Do Interesting
Notice. Collect. Share.
Russell Davies
*Shortlisted for the Non-Obvious Book Awards 2023*
Don’t try to be interesting. That’s a fool’s errand.
Do interesting instead. Make the world light up by paying proper attention.
In this book, writer and strategist Russell Davies has rounded up a bunch of interesting people to help you:
- Notice more – practise paying attention and everything gets more interesting
- Collect more – gather together what you’ve noticed, new ideas pop out
- Share more – get good at sharing it all and more magic arrives
You’ll turn the things you notice into a compost of creativity — slow hunches, spark files, scrapbooks and moodboards. It’s where unexpected elements collide to form new ideas. Then you’ll share those ideas. And you’ll learn something about yourself — your passions and interests. Your life and work will become more creative, fulfilling and fun.
Interesting isn’t a personality, it’s a decision. Don’t hunt for diamonds. Get fascinated by pebbles.
This paperback purchase includes a free ebook download.
Reviews
Humans are good at being creative, and also good at telling themselves they’re not creative. Maybe sometimes we just need some encouragement and tips to re-see all of the interestingness around us and turn it into something new and, erm, interesting. Russell and a cast of experts do a great job of collecting their lifetimes’ observations about noticing things, having ideas and then turning that stuff into a real thing, so just read the book (shouldn’t take too long) and then you have the rest of your life to get on with all of the making, doing and being interesting that you can muster.
Dan Germain, Executive Creative Director @ Google Brand Studio
You’ll dig it.
Austin Kleon, author of Steal Like an Artist
It’s a nimble little book built of prompts from Davies and his many clever friends, designed to spark your interest-ing practice from inspiration to expression.
Rob Walker, The Art of Noticing
Russell’s 34 provocations on how to make life more interesting are a collection of apparently small hinges that open a surprisingly big door: how to participate in the world in a richer and more rewarding way, as only you can. I loved it.
Adam Morgan, eatbigfish
Russell Davies brings interestingness to life with juicy observations, delightful interviews and clever ideas you'll want to try, stat! I was immediately connected to a sense of appreciation for the countless ways to be interested in our days, and astonished by all the interesting things we find within them.
Madeleine Dore, author of I Didn't Do The Thing Today
Reading Do Interesting made me want to put it down, so I could put it into practice. A handbook for making the world around you 'light up', its effects will shine brightly.
Christina Riley, The Nature Library & author of The Beach Today
Tools, tips and new habits to spark curiosity, share ideas and live a more interesting life.
The Bookseller
Russell’s Do Lecture
Rewilding PowerPoint
Russell looks at what happens when organisations and services meet the internet and builds things to find out more. In this talk he reveals that all of life is somewhere in a PowerPoint slide.
About the author
Russell Davies is a writer, communicator and strategist. He’s spent 30 years figuring out what happens when organisations and services meet the internet. In his spare time, he’s been a blogger, a columnist for Wired, he’s made a BBC programme about the ‘Internet of Things’, he’s organised the Interesting conferences and written books about PowerPoint and great British cafés. His ‘art’ has featured at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and the Old Lock Up Gallery, Cromford.
Product details
- Pub date: Sept 2023
- Dimensions: 120 x 178mm
- Extent: 136 pages
- ISBN: 978-1-914168-20-8
- eBook ISBN: 978-1-914168-21-5
Artwork
Colour photographs & graphics by Russell Davies and others featured in the book
Paper & print details
Paperback editions are printed by OZGraf Print on Munken, an FSC-certified paper
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