2021... a new year to encourage creative energy and inspiration. Our curious team of thirty tends to be regularly seeking out bright ideas - especially from creative thought leaders.

So we asked our team: What are you reading or listening to lately that’s giving you value or inspiration?

Allow us to share below.

Video Team

The Pixar Story - A documentary on Netflix

“If you enjoyed Creativity, Inc by Ed Catmull, or just enjoy origin stories, this is a great documentary that tells you how Pixar was created and came to be what it is today. You see how animation has evolved over the years, especially as 3D was introduced to the animation world.” Kari Howe, Animator and Editor

The Mandalorian Stagecraft Feature - An article by Kristin Baver

“This article does a killer job showing us how far technology has come. We're now able to immerse actors in environments that normally they would have to imagine and see these scenes come to life in real time. As an animator, videographer and editor, studying the ways industry leaders are pushing the envelope to advance scenes like this inspire us to do the same.”  Kari Howe, Animator and Editor

Story Team

How I Built This - A podcast by Guy Raz and NPR

“Guy Raz interviews successful company founders about the early days of their business. Listening to the startup mindset is both helpful and inspiring for the product work (and all of the work) we do at Gitwit.”  Ashley Roberts, Interactive Producer, UX Designer

Floodlines - A podcast about Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath by The Atlantic‍

“I love this series because the storytelling caused me to empathize with the victims in ways I never before had when reading or hearing about Hurricane Katrina. Empathy is the heart of storytelling, and this podcast is a great example of how to do that well.” - Annie Chang, Content Strategist

Product Team‍

www.lawsofux.com - A short website by Jon Yablonski

“I feel as though through years of working on websites and building apps, I have gained a general knowledge of many of these laws - but didn’t have names for them. They were just practices or ideas that I had observed, then both consciously and subconsciously began using because they just felt right. One on this list that I found particularly impactful was number 15, the “Peak-End Rule.” Sometimes we feel as though an entire site must wow the end-user and have every section be a full experience. But in reality we can use a few “boring” sections to tactically leave a greater impact in the users memory by taking advantage of the peak and end of the site.” Zach Miles, Front End Developer

“I second this website. Laws of UX contains 20 rules that define different aspects of user experience. They are extremely applicable to everything else in life too.” Henry Ninde, Junior Producer

Design Team

In Progress - A book by Jessica Hische

“I'm a huge fan of the lettering designer, Jessica Hische. Her book In Progress, reads easily, but still inspires. Not to mention - the book itself is beautiful. Her recommendations on vectoring helped me become more efficient with that, as well.” Jill Park, Interactive Producer, UX Designer

The Accidental Creative - A podcast by Todd Henry

“The Accidental Creative is a podcast made up of fairly short episodes focused on specific questions and topics related to design and productivity. Its advice and tips from artists, business leaders, and creatives are usually pretty actionable.”  Ashley Roberts, Interactive Producer, UX Designer

Branding

Makers of Sport - A podcast by Technology.FM

“This podcast is all about design in athletics. I found it super insightful as to how design for sports franchises and leagues really touch all design disciplines: branding, photography, layout design, illustration, animation - and how quickly everything has to move throughout the course of a 2 hour game. There are tons of great interviews with creative directors at professional teams, college athletic departments, apparel companies, etc - which I found great pieces of advice from.”  Joe Moore, Video Team

Analytics Team

The Evolution of a GG Plot - A blog article by KDnuggets

“I really enjoyed this article I found earlier this year that does a great job highlighting the process of exploratory data analysis and data visualization. Data analysis starts very messy and the story you are wanting to tell with it doesn’t always come across very clearly at first.  However, approaching data visualization as a creative and iterative process is the only way to create intuitive visualizations with a clear narrative and story.” Spencer James, Director of Analytics

Bonus Books from the Analytics Team:

Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals

Good Charts: The HBR Guide to Making Smarter, More Persuasive Data Visualizations

Have anything you would add to this list? We’re still reading, watching, listening and would love your recommendations.

Happy New Year!

The Gitwit Nitwits