With a mindful design approach and minimal taste, our workspaces have the ability to mold into sanctuaries in which we cultivate creativity and innovation. To inspire your daily workspace, we interviewed content creators, designers, and filmmakers to learn their day-to-day lives as working creatives, and to understand their approach to designing their desk spaces.

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@jakeweisler

Jake is a content creator that has been filming high end destination weddings all over the world for the last 3 years. He is an educator at the online Film School, Full Time Filmmaker, where he teaches over 12,000 students how to become successful videographers. 

“When I started to design my space, I had 2 requirements: clean and minimal. I needed a simple and clean desk to focus on creating. An organized mind is a successful mind and any desk should reflect that. I’m also a freaking gadget guy when it comes to items that make my life easier, simpler, and more organized. My workspace is my creative zone, it’s where I piece together stories, script new ideas, and color grade the scene.”

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@zoe.interiors

Zoe is an interior designer and content creator based in Hertfordshire, England. As a previous graphic designer for many years, she found her true calling when she was asked to design the interior of a restaurant. After her son was born, Zoe left the agency she was working for and began freelancing as an interior designer for her friends and family. By word of mouth recommendations and her Instagram page, Zoe connected to a global platform of like-minded people and opened up a whole new career path.

“My creative process is fairly simple. I have a minimal style and signature look that I don’t stray away from because I don’t enjoy excessive color or fuss. I keep the ‘trend’ pieces to things that are quickly removable like the soft furnishings and decorative pieces so that my clients don’t have to decorate every other year. I believe that the spaces we live in impact our mental headspace, and I want to help people make their homes their sanctuaries. The space I designed is an alternative to high wall cupboards, which have always been a pet peeve of mine. I find them difficult to use and wanted to design an alternative that made everything accessible. I also have some beautiful pieces that I wanted to display as they bring me and my family joy.”

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@allisajacobs

As a former special education high school teacher, Allisa found her creative outlet as a home designer. After leaving the teaching field, she joined her brother at Cascade Iron Co., where she developed hardware for the modern industrial home. This brought Allisa closer to her design path as she searched for ways to make her home more intentional and minimal.

“Moving into a smaller, outdated ranch-style home meant I was leaving my designated office space behind. Because I really need a space to think and call my own, I searched for ways to carve out a work spot in our new home. This little nook, though awkward and tiny, seemed like the best solution! By painting the back wall black, I started to embrace this quirky space. I added wall hooks, a small bookcase, and shelf to make it functional. Now, I get to see the mountain views from the window and have a space to work and call my own.”

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@holly.beechener

Holly is an architect-in-training that has a passion for interior design, a career she hopes to professionally pursue in the future. She is also learning pottery and loves to paint.

“As a freelance architect and interior designer, I needed a versatile workspace that could attend to all my needs. I used to spend a lot of time working from the dining room table or sofa. I find that I am not as productive when I work, eat, and relax in the same space. Having this new workspace means I can leave this room at the end of the day and feel like there is a clear separation between work and life. This little workspace is great when you want to hop on the computer for a few hours, whether it’s browsing the internet or doing some freelance work. It’s also a great space to sketch or paint, with consistent daylight and beautiful views from the window.”

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@ralchevd

Drago is a filmmaker and motion designer that works at a large enterprise software company, making product videos and animations. In his downtime, he is also a freelance designer and photographer and works with various brands to create content. As a working creative, Drago spends a lot of his time working from home, so it is essential to cultivate an office space that inspires creativity and productivity.

“I designed this space to be bright and open, without any distractions. I am constantly inspired by good design and aesthetics – I love natural colors and plants, which can also be seen on my screensaver. The Austin Kleon art on the wall reminds me to stay creative and get things done! The carpet was initially selected to blend with the cats, but it ended up completing the desk setup nicely.”

