“[Snider has] created something unique: a synthesis of comics, philosophy, and poetry: a thoughtful new way of packaging eternal ideas in cartoon boxes.” —The Los Angeles Review of Books What does an idea look like? And where do they come from? Grant Snider’s illustrations will motivate you to explore these questions, inspire you to come up with your own answers and, like all Gordian knots, prompt even more questions. Whether you are a professional artist or designer, a student pursuing a creative career, a person of faith, someone who likes walks on the beach, or a dreamer who sits on the front porch contemplating life, this collection of one- and two-page comics will provide insight into the joys and frustrations of creativity, inspiration, and process—no matter your age or creative background. “A creative kaleidoscope of humor, insight, and truth. An inventive window into the creative experience filled with hope and encouragement for daydreamers and doodlers, sketchers and scribblers, inventors, explorers, and spinners of yarns.” —Clare Vanderpool, New York Times-bestselling, Newbery Medal-winning author “Grant Snider’s work delivers introspection, humor, and inspiration in visually stunning drawings. They are a colorful look into the creative process—from the moments of quiet contemplation to the days of frenzied desperation.” —Susan Cain, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking “A friendly, encouraging depiction of the creative process, with its highs and lows, from a comics creator.” —The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

This handy sketchbook is top-bound (suitable for the left- and right-handed), lies flat, and has an elastic pen holder so that your favorite pen or pencil is always at hand. The cover design is by Grant Snider, author of the Shape of Ideas, a collection of comics about the creative process. Offering empathy, humor, and inspiration to creative types of all kinds, this handsome sketchbook has a few pieces of Snider's art tucked here and there throughout its blank pages. Whether you are a professional artist or designer, a student pursuing a creative career, or someone who spends their spare moments dedicated to creative pursuit, this sketchbook will motivate you to explore the world and capture pieces of it through your own unique perspective.

"A succinct account of the life and art of Sean Scully, widely considered to be one of the leading abstract painters of our time. This work sets his entire output within a detailed biographical framework, closely examining the relationship between the artist's paintings and his lesser-known drawings, pastels, watercolors, and prints-areas of Scully's production that are rarely considered together"--

How four revolutionary ideas from the Enlightenment shaped today's world This panoramic book tells the story of how revolutionary ideas from the Enlightenment about freedom, equality, evolution, and democracy have reverberated through modern history and shaped the world as we know it today. A testament to the enduring power of ideas, The Shape of the New offers unforgettable portraits of Adam Smith, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Charles Darwin, and Karl Marx—heirs of the Enlightenment who embodied its highest ideals about progress—and shows how their thoughts, over time and in the hands of their followers and opponents, transformed the very nature of our beliefs, institutions, economies, and politics. Yet these ideas also hold contradictions. They have been used in the service of brutal systems such as slavery and colonialism, been appropriated and twisted by monsters like Stalin and Hitler, and provoked reactions against the Enlightenment's legacy by Islamic Salafists and the Christian Religious Right. The Shape of the New argues that it is impossible to understand the ideological and political conflicts of our own time without familiarizing ourselves with the history and internal tensions of these world-changing ideas. With passion and conviction, it exhorts us to recognize the central importance of these ideas as historical forces and pillars of the Western humanistic tradition. It makes the case that to read the works of the great thinkers is to gain invaluable insights into the ideas that have shaped how we think and what we believe.

From the Pythagorean theorem to DNA's double helix, from the discovery of microscopic life-forms to the theory of relativity--the big ideas of science and technology shape an era's worldview. Open this book, grasp the newest ideas from thought leaders of today, then spring off from them to move back through the past, one big idea at a time. Meet the people who gave birth to these ideas--and those who fought against them. Meet the MIT electrical engineer currently developing a way to turn on the lights cordlessly, then move back through Nikola Tesla's visionary concept of the wireless transfer of energy, Thomas Edison's groundbreaking work in developing a nationwide electrical grid, Ben Franklin's experiments to capture electricity, all the way back to ancient Greece, where Thales of Miletus described static electricity as a property of naturally occurring amber. Ingeniously organized and eminently browsable, this richly visual volume is divided into six big sections--medicine, transportation, communication, biology, chemistry, and the environment. Words and images that work together to explain such fascinating and elusive subjects as cloud computing, sunshields to cool the Earth, and self-driving cars. What did it take to get to these futuristic realities? Then, turn the page and follow a reverse-chronological illustrated time line of science and technology. This remarkable illustrated history tells the story of every Big Idea in our history, seen through the lens of where science is taking us today - and tomorrow. With an irresistibly cutting-edge look and original illustrations created by award-winning Ashby Design, paired with the reliable authority and comprehensiveness that National Geographic's world history books always offer, this is a one-of-a-kind trip to the future and back through all time all in one.

"A personal and pictorial narrative, it features a collection of Jamie's latest garden designs. From his work throughout Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and America, to art and nature, it reveals how ideas can be found in the simplest of places, and how Jamie translates these ideas into remarkable spaces for outdoor living. Abundant with stunning gardens, Jamie's personal photography, inspiring imagery and essential information on plants and materials throughout, Inspired also includes cameo profiles of international architects, designers, artists and sculptors who have been influential to Jamie's designs"--Jacket

Adam Turnbull started documenting his creative ideas on any piece of paper that inspired him: a photograph, a postcard, an envelope... When he began binding these pieces in small books, he discovered that the "canvas" he originally used helped shape more concepts. And so Noted came to life: an interactive journal that features an array of images of things on which to record ideas, from letterhead or a guest check to the palm of the hand, a napkin, or a matchbook. Along with striking images of common items, Noted encourages interaction with subtle, open-ended, and random prompts, facts, and quotes. The results will be as unique as your own experiences . . . A blank matchbook may become the canvas for a restaurant logo. A brick wall could elicit a rendering of street art, a piece of fiction about the Berlin Wall, or a political message for the masses. Draw, write, doodle, collage….Noted encourages you to use the medium to express yourself in a way that is distinctly yours.