“The Creative Act: A Way of Being” by Rick Rubin

“I set out to write a book about
what to do to make a great work of art.
Instead, it revealed itself to be a book on how to be.”
—Rick Rubin, Author of The Creative Act: A Way of Being

It’s Spring, birds are chirping ferociously; a walnut shell was thrown at the front door by either a ruffian squirrel, or a strategic gust of wind; ··· and last week, someone mentioned that Rick Rubin’s book The Creative Act: A Way of Being is a must read. Slowly, the universe began placing peripheral conversations of this book in various channels of my attention.

_{··· this morning I watched two young squirrels prune a tree, and make a nest.}

After reading a friendly recommendation to read Rubin’s book, the highly esteemed design firm, Pentagram, posted their partner Paula Scher’s experience working with Rubin on the design and fabrication of the book. The post included a sequential series of eight (8) videos showing the various design choices that she offered to Rubin.

“I have never worked quite like this before and certainly wouldn’t do it for another client.”
—Paula Scher, Partner at Pentagram

I’ve embedded the videos below; they serve as visual insight to the work of a graphic designer. When you watch the videos, you’ll begin to understand all that goes into designing, and how each layout option holds its own aesthetic message.

Then, while taking a brief scroll through Malcolm Gladwell’s twitter…I notice he has posted about a debate that he had recently lost, and created a podcast to discuss it. I click the link to his Podcast pag e, and find that a few months ago, he had a conversation with Rubin about the book. I’ve embedded that conversation below as well.

So now, I’m 15th in line to check out the book from the Public Library, but I’m sharing this content that holds me over in the meantime. If you take the time to watch the videos, please leave a comment with your experience.