The Iconist: The Art and Science of Standing Out

(Hardback)

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Winner of the 2019 O.W.L. Outstanding Works of Literature Award



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 effortsimple, 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 memoryand 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, artistsfrom thought leaders to anyone trying to write a resumeThe 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.

Reviews

"Human attention span istoday and forevers scarcity.JamieMustardsaw the trend early. Hestudied and lived it deeply. Hecracked the code.The Iconistis a must-read for all entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, CEOs and shapers of opinion."

Rich Karlgaard, publisher forForbes

"The Iconist is a standout.

William C. Taylor, cofounder, FAST COMPANY

A roadmap for each of us to be heard in the noise of our new digital lives.

Daniel H. Pink, New York Times bestselling author of Drive

A powerful book filled with profound and pragmatic insights. Mustard single-handedly shatters the mystique surrounding successful branding and disruption. A must-read for those who aspire to be on the vanguard of change.

Rebecca D. Costa, author, The Watchmans Rattle

The tricky thing about simplicity is its hard. Making anything seem easy takes a lot of careful work. Connecting dots across music, cultures, genres, disciplines, decades and centuries, Jamie Mustard shows off the strength of simplicityhow it inspires, endures and can be applied every day.

Ryan White, author, Springsteen: Album by Album and Jimmy Buffett: A Good Life All the Way

There is no one better at getting the world to understand what you have to offer.

Holt McCallany, star of Mind Hunters on Netflix

Jamie can make anyone STAND OUT in a transparent and iconic way.

Bibi McGill, lead guitarist and musical director for Beyonce

"Jamie is a revolutionary thinker and a rare human being."

Dr. Donna Schuurman, executive director emeritus, The Dougy Center for Grieving Children and Families

"My work needed power and clarity that would get noticed - Jamies understanding of Icons and Blocks changed everything."

Jeanie Coyle, former SVP of HR at Bank of America and American Express, founder of Worktelligence, and author of Make Talent Your Business

"Jamie is truly an Iconist. He can teach anyone to stand out and grab attention no matter what they do."

Kevin Carroll, bestselling author, speaker, and social Change Agent

Jamies codification of Icons explain why all art works and generates interest, or fails to hit the mark.

Melanie Pullen, globally influential artist and photographer for The Getty Museum



"The Iconist, compels questions of great urgency and relevance to the health of the social matrix that gives our lives meaning and purpose. It is excellent."

Dr. Shauna H Springer, PhD,world's leading authority on PTSD and Moral Injuries

"In a marketplace that's more crowded, noisy, and confusing than ever, it's harder than ever to stand out and be noticedwhether you're designing a product, selling a service, or marketing yourself.JamieMustardoffers a remarkable set of provocative ideas and a collection of engaging case studies to meet the defining businesschallenge of our time.The Iconistis itself a standout, as useful as it is original."

William C. Taylor, cofounder and founding editor of Fast Company and author of Simply Brilliant

Author Bio

Jamie Mustard is a conceptual artist, artistic director, culturist and writer including his work on perception in the physical world relating to art, imagery and ideas.

Jamie believes that emotional art is an accelerator of social change. His work on the endurance of ideas has been featured in Forbes, Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg, ABC News, Flaunt Magazine, Psychology Today and NPR. Growing up in severe poverty and illiteracy in inner city Los Angeles, Jamie overcame obstacles to eventually reverse engineer ideas to help humans STAND OUT based on primal laws. He believes that because of digital overload, we are all struggling to be seen and experiencing the same invisibility he felt as a child and calls this the economics of attention.

His books have won the National Indie Excellence Award, the OWLOutstanding Works in Literaturegiven by the largest e-commerce bookseller in the world, and runner-up for the PenCraft Book Award for Literary Excellence. Jamie is co-author of the groundbreaking book, The Invisible Machine on the biology of trauma and a childrens book about resilience. His book, The Iconist is currently in-flight entertainment on American Airlines.

A graduate of the London School of Economics, Jamies work has included the worlds leading universities, business, science, technology, art, design, creativity and non-profitsNike, Cisco, Intel, Adidas, Symantec, Parsons | The New School, Pratt Institute, Georgetown University, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Hult International Business School, US Army Special Forces, US Army Special Forces Psychological Operations, The Portland Art museum, Content London, The California Department of Public Health and TEDx at creative giant Wieden + Kennedy.

In late fall of 2025, his first graphic novel, HYBRED, will be releaseda world written, conceived and art directed by Jamie, with all images drawn and colored in a little stone town in Southern Italy with artist Francesca Filomena.A universal story of resilience in the face of overwhelming odds, Child X celebrates yet transcends raceand is ultimately an uplifting impossible to believe story of rising out of adversity and building a life full of meaning and connection. With this book, Jamie continues working to restore his familys legacy and provides a salient saga of the road to humanity and self-possession.