Caffeine for the Creative Mind: 250 Exercises to Wake Up Your Brain

Some of the creative exercise books out there are kind of....well, lame. This one isn't. It's got its share of silliness, but the exercises in this book really get the right-brain working. For most, you don't need anything more than pen, paper, and imagination. A handful of the exercises call for items that you can find around the house or office. Although they aren't necessarily designed with a team in mind, it's easy to adapt the exercises for a group. Plus, the range of exercises makes the copywriters and the designers happy. My group, a corporate creative team, frequently pulls from this book for our weekly creative stretch. Everyone usually has a good laugh at the end results.

It is certainly what it says! I started tabbing all the exercises that I especially wanted to try right away. Well, let's just say the book looks like it's growing some very colorful hair with all tabs sticking out of it! A lot of them that struck me initially seemed to be photography challenges, but I guess that makes sense since that is one of the things I'm really hoping to improve on this year. It addition to the exercises, they also have numerous short interviews with some leading designers across a spectrum of website, logo, promotions, illustration, animation, etc. In these, I found numerous ideas and concepts to ponder, some of which I will be sharing with you here in the coming weeks. Although this book is certainly not specifically geared towards scrapbookers, I think any serious 'creative' would find great value in this book.

I have been writing, creating and sharing creative mind exercises (Alan's Cre8ng Challenges for 11 years) and find this book very refreshing and creative. It is truly visually stimulating, which may play against it for some readers. If your goal is to improve your creative thinking skills this is a great source.

I was elated to find a book with the kind of exercises I can use in my classroom. I teach graphic design and design in a high school setting, and my brain is fried at the end of the day after thinking for 120 people. This book offers quick and thought-provoking exercises my students enjoy and, get this, they actually learn something! Thank you, thank you, thank you. It truly made my life easier, and more fun.

This book REALLY got me thinking! Keep it by your bed and and randomly select a page for the day and do it! - You WILL surprise yourself-easy reading with great cutting edge graphics!!!! I am currently busy designing my own Parka!!!!