Resources

A creative’s toolkit: the tools, books and techniques we rely on, plus a hand-picked layer for when you’re stuck.

For when you’re stuck

A hand-picked layer for getting unblocked.

Tagged to the 7+1 map, so you can reach for the right lever.

The unblocking canon

books

The War of ArtSteven Pressfield — names "Resistance," the force behind avoidance.Starting & DoingConfidence & Exposure

Bird by BirdAnne Lamott — "shitty first drafts," one small piece at a time.Starting & DoingStructure & Workflow

Art & FearBayles & Orland — why artists quit; quantity beats perfectionism.Confidence & ExposureStarting & Doing

Big MagicElizabeth Gilbert — fear, curiosity, permission to create.Confidence & Exposure

The Artist's WayJulia Cameron — 12-week unblocking program; Morning Pages.All blocks

Steal Like an Artist / Keep GoingAustin Kleon — nothing's original; how to keep going.Direction & MeaningConfidence & Exposure

Atomic HabitsJames Clear — tiny actions, systems, environment design.Starting & DoingContext & Support

Anatomy of a BreakthroughAdam Alter — the science of getting unstuck.Direction & Meaning

MindsetCarol Dweck — fixed vs. growth; reframes "not good enough."Confidence & Exposure

The PracticeSeth Godin — ship creative work consistently.Starting & Doing

Four Thousand WeeksOliver Burkeman — finitude vs. perfectionism.Confidence & ExposureDirection & Meaning

Daily RitualsMason Currey — how 150+ creatives structured their days.Structure & WorkflowContext & Support

Films & documentaries

Abstract: The Art of DesignNetflix — inside top designers' process

Get BackThe Beatles — watch a block form and break

Jiro Dreams of SushiMastery, devotion, the long gameSkill Gap

Chef's TableReinvention & finding your voiceDirection & MeaningConfidence & Exposure

Art & CopyThe people behind iconic advertising

The Creative BrainNetflix — how creativity works in the brain

Talks & videos

Ira Glass — The GapTaste outruns skill at first; keep goingSkillConfidence & Exposure

David Kelley — Creative confidenceTED talkConfidence & Exposure

Elizabeth Gilbert — Your elusive geniusTED talkConfidence & Exposure

Tim Urban — Master procrastinatorTED talkStarting & Doing

John Cleese — On CreativityOpen vs. closed modeDirection & Meaning

Csikszentmihalyi — FlowTED talkContext & Support

Podcasts, newsletters & blogs

The Accidental CreativeTodd Henry — prolific without burnout

Creative Pep TalkPep + tactics for stuck creatives

Design MattersDebbie Millman — honest creative interviews

The Creative Independent Interviews + guides on overcoming blocks Ness Labs Mindful productivity + neuroscience The Imperfectionist Oliver Burkeman — perfectionism & getting unstuckConfidence & ExposureStarting & Doing Austin Kleon Weekly notes on keeping going Dense Discovery Thoughtful tools & ideas, weekly

Reduce friction & protect focus

Context & Support

Freedom Block distracting sites & apps Cold Turkey Serious, scheduled blocking one sec Add friction before opening time-sinks Opal Reclaim attention from your phone Forest Stay off your phone, grow a tree Brain.fm · Endel Focus soundscapes

Start small & build momentum

Starting & Doing

Pomofocus Dead-simple Pomodoro timer Focusmate Body doubling: scheduled video co-working Streaks · Habitica Tiny daily-habit tracking Sunsama · Llama Life Plan one realistic, timeboxed day

Organise the chaos

Structure & Workflow

Milanote Visual boards for ideas & projects Notion · Obsidian Notes & a "second brain"Whimsical · FigJam Mind-maps & flows Goblin Tools — Magic ToDo Breaks an overwhelming task into tiny steps

ADHD & neurodivergent focus

Goblin Tools Task breakdown + tone helpersADHD Tiimo Visual, time-based planningADHD Focusmate Body doubling for accountability

How to ADHDJessica McCabe — YouTube + book

How to Keep House While DrowningKC Davis — shame-free "functioning"

