who are known for starting the near-legendary design firm IDEO as well as the Stanford D.School. David and Tom Kelly are brothers as well as respected authorities and advocates of design and innovation.
Creative Confidence is all about exposing the creative potential within all of us. It leaves behind conventional ideas like ‘only artists are creative’ and ‘creativity isn’t for corporate settings’. This book first establishes why and how we all have creativity within and then explains what can happen when that creativity is harnessed and utilized. The authors then explain how to tap into our creativity and share exercises to train our creative muscles.
This book is not written for or to designers, rather to anyone who is employed and wishes to solve meaningful problems with break-through discoveries as a result of creative confidence.
Amount of Content
At 256 pages, this book is neither short nor long. It’s a standard paperback book (roughly 8.5” tall and 5.5” wide). The book is broken into 8 chapters, each of which dives into either a different aspect of creative confidence or a different setting or implementation of creative confidence. There are a few illustrations and some artwork on new chapter pages, but the book is primarily all written copy. I scored it 5/10 because as mentioned before, it didn’t seem terribly full of information, but it certainly wasn’t sparse.
Value of Content
It’s hard to judge a book’s value without actually trying to implement all of the authors’ suggestions and measuring the outcomes. I will say that I perceive the value of this book to be pretty high. This is why I scored it a 7/10. This books is more about big ideas and concepts and the large impacts these ideas have on those who implement them. For example, there are many instances when talented but unfulfilled people found tremendous success and purpose after making drastic career changes thanks to their experiences with finding their creative confidence. There is evidence to support that when a creative and innovative, collaborative approach to problem-solving is set into motion, great things happen in businesses both large and small. David and Tom give plenty of examples in which this happened.
I believe the value to be there but it’s entirely based upon the situation of the individual and how he or she chooses to implement the ideas throughout this book. For those who are familiar with many concepts in this book, the anecdotes and examples are great reminders of what happens when we (designers) practice what we preach.
Originality of Content
Creative Confidence earns a 7/10 for originality. I haven’t read many books that highlight the importance of creative confidence. Furthermore, the success stories highlighted throughout are pretty monumental. To read about real-world results of what IDEO founders believe and teach is a unique piece of insight many designers hunger for. And to those not labeled as a creative professional, I think the ideas in Creative Confidence are big, yet simple enough to grasp to be impactful.
Relevance of Content
This book scores an 8/10 for relevance, specifically to a product designer. There were plenty of principals I was previously familiar with thanks to my formal industrial design education. Since I was fortunate enough to attend a very successful art and design college, I’d learned about the methods highlighted by David and Tom’s book. Since I’ve worked as a professional for the past 4 years since then, I’ve noticed how easy it is to shrug off the habits and skills learned in school while on the job. This book serves as a good reminder and brought me back to thinking about innovation and creativity on a rudimentary level.
Entertainment
Unfortunately, this is where Creative Confidence scored the lowest for me. A 6/10 isn’t bad. It’s not a ‘D’ like a 60% is in school. In this case, it means I felt neutral about it. I wasn’t terribly entertained, but I wasn’t bored with it either. The strongest part of the book was the introduction when David’s experience with cancer brought a sobering sense of clarity to the Kelly brothers’ mission and purpose, which in part, fueled the writing of this book.
Length of Read
Creative Confidence gets a 6/10 for length. The longer it takes me to read a book, the higher it scores in this category. This book is a pretty quick read. I did however put it down for a couple of weeks. I blame the break on it not being as entertaining as it could have been. However, when I did pick it back up, I read large chunks of it quite quickly. I estimate my total time reading this book to be around 6 or 7 hours maximum.
Inspiration
7/10 for inspiration. This is due to the concrete and simple stories supplied by the authors that prove the power of unleashing and harnessing creative confidence. It’s not an abstract phenomena that needs to be ‘willed into existence’, but a tool that’s both fun and challenging to use. I felt inspired to examine and write about numerous ideas as they struck me during my reading of Creative Confidence.
Final Thoughts
Creative Confidence isn’t for designers, but everyone who wants to learn to think differently and gain an edge over their old way of problem solving or their competition if they’re in a business setting. The authors are no-nonsense creatives who understand the psychology of collaboration and groups in a professional environment and make the benefits of having creative confidence clear. A student in any design discipline or young professional will likely feel inspired to challenge the status quo and workplace conventions after reading this book. Anyone in a managerial role will likely find a nugget or two of useful approaches to the challenges they regularly face.
The Verdict
Buy and read it.
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 29, 2013
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 8, 2022
Top reviews from other countries
Jack Redley
Unlock and draw on more of the creative potential! YES!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 21, 2020
Jack Redley
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 21, 2020
It also teaches you practical methods to induce creative thinking when stuck on projects.
Insane book. Loved it so much I actually did a Youtube video all about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVdxXdH3AfI&t=248s
Hope the book helps you as much as it did for me!
Images in this review
CM
I found this incredibly corporate and dull. In particular the constant mention of his company ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 8, 2017Amazon Customer
The first book you should read to find out about design thinking
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 12, 2019@georgiana.hello
I enjoyed the book so much that I am thinking to ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 18, 2018Amazon Customer
A go to book when you have a creative block
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 8, 2019
