Emails I Like To Open

Out of the Ordinary Newsletters

CreativeMornings just launched a campaign highlighting Out Of The Ordinary Emails featuring exceptional newsletters about creative obsessions. They’re hoping it will inspire others to start their own.

Know some newsletters they should add, submit them. Or better, get inspired and start your own!

Hat tip to Karen Baker who so masterfully has curated this (growing) list.

CreativeMornings: Lucien Zayan

Lucien Zayan is one of my all-time favorite people here in NYC. Last month he spoke on the theme of UGLY at our CreativeMornings/NewYork.

Hard to believe, but it was his first time speaking in public. He won the 200+ crowd over instantly. You could literally feel everyone’s heart open up. In his talk, Lucien is telling the story of The Invisible Dog, the artist space in Brooklyn that I am lucky to call my new work home in another 36 days.

The world needs more people like Lucien, who see beauty where others can’t. NYC is a better place because of him.

Elevated Game

Steve Quote

My favorite quote from Steve Larosiliere’s CreativeMornings talk.

Maria Popova: 7 Things I Learned

As part of CreativeMornings‘ fifth birthday last year, my friend Maria Popova talked about 7 things she’s learned. I keep coming back to this one. Here’s the blog post she wrote based on the mini talk she wrote the day before and based her talk on.

CreativeMornings: Anthony Casalena

Founder and CEO of Squarespace, Anthony Casalena gave a thoughtful talk on Minimalism at CreativeMornings/NewYork last week. Really thrilled to share it here. Give it a listen.

Freedom

Last month CreativeMornings celebrated the theme of “Freedom”. To get in the mindset of the theme, team CreativeMornings worked with global partner Shutterstock and created a few short videos depicting quotes from past CreativeMornings talks using assets from Shutterstock’s robust collection of over 1.5 million clips.

The “Freedom” theme was chosen by the Budapest chapter, and the theme illustration was by Kesley Dake. Now that CreativeMornings has grown to 82 cities around the world, it’s really fantastic to see how all the different chapters interpret a theme. You can view all of the uploaded talks and quotes on the theme page.

If you’re into music, you might enjoy our Freedom playlist, put together by our Washington, DC DJ-in-residence. If you’re more the reading kind, check out our Freedom book list.

Wanted: CreativeMornings Design Intern

CreativeMornings Design Intern

Team CreativeMornings is looking for a paid summer design intern.

Cindy Gallop: Make Love Not Porn

Cindy Gallop is a modern day hero in my book. The work she is doing with her company Make Love Not Porn is nothing short of courageous and oh-so-incredibly-important in this day and age. As a mother of two, I want her message to spread. People need to understand the difference between porn and real world sex.

When you’re done with the talk, check out her site, makelovenotporn.tv.

Art makes data sticky

Laurie Frick is a data artist. She uses self-tracking data to construct hand-built works and installations to imagine a time when sensors track and predict our behavior: Hear her talk about her work in this CreativeMornings talk.

CreativeMornings in Copenhagen, Rio + Charleston

squarespace unlocking new cities

CreativeMornings is searching for three outstanding organizers who want to bring CreativeMornings to: Copenhagen (Denmark), Charleston (USA), and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). To kickstart these chapters, the chosen organizers will each receive a $1000 (USD) starter sponsorship from Squarespace for their first events.

In the last five years, 71 volunteer teams have hosted over 1000 free CreativeMornings lectures to create an open, accessible space for their local creative communities to meet up and share ideas. Interested? Learn more here.

A Dreamer’s Childhood

From Idaho to Haiti, Justin Lyon of Yo Gabba Gabba! speaks on building self-esteem, celebrating the weird, and Biz Markie while speaking at CreativeMornings/Los Angeles. With a simple wish of helping foster creativity in youth, Yo Gabba Gabba! has continued to amaze and garner awards as one of the zaniest, unconventional children’s shows that is just as appealing to kids as it is to adults.

Rebel Wisdom

Rebel Wisdom by SHutterstockShutterstock-CM3

Shutterstock, our official CreativeMornings partner for visual inspiration, created a set of beautifully illustrated posters based on CreativeMornings talk quotes. They totally made me smile. See them all here.

San Francisco, Boston and Milan!

CreativeMornings looking for new hosts

Do you live in San Francisco, Boston or Milan? If so, you should know that CreativeMornings is looking for new organizers!

CreativeMornings began to spread from NYC to new cities in 2009. Among the first chapters to come on board were San Francisco, Boston, and Milan. After almost 100 free events in these cities hosted by volunteer organizers and their teams, it’s time to pass the torch.