Techniques & exercises

the unblocking toolkit

Morning Pages3 longhand pages first thing, to clear the clutter

Friction auditList what adds resistance — remove just oneStructure & Workflow

Lower the barMake bad work on purpose; aim to startStarting & DoingConfidence & Exposure

The 10-minute startCommit to ten minutes only; momentum followsStarting & Doing

Explore vs. commitName your mode; stop demanding certainty too earlyDirection & Meaning

Body doublingWork alongside someone (or Focusmate)

Change your contextA walk, a new café, a different roomContext & Support

Brain dump / mind mapGet it all onto one pageStructure & Workflow

Keep a "done list"Log what you finished, not just what's leftConfidence & Exposure

Separate work from worthName the feared verdict — then ship anywayConfidence & Exposure

The toolkit

Tools we actually use.

91 links across type, images, editing, inspiration, writing, portfolios and learning.

Type & fonts

Typewolf Font inspiration & trend recommendations Fonts In Use Archive of typography used in the wild WhatTheFont Identify a font from an image Fontstruct Build your own fonts for free Calligraphr Turn your handwriting into a font Velvetyne Free, experimental open-source type

Type foundries

a selection of the greats

Klim Type Foundry Beloved, characterful retail type Grilli Type Swiss type foundry Commercial Type Editorial & brand typefaces Dinamo Contemporary type + tools Pangram Pangram Modern foundry, generous freebies Future Fonts Buy fonts while they're in progress Vocal Type Type celebrating diverse histories Adobe Fonts Thousands, free with Creative Cloud

TBI MockupsLayered PSD mockups (The Brand Identity)

Mr. Mockups · Mockup MaisonHigh-quality PSD mockups

Icons

Flaticon Biggest free icon repository The Noun Project Huge icon library (paid)Iconmonstr 4,700+ free icons Nucleo Organise + customise icon libraries

Color

Material Palette Quick palette generator Contrast Checker Make colors pass WCAG accessibility Stark Contrast & accessibility (Figma)

The Day's Color · Wes Anderson PalettesDaily color inspiration

Design inspiration & references

Cosmos Discovery engine for creatives Savee Pinterest, but for art & design The Dieline Packaging & branding inspo Public Work Free public-domain art & photos Google Arts & Culture Art history & museums Archive.org Millions of free images, films, sites Same Energy Visual search engine Eyecandy Visual technique library Frameset Stills from films, ads, music videos ShotDeck · Shot Cafe Movie-stills archives

Award-winning ad archives

Love The Work More Every Cannes Lion winner since 1954, free The One Show The world's best ad/design work D&AD Awards Creative excellence in design & ads Communication Arts Best of design, illustration, advertising The Clios Awards across health, sports & more unblock.coffee Searchable ad archive (by agency, CD)

AI tools

Ideogram AI images that render text well MidJourney High-quality image & video gen Adobe Firefly AI image/video + audio Gemini Chat + strong image editing LM Arena Test & compare leading AI models calligrapher.ai Realistic AI handwriting

Writing & copy

WordCounter Word & character count Calmly Writer Distraction-free writing RhymeZone Rhymes, synonyms, related words ConvertCase Change text case quickly TextFX AI writing/brainstorming (Google)Manifesto Writing Study the craft of brand manifestos

Build your portfolio / website

Readymag Highly customizable site builder Cargo Built for designers & creatives Adobe Portfolio Free with an Adobe subscription Fabrik Made for creative portfolios Bestfolios A library of great design portfolios

Figma plugins & Chrome extensions

Super TidyAuto-tidy, rename & reorder frames (Figma)

Better Font PickerFaster type exploration (Figma)

StarkContrast & accessibility testing (Figma)

GoFullPage Full-page screenshots (Chrome)

WhatFontIdentify fonts on any page (Chrome)

Window ResizerEmulate resolutions for screenshots

Social media tools

Julip A microsite for your profile (better Linktree)Social Sizes Sizes & templates for every platform Adobe Express Remove bg, schedule, templates Bigged Free ad-spying tool

Learning & courses

SuperHi Practical creative-career courses Skillshare Creative classes, beginner →︎ pro Domestika Beautifully made creative courses Codecademy Learn to code, free W3Schools Go-to for CSS/HTML snippets

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