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Our environment shapes who we are and the work that we create — nowhere is this more apparent than the desk that we work at. While the argument for a clean desk void of clutter gives room to the idea behind orderliness in our work, there’s also research behind a disorderly room being advantageous for breaking through tradition and conventional thinking.

Here are the inspiring workspaces of 10 famously creative individuals and how they choose to cultivate their space:

Yves Saint Laurent

Fashion Designer

The iconic designer kept inspiration by his side in the form of paintings, sketches, and artifacts. His faithful dog, Moiujik was a companion that would be frequently be seen by his desk.

Jacqueline Kennedy

First Lady

Before she was Mrs. Kennedy, The First Lady, she was Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy of Georgetown. This is a famous personal desk of hers, inherited from her father John Vernou Bouvier III at her home in Georgetown.

Steve Jobs

Founder of Apple

Despite his minimalist design taste and the aesthetics that Apple products take, Steve’s desk was anything but minimal — often cluttered with books, papers, and other items for his daily work.

Ellsworth Kelly

Artist

The artist Ellsworth Kelly kept his workshop studio filled with the tools of his craft as a painter, sculptor, and printmaker.

Albert Einstein

Physicist

One of the most iconic stories of Einstein’s office is the picture that was taken by photographer Ralph Morse, just hours after his death in Princeton, April 1955.

Susan Sontag

Writer

Her desk would come to be characterized by the many books and ideas that Susan Sontag consumed — “intelligence is really a kind of taste: a taste in ideas”.

Ernest Hemingway

Writer

A standing desk user long before the concept became mainstream, Hemingway would spend hours with a typewriter perched upon stacks of cabinets and books.

 

Thomas Edison

Inventor

Edison’s desk featured shelving and cabinets for organizing all of his papers and inventions.

Vivienne Westwood

Fashion Designer

Vivienne Westwood, known for both her elegance, femininity, and punk aesthetic, brought a new form of culture and fashion styles into the mainstream.

Lisa Congdon

Illustrator

Known for her colorful abstract paintings, patterns, and line drawings, Lisa Congdon’s workspace has bright color palettes that reflect her point of view on design aesthetics.

Jeff Bezos

Founder, Amazon

Before he was the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos’s first desk for Amazon.com was made out of a single piece of plywood that he used to create a makeshift desk himself.

Elon Musk

Founder, Tesla, SpaceX

As the CEO of two large companies, Elon opts for a U shaped desk to maximize efficiency and work space.

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As authorities continue to promote social distancing and shelter in place, our online community is finding a way to make time at home both productive and enriching. One activity the CDC recommends to reduce secondary traumatic stress, is to spend time reading a good book.  

As the community shares their bookshelves and reading lists online, we pulled over 20 tweets and threads of book suggestions from writers, entrepreneurs, authors, designers, and everyday people.

Here is a master list of 100 books to read in quarantine:

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NON-FICTION

Biography

1. Shoe Dog by. Phil Knight

2. Elon Musk by. Ashlee Vance

3. The Everything Store by. Brad Stone

4. Fighting for Space by. Amy Shira Teitel

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5. The Right Stuff by. Tom Wolfe

6. Becoming by. Michelle Obama

7. Mamba Mentality by. Kobe Bryant

8. Born a Crime by. Trevor Noah

9. Rise of the Rocket Girls by. Nathalia Holt

10. The Glass Universe by. Dava Sobel

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Business

11. The Success Equation by. Michael J. Mauboussin

12. Driving Digital Strategy by. Sunil Gupta

13. Perspective on McKinsey & Company by. Marvin Bower

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14. How to Win Friends and Influence People by. Dale Carnegie

15. Start with Why by. Simon Sinek

16. Emotional Intelligence by. Daniel Goleman

17. The Intelligent Investor by. Benjamin Graham

18. Zero to One by. Peter Thiel

19. The Lean Startup by. Eric Ries

20. Superforecasting by. Philip E. Tetlock

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Science & Technology

21. Sapiens by. Yuval Noah Harari

22. The Fabric of Reality by. David Deutsch

23. The Inevitable by. Kevin Kelly

24. The Beginning of Infinity by. David Deutsch

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25. Dawn of the Code War by. John P. Carlin

