The Creative Economy: How People Make Money from Ideas - Softcover

Howkins, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141977035 ISBN 13: 9780141977034

Publisher: Penguin, 2013

Synopsis

Creativity is the fastest growing business in the world.

Companies are hungry for people with ideas - and more and more of us want to make, buy, sell and share creative products. But how do you turn creativity into money?

In this newly rewritten edition of his acclaimed book, leading creative expert John Howkins shows what creativity is, how it thrives and how it is changing in the digital age. His key rules for success include:

Invent yourself. Be unique.
Own your ideas. Understand copyright, patents and IP laws.
Treat the virtual as real, and vice versa.
Learn endlessly: borrow, reinvent and recycle.
Know when to break the rules.

Whether in film or fashion, software or stories, by turning ideas into assets anyone can make creativity pay.

About this title

Review:

In The Creative Economy John Howkins argues that intellectual property is far more important today than "hard goods" and that creativity itself should now be viewed as a defining commercial factor. The examples quoted at the start of the book, including Amazon.com's copyrighting of its sales methodology and the British patent for the technique used to clone Dolly the sheep, illustrate the range of forms creativity can take. Throughout the rest of the book, Howkins uses a similarly wide range of examples to explain his theory that creativity will be the dominant economic form of the 21st century.

In its 230 pages The Creative Economy ranges widely in scope. Its seven chapters discuss various creative industries including art, video games, music, film and fashion. Digital technology and its central role is the subject of a separate chapter, as is the management of ideas as a profit-making enterprise. At the openings of his chapters, Howkins reports his interviews with a range of important figures from musician Bob Geldof to architect Richard Rogers and businesswoman Anita Roddick. The overall style, though, is intellectual and with little to break up the dense prose it is, despite the many real-world examples, not always an easy read. It's worth the effort though; Howkins presents a forceful argument, enough perhaps to convince readers with an eye for business to get his or her thinking cap on. --Sandra Vogel

Review:

John Howkins picks his way through the many facets of creativity, unearthing surprising facts (Economist)

The first really practical guide for people working in the creative industries (Director Magazine)

A valuable introduction to its brave new world (Sunday Times)

A point of reference for those seeking to merge creativity with business acumen (World Intellectual Property Organization)

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0141977035
• ISBN 13: 9780141977034
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 288