I recently read David Parrish’s, “T-Shirts & Suits: A Guide to the Business of Creativity.” This is a book I wish I had read some 20+ years when I started my design firm. Now that I’m working on reinventing the 60 year old firm I recently merged with, I plan to use Parrish’s ideas, tactics and techniques to help achieve our new set of goals.
I’m going to go out on a limb here at the beginning of this review and be a bit bold. Whether you’re just starting out or are a veteran, you should get this book for four simple, but important, reasons – The book is packed with information you need to know to be successful and avoid common mistakes; it’s practical; it’s clear and easy to understand (even sans MBA); it just makes sense. Here’s why.

David starts off with you – a critical core asset of your business. Well, that’s pretty obvious. But, for many designers, the marriage of creativity with business results in acute malaise and the feeling of selling out. He points out that this feeling need not be the case if you develop the correct business formula, vision, mission and core values. Parrish moves on to objectively assessing your strengths and weaknesses and finding your competencies around which you’ll build your business model and value proposition.

In the following chapters, David addresses marketing and why it’s not simply creating a brochure or mailer, effectively dealing with your competition, along with why there’s more competition out there than just other designers.

A creative enterprise is about creativity, but, as a business, it’s also about money, structure, leadership and management. Parrish leaves no stone unturned when it comes to the business end of your creativity. He shares his experience, thoughts and ideas on the hard core issues of intellectual property rights, business structure and financial management. Plus, if you follow his advice, odds are your business will grow and that usually means bringing on employees. David has you covered here, as well.

Finally, Parrish pulls it all together in an easy to understand summation. He also includes methods to measure your success, assess potential risks and the importance of a solid business plan.

I found the book insightful without any, “puff. & fluff.” David also includes a handy, “Key Points,” wrap-up at the close of each chapter. “T-Shirts & Suits” is a quick read, but one of those books you’ll likely want to have in close proximity now and in the years to come.

There are several ways of getting a copy of “T-Shirts & Suits”, and here’s just two.

You can buy it from amazon. Or, as David’s released it as a free e-book, you can download it right here at BoDo. Thanks David!

Neil Tortorella