26. Cult of the Dead Cow by. Joseph Menn

27. The Hacker and the State by. Ben Buchanan

28. A Short History of Nearly Everything by. Bill Bryson

29. Packing for Mars by. Mary Roach

30. The Grand Design by. Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow

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Self-help

31. The Power of Habit by. Charles Duhigg

32. The Art of Gathering by. Bernadette Dunne

33. Reboot by. Jerry Colonna

34. The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck by. Mark Manson

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35. Atomic Habits by. James Clear

36. 12 Rules for Life by. Jordan B. Peterson

37. Stillness Is the Key by. Ryan Holiday

38. The Obstacle Is the Way by. Ryan Holiday

39. GRIT by. Angela Duckworth

40. The Power of Now by. Eckhart Tolle

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Philosophy

41. Man’s Search For Meaning by. Viktor E. Frankl

42. The Consolations of Philosophy by. Alain De Botton

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43. The Essential Plato by. Plato

44. Tyranny of Virtue by. Robert Boyers

45. Striking Thoughts by. Bruce Lee

46. Letters From a Stoic by. Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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47. Beyond Good and Evil by. Friedrich Nietzsche

48. Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger by. Peter Bevelin

49. Siddhartha by. Hermann Hesse

50. Awareness by. Anthony De Mello

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‍Design

51. The Creative Habit by. Twyla Tharp

52. Proust was a Neuroscientist by. Jonah Lehrer

53. The Reflective Practitioner by. Donald A. Schon

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54. Where Good Ideas Come From by. Steven Johnson

55. Metaphors We Live By by. George Lakoff

56. The Accidental Creative by. Todd Henry

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57. Creative Confidence by. Tom Kelley and David Kelley

58. Thinking Fast and Slow by. Daniel Kahneman

59. Design of Everyday Things by. Don Norman

60. Don’t Make Me Think by. Steve Krug

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FICTION

Science

61. The Fated Sky by. Mary Robinette Kowal

62. The Calculating Stars by. Mary Robinette Kowal

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63. Delta-V by. Daniel Suarez

64. 1984 by. George Orwell

65. Machines Like Me by. Ian McEwan

66. Red Moon by. Kim Stanley Robinson

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67. Light From Other Stars by. Erika Swyler

68. The City in the Middle of the Night by. Charlie Jane Anders

69. The Light Brigade by. Kameron Hurley

70. Recursion by. Blake Crouch

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Fantasy

71. The Alchemist by. Paulo Coelho

72. The Starless Sea by. Erin Morgenstern

73. Middle Game by. Seanan McGuire

74. Ninth House by. Leigh Bardugo

75. The Winter of the Witch by. Katherine Arden

76. Black Leopard, Red Wolf by. Marlon James

77. Magic for Liars by. Sarah Gailey

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78. Descent Into Madness by. Sean R. Frazier

79. The Call of Chaos by. Sean R. Frazier

80. The Coming Storm by. Sean R. Frazier

Thriller

81. My Dark Vanessa by. Kate Elizabeth Russell

82. The Silent Patient by. Alex Michaelides

83. My Lovely Wife by. Samantha Downing

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84. The Kill Club by. Wendy Heard

85. The Lost Man by. Jane Harper

86. The Whisper Man by. Alex North

87. An Anonymous Girl by. Greer Hendricks

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88. Curious Toys by. Elizabeth Hand

89. The Chain by. Adrian McKinty

90. My Sister, the Serial Killer by. Oyinkan Braithwaite

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Romance

91. Call Me By Your Name by. André Aciman

92. Love Her or Lose Her by. Tessa Bailey

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93. The Wedding Date by. Jasmine Guillory