We’re getting some help from our friend, Freddie at MailChimp! Each new organizer will receive a $1,000 (USD) starter sponsorship from MailChimp for their chapter’s first event.

Interested? Or, know the right person? Send them here.

Every (Creative) Parent Should Watch This Talk:

In this short CreativeMorning talk Jonnie Hallman talks about how his father’s work has turned him into the maker he is today. As a parent and a maker this talk really moved me. Every (creative) parent should watch it.

Heart

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Stop shooting, We love you

(the sound is not all that good, just hang in there, trust me, it’s worth it)

Wow. This is hands down one of the most powerful talks of CreativeMornings’ month around Bravery: Vanessa German speaks at our Pittsburgh chapter on how love is the only way to stop violence and hate. Everything she knows about bravery, she says, she learned through love and love is what is helping her stop the shootings in her neighborhood.

Vanessa is an actress, playwright, sculptor, performer and educator. She is the founder of, “Love Front Porch” and Homewood’s Art House, and the “STOP SHOOTING, WE LOVE YOU” yard signs.

Vanessa German is one brave woman.

Max Temkin

In this CreativeMornings talk Max Temkin explains why he thinks the often heard advice “do what makes you happy, follow your dreams” is complete BS.

Max is the co-creator of the hilarious and beloved party game for horrible people, Cards Against Humanity. Unlike most of the party games you’ve played before, Cards Against Humanity is as despicable and awkward as you and your friends.

Are you a pleasure to have around?

“The person who gets the gig is the person who knows how to hang. Nobody hires you because you’re the best musician.”
— Larry Legend.

Watch my studiomate Larry Legend’s CreativeMornings talk.

Debbie Millman on Criticism

A wonderful short in which the lovely Debbie Millman speaks on seeking out criticism. Taken from her wonderful CreativeMornings talk.

The New CreativeMornings.com

New CreativeMornings.com

It’s been a little over a year since the CreativeMornings Kickstarter when we were humbled by the response from our 1200 backers. And today is the big day, where we unveil our new site. And yes, I am about to burst of excitement. I am incredibly moved by what CreativeMornings has turned into.

What started exactly five years ago in my studio has grown into a 57 chapter strong global organization, featuring speakers from Milton Glaser and Seth Godin to Jessica Hische and Erik Spiekermann. Obviously, I never could have imagined what CreativeMornings has become. Ever.

The new site was carefully handcrafted by my extraordinary studiomates of Oak Studios. And, in true CM spirit, the site translation into 10 languages was done by our chapter organizers! (You can change the language selection in the footer of the site)

The new website features include a full, searchable, sortable archive of every CreativeMornings talk. Every chapter now has a dedicated chapter sections to stay up to date with your local event. Take a look at Berlin for example. You now have the ability to live tag quotes from a video, post comments, save talks to watch later and ♥ favorite videos. But my favorite part of it all is the People section filled with attendee profiles from around the world. (Notice the ‘single’ filter? Grin!)

Today’s launch also marks the announcement of CM’s Official Partners: MailChimp, Shutterstock, and Squarespace. These like-minded companies support our growth and are a key reason why CreativeMornings can exist worldwide, for free. They make sure CreativeMornings is in good hands with an amazing full-time dedicated team: Kevin, Carly, Sally and Kate.

Enough with words! Have a look at the new site, play around, claim your username, and make a profile! This is only the beginning.

A big giant thank you to all of our Kickstarter backers that made this new site possible. An special thank you goes to 4ormat, Mailchimp, Squarespace, RISD and Andrew Zuckerman for the extra generous contribution.

CreativeMornings/Video: Chris Glass

At May’s CreativeMornings/Cincinnati, my dear friend Chris Glass got personal and shared what makes him tick and why design is ‘awesome’. (His own words!) Chris is one of my favorite people. You should watch his talk.

CreativeMornings with Seth Godin

THE Seth Godin was our speaker at last week’s CreativeMornings/NewYork, generously hosted by The New School.

In his talk, Seth challenges our perception of work. He talks about how people who take responsibility are often given responsibility and how these days, we all carry media companies in our pockets. Trust me, watching this talk is 20 minutes well spent. You can also watch the Q&A following his talk here.

Having Seth as a speaker was nothing short of a true honor. I am so grateful. You too? Let’s tell him.

A big thank you to Ben Hallman for filming and editing.

Pleasure, Flow + Meaning

The inspiring Ping Fu gave a fantastic CreativeMornings talk in January. This is a short we just released where she talks about her personal recipe for happiness: Pleasure, Flow + Meaning.

(A big thank you to Ben for taping our talks!)

Attitude

Attitude

A quote from Ping Fu’s moving CreativeMornings talk last month.