8 must-watch talks for any creative

Default avatar.
August 30, 2013
8 must-watch talks for any creative.

Must watch talks for creativesEvery now and again I come across a talk that I find to be truly inspiring or informative. Over the years I've made sure to bookmark these talks for later reference and now, after recently revisiting my collection, I thought it would be a good time to share those that I believe all creatives should watch.

Below is a collection of eight videos that cover everything from branding to education to user experience and client relationships.

Design to challenge reality (Kelli Anderson)

Design to Challenge Reality

Kelli Anderson shatters our expectations about reality by injecting humor and surprise into everyday objects. At TEDxPhoenix she shares her disruptive and clever designs.

From wedding invitations to Utopian newspapers, Kelli Anderson re-designs commonplace objects to go beyond their ordinary functions and create surprising experiences.

A happy grain of sand (Aral Balkan)

A Happy Grain of Sand

Aral Balkan will take you on a tour of the world around us through the eyes of an experience designer and inspire you to create experiences that go beyond usable to empower, amuse, and delight.

Introducing charm into charmless categories (Simon Manchipp)

Introducing charm into charmless categories

Old models of communication were based on reach, rather than touch. Many brands reach for a wider audience, but miss their potential by failing to touch people. Simon will take you through a roller-coaster ride of SomeOne’s experiments, ideas and applications where new branding has been employed to touch a different audience, expand a brand's repertoire or better explain not just what a brand makes, but why it makes it.

F*ck you, pay me (Mike Monteiro)

F*ck You, Pay Me

Mike Monteiro and his lawyer share advice on the importance of contracts and making sure that you get paid.

Do schools kill creativity? (Sir Ken Robinson)

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.

The myths of the overworked creative (Tony Schwartz)

The Myths of the Overworked Creative

Time is finite, but we act as if it were otherwise, assuming that longer hours always lead to increased productivity. But in reality our bodies are designed to pulse and pause — to expend energy and then renew it. In this revelatory talk, energy expert Tony Schwartz debunks common productivity myths and shows us how to regain control over our energy so we can produce great work.

The transformative power of personal projects (Ji Lee)

The Transformative Power of Personal Projects

Bored with his ad agency gig and the uninspiring work he was producing, Ji Lee — now Creative Director of Google Creative Lab — decided to take matters into his own hands in 2002. The result was the ad-spoofing Bubble Project, in which Lee placed blank speech bubbles on ads around New York City. The masses responded and the project went viral, gaining Lee recognition and ultimately forwarding his professional career. Here, Lee talks about how he created, financed, and marketed the project single-handedly.

Designs to save newspapers (Jacek Utko)

Designs to Save Newspapers

Jacek Utko is an extraordinary Polish newspaper designer whose redesigns for papers in Eastern Europe not only win awards, but increase circulation by up to 100%.

Could good design save the newspaper — at least for now? Jacek Utko thinks so — and his lively, engaging designs for European papers prove that it works.

Were you inspired by any of these talks? Is there any others that you would recommend? Let us know in the comments.

Sam Jones

Sam Jones is a Freelance Designer whose work spans multiple disciplines such as brand identity, design for print, web design and illustration. As well as being the owner of one man design studio, Sivioco, he's also an advisor for Mostash. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @Sivioco.

Read Next

10+ Best Resources & Tools for Web Designers (2024 update)

Is searching for the best web design tools to suit your needs akin to having a recurring bad dream? Does each…

3 Essential Design Trends, April 2024

Ready to jump into some amazing new design ideas for Spring? Our roundup has everything from UX to color trends…

How to Plan Your First Successful Website

Planning a new website can be exciting and — if you’re anything like me — a little daunting. Whether you’re an…

15 Best New Fonts, March 2024

Welcome to March’s edition of our roundup of the best new fonts for designers. This month’s compilation includes…

LimeWire Developer APIs Herald a New Era of AI Integration

Generative AI is a fascinating technology. Far from the design killer some people feared, it is an empowering and…

20 Best New Websites, March 2024

Welcome to our pick of sites for March. This month’s collection tends towards the simple and clean, which goes to show…

Exciting New Tools for Designers, March 2024

The fast-paced world of design never stops turning, and staying ahead of the curve is essential for creatives. As…

Web Tech Trends to Watch in 2024 and Beyond

It hardly seems possible given the radical transformations we’ve seen over the last few decades, but the web design…

6 Best AI Productivity Apps in 2024

There’s no escaping it: if you want to be successful, you need to be productive. The more you work, the more you…

3 Essential Design Trends, February 2024

From atypical typefaces to neutral colors to unusual user patterns, there are plenty of new website design trends to…

Surviving the Leap from College to Real-World Design

So, you’ve finished college and are ready to showcase your design skills to the world. This is a pivotal moment that…

20 Mind-Bending Illusions That Will Make You Question Reality

Mind-bending videos. Divisive Images. Eye-straining visuals. This list of optical illusions has it all. Join us as we…