Rizen Creative Ideas, advertising & design for underdog brands

This book could change your life if you’d let it. More than a business book, more than a “creativity” book, in many ways work is a manifesto about a life philosophy that advocates freedom: from expectations, money, self-imposed limits, failure and more.
It’s a great read. And filled with actionable advice. Two favorites:

Don’t try to stand [...]

Found this book up in the airport on a recent trip. The author, Rob Walker, writes a very good column in New York Times Magazine. This book picks up where his column leaves off, exploring how brands, despite the constant reports of their demise, are becoming more important than ever; how customers are doing their [...]

Don’t know Kevin Carroll? You should. We just picked up his latest, Red Rubber Ball at Work. It’s a compendium of stories of how marketers (and others) put the power of play to work at, well, work.
Kevin’s former Katalyst (whatever that is) at Nike, a translator for the military and an all around pretty impressive [...]

Truth be told, we read this awhile back. But it’s good. And worth a read now or anytime. The book (by a big-shot professor at CalTech) explains why the human mind is constantly searching for order and reason even in the most random events. It challenges some assumptions we all make — and who doesn’t [...]

We know you know this, but here’s some data to back it up. According to this study, younger folks are watching almost 1/2 the TV as boomers.
Not surprising when you consider how much the young-types are on the web to watch TV programs, connect with friends and document every minute of their lives. But what [...]

Outliers is a great read that takes a look at how the most successful among us got to the level they did. Hint: it wasn’t all luck and hard work.
According Gladwell, luck and hard work are critical, but we can’t ever under-estimate the power of our environment, opportunities and birthday. Yes, birthday.
Malcolm Gladwell is an [...]