This post originally appeared on the Shutterstock blog and has been republished with permission.
It’s a new year, full of new possibilities to expand your business, learn new skills, and re-embrace creativity.
To help get you started, we like to kick things off with some reading suggestions to keep you focused on your goals. These five books that have come out recently, or will in the near future, have us most excited about what we can accomplish in 2014.
Understanding a Photograph by John Berger
Get to know photographs in a whole new light with this compilation that PD Smith at The Guardian calls “essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the power of this ubiquitous medium.”
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Enjoy the array of photographs represented, as well as strong context and background presented to both stimulate and educate.
Keep It Simple: The Early Design Years of Apple by Hartmut Esslinger
What sets this new Apple biography apart is its authenticity and access — author Hartmut Esslinger began working with Steve Jobs at Apple in 1982, before going on to launch Frog Design.
The book hit stores this week, and you can check out a preview on Fast Company.
Building a Big Small Business Brand by Dan Antonelli
How much time, when launching your business, should you invest in building your brand?
There may not be one hard and fast answer, but author Dan Antonelli tries to push business owners in the right direction, with this book that PagePlane’s Chuck Green calls “a smart, clearly explained approach to branding that should be required reading for anyone planning to open a small business (or turn around a failing one).”
Street Design: The Secret to Great Cities and Towns by Victor Dover and John Massengale
Learn to better appreciate your surroundings through the lenses of urban designers, civic leaders, architects, city planners, and more.
Explore 150 streets and get the inside stories on how they came about, in this book the authors call “essential reading for anyone who wants to make their community more livable.”
The Art of Tinkering by Karen Wilkinson and Mike Petrich
It all stems from the Tinkering Studio at the Exploratorium in San Francisco; the authors profile a different “tinkerer” in each chapter, followed by instructions for a DIY project on the subject.
Want even more inspiration? Check out our list of books for jump-starting your creativity from 2013.
Which books are on your list for inspiration in 2014? Let us know in the comments below!
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