The Iconist

The Art and Science of Standing Out

By: Jamie Mustard

Narrated by: Jamie Mustard

Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Why do we immediately recognize art by Van Gogh and Warhol?

What does Beethoven share with Rage Against the Machine and Madonna?

What makes us remember the words of Churchill and King (and Domino’s Pizza, for that matter)?

With the rise of digital media and advertising, a constant barrage of information makes it nearly impossible to be seen and heard. In The Iconist, branding and design strategist Jamie Mustard shows you how individuals, organizations, and brands can break through the noise.

The secret to standing out lies in creating content that the desired audience will “lock” onto and remember with little effort - simple, bold ideas that can be immediately understood. The Iconist reveals a set of primal laws in human society that explain why some things stand out and endure in the mind, while others are rejected. Blending relevant examples from history and pop culture with cutting-edge psychology, Mustard explores why certain things stick and others fade from memory - and gives you an owner’s manual to make any idea, product, or service stand out and be remembered. Forget relying on luck or trial-and-error: Mastering this process will enable you, no matter your field or endeavor, to confidently craft messages that resonate with your target audience through simple, fool-proof methods.

For businesses, marketers, teachers, advertisers, artists - from thought leaders to anyone trying to write a resume - The Iconist shows how to grab and hold attention. Fair warning, though: This book will change the way you view your audience...and the entire world around you.

©2019 Jamie Mustard (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Published by arrangement with BenBella Books.

An absolute must listen!!

What makes anything iconic? I had never thought about it until I heard about this book. The author reads his own work with infectious conviction and the points made have made me see everything around me differently. In the highly over messaged world we live in, dramtically more so with the sudden emergence of the internet especially, the point of our voices being diluted is stunning. It is real and once you turn your attention to it for a moment, you feel it. We are all diluted -- so how can we stand out, or even hear ourselves think. How do we make original or valuable thoughts, ideas, inventions or entertainment truly stand out. This book is a roller coaster ride that gets your attention and then sets you foundationally in a stronger place to communicate to anyone, across any medium. THUMBS UP!

Fantastic!

Jamie has clearly poured a TON of his heart & soul into this topic--he's done a FANTASTIC job research & going into detail in HOW you can apply his concept of "blocks" in so many facets of our busy, modern life in order to get attention. Do yourself a favor, and just get this book--honestly, I liked it so much a got a print copy to boot--and, as it turns out, there are some GREAT visuals in the book as well!

Jamie goes to great length to show how this applies in SO many different facets of our lives--"blocks" aren't just visual, but also auditory--the further you get into this book, the more you'll realize just how information dense (& yet concise) & well presented the material is.

Do yourself a favor--if you're self-employed, or an artist (or both on some level as I am!) you'll get more than a 1,000x your investment from this book. Honestly the audio book is fantastic and I'm really enjoying going through the print version now and cementing the info into some of my practices even further.

Get it--you'll only be sorry you didn't get your hands on this info sooner!

Decent but fluffy

The author uses to many metaphors and dances around the real subject of the book to long. It felt like he had a word count to hit.
The info is still valuable.

keep it simple stupid

I guess the writer in keeping with his own promises kept it simple and just repeated that mantra a thousand times. I was looking for something deeper but I guess he had a point.

Appreciate the insights!

The reminder to be authentic and learning about the value of repeating a concise, core benefit was very helpful

worst book I've read in years

Poorly written, weak examples (highlighting friends who aren't necessarily remarkable), contradictory in certain chapters -- complete waste of time!

All offer no product

This guy is an engaging story teller. My problem was that he never delivered any useful answer or even unique insight into the problem/question he boldly claims, for the first hour, that the book will provide. If he had simply said it was a series of loosely connected essays and anecdotes, I would at least not feel like he stole from me.