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Inspiration can come from all sorts of places, but if you are short of ideas then check out some of these books to get your creative juices flowing and see what inspiration comes your way.
Books to Get your Creative Juices Flowing
A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book
In our social media-obsessed world, photos have become social currency, whether pictures of our friends posted to Facebook, or flattering self-portraits for Match.com. Sites like these form a constant outlet for personal images. The result is a growing market of young photo-takers interested in documenting their lives with better, more compelling images.
Happily, popular style blogger Elsie Larson and her business partner and sister, Emma Chapman, come to the rescue with A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book, providing 100 easy tips and ideas for turning real life into creative, eye-catching photos using any camera (including camera phones). They share their infectious love of lifestyle photography, with tips on everything from lighting to backdrops, posing, styling, special effects, wardrobe, and much more.
A final chapter offers 29 ideas for turning photos into DIY treasures, from gift wrap to jewellery, clothing, lampshades, and more. Packed with 200 photos, A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book is an inspiring manifesto to grab your camera (or phone) and start documenting and sharing your life in creative, beautiful ways.
Photocrafty: 75 Creative Camera Projects for You and Your Digital SLR
Photocrafty is a fun and quirky guide to making the most of your Digital SLR. Turn off the ‘auto’ button and dip into this easy-to-use book to create stunning photographs of your own, using just a little bit of crafty know-how. This refreshingly non-technical, low-fi approach will appeal to photographers of all abilities, allowing you to produce fantastic shots and improve your SLR confidence along the way.
Discover 75 projects to try at home, or out and about, with minimal faff and very few pieces of equipment, just by following simple step-by-step instructions. From mastering the basic camera techniques like shutter zoom and light trails, to more crafty projects such as DIY aerial, fi sh-eye and pin-hole shots, this book has a range of ideas for beginners and more experienced photographers wanting to try something new. Stop using your Digital SLR at arms length – get stuck in and hands on, with Photocrafty.
Hashtag Authentic: Finding creativity and building a community on Instagram and beyond
Instagram is the fastest growing of all social media platforms, with 400 million monthly active users worldwide – half of whom are under the age of twenty-five. While some use the app as a personal networking tool, many also use it to build their creative business endeavours; whether in food and drink or fashion and lifestyle.
Sara Tasker has done just that, and since setting up her account whilst on maternity leave in 2013, has become an Instagram coach, iPhoneographer and social media influencer. Her chronicle of authentic everyday life and her mindful Me and Orla blog has developed into a business in which she provides access to free insta-tips, alongside some hugely popular paid for e-courses for independent creatives.
Hashtag Authentic draws on the lessons Sara has learned over the past five years to provide readers with tips, advice and guidance on how to turn their personal Instagram account into a profitable creative outlet. From visual storytelling and improving photography skills to archiving day-to-day life and changing the work/life balance, this book is both an inspiring manual and an interactive tool for finding an online voice, growing a tribe and becoming an influencer.
Conscious Creativity: Look. Connect. Create.
Flow , that enviable condition of complete creative absorption, is hard for most of us to achieve in everyday life.
In Conscious Creativity, Philippa Stanton offers us the key to the door: this book is a guide to unlocking your potential and making flow a natural part of your daily creative practice. Readers will find these pages packed with joyful wisdom, which will simultaneously open their eyes to the beauty of ordinary things and enable them to make the connection with their own creative impulses to ensure the best possible results.
Rich, breath-taking new photography specially created for this book reinforces each lesson in an unforgettably visual way.
Styling for Instagram
Instagram is a rich source of inspiration and aspiration. It’s easy to set up an account, but to really master it, and gain a significant following you need two things: a strong personal brand and an aspirational style that people will want to emulate.
This book will help you achieve both. Written by renowned Instagram expert and photographer Leela Cyd this book is packed with beautiful images as well as her sage advice for certain Instagram success.
With sections on creating the perfect composition, finding the unique angle, and capturing scenes and places, this book covers all you need to know about getting the shots that work.
Life Unstyled: How to embrace imperfection and create a home you love
Life Unstyled is about taking inspiration from real homes that are beautiful, creative and inspiring but at the same time a little rough around the edges, with signs of everyday life evident throughout.
The first section, Homes Unstyled , sets out Emily’s manifesto for creating a stylish home that is beautiful but lived in. A Home is Never Done advocates allowing your space to evolve gradually so it is an ever-changing expression of your tastes and interests. Work with What You ve Got suggests ways to make the most of the home you have rather than yearning for unattainable perfection. Signs of Life offers ideas for wrangling papers, clutter and other stuff. Creative Clutter tackles collections and displays, while Break the Rules rejects style diktats and shows how individuality can bring a home to life.
The second section, People Live Here , visits real-life homes that are definitely not perfect yet display incredible style and creativity and reflect their owners needs, tastes and style. And throughout the book, quick fixes, DIY makes and Every Home Should Have… boxes offer creative solutions with unique results.
Pearl Lowe’s Vintage Craft: 50 Craft Projects and Home Styling Advice
Vintage designer Pearl Lowe shows you how to create the authentic vintage look in your own home with her expert advice and simple craft projects.
This practical guide, complete with inspiring photography includes
• 50 step-by-step craft projects
• Sewing, painting, upcycling and crafting secrets
• A how-to guide to sourcing your own vintage treasures
• And Pearl’s little black book of shops and suppliers
An absolute must-have for lovers of vintage and all things handmade.
What books have you read that get your creative juices flowing and inspire you?
Let me know in the comments.
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