94. Red, White, & Royal Blue by. Casey McQuiston

95. Get a Life, Chloe Brown by. Talia Hibbert

Historical 

96. The Night Tiger by. Yangsze Choo

97. The Mercies by. Kiran Millwood Hargrave

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98. All the Light We Cannot See by. Anthony Doerr

99. The Last Days of Pompeii by. Edward Bulwer Lytton

100. Daisy Jones and the Six by. Taylor Jenkins Reid

The world of practical-yet-stylish work bags. These are laptop backpacks that hold everything you need to make it through a day at the office, yet still, look stylish enough to take to dinner once you’re off the clock. What makes a backpack perfect for the commute is different from the characteristics of a regular rucksack, so here are some things to look for:

1. Materials to Consider

In a work environment, what you carry needs to look the part – neutral colorways and smart, low-key designs all contribute towards creating an air of dependable professionalism — whether it’s a tote bag or a backpack.

The materials play a large part in determining the overall look and function of a bag. With a work backpack, you want to look out for materials that are very wearable; meaning that the materials themselves are a reflection of your profession and how you go about your workday.

Depending on your profession, here are some common types of materials that go well with a backpack that looks professional:

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Leather

Leather is a classic material that gives any commuter backpack a premium and stylish feel. Tried and true in the business world, leather bags have been used by working professionals for years, so a leather backpack can help you fit right in with a history of elegance.

Because leather doesn’t come on a roll like other types of bag materials, it costs more to produce and make in a backpack. Bags made from leather also require more craftsmanship so if you’re looking at a leather laptop backpack, be prepared to spend more than a backpack made with knitted materials.

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Nylon & Polyester

Nylon and polyester are great materials because they’re simple and durable while still feeling a premium feel. Both are traditional materials found in early uses of backpacks and bags (Prada and Longchamp have iconic nylon bags) and they’ll last a while without ripping, tearing, or pilling. Tumi is well known for pioneering a type of nylon called ballistic nylon, known for its durability and deluxe strength.

Heathered & Variegated Materials

Wool and denim are both examples of this since they are both used in everyday worn items from Shirts to Pants. Going for a heathered or variegated material will fit a certain type of aesthetic and profession because it will match with the clothing that you’re already wearing, giving you a consistent head to toe look. Bag brands like Incase or Timbuk2 often feature very wearable materials.

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2. Materials to Avoid

Cotton Canvas

Cotton canvas is typically seen in many daypacks or school (like Jansport, Herschel) and the casual looking material can give off a seemingly unprofessional vibe. Canvas is also not very water-resistant (although some bags do add a layer of coating to the canvas), and it’s a fabric that is very fine and therefore is more susceptible to tears or rips.

Noisy, Thin Linings

If you’re at a meeting and getting something out of your bag, the last thing you want is to draw attention to you from the crunchy sound that a backpack’s lining can make. Lining that’s made with cheaper, thinner materials lend themselves to making sounds, whereas you won’t have that issue with a lining made from thicker materials.

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The ISM backpack lining is made from a polyester twill which gives it a soft hand feel, but durable exterior.

3. Features & Functionality To Look For

Padded Laptop Backpack

If you’re carrying your laptop or tablet sleeveto and from work, having a padded laptop compartment is a must-have. The best backpacks will have extra padding underneath the bottom of the laptop sleeve and plenty of room to keep your Macbook or iPad safe.

When evaluating a laptop bag, be sure to check if the padding in the laptop pocket extends all the way to the bottom of the bag or if there are a few inches of space between the laptop sleeve and the bottom of the bag.

Extra points here go to a padded laptop sleeve that lives in a separate compartment from the main compartment of the backpack, so you’ll be able to easily access your tech without having to rummage through all of your other belongings.

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A separate waterproof zippered laptop compartment is one of the main features in the ISM backpack. The large backpack fits up to a 15-inch laptop, while the small backpack fits up to a 13-inch laptop.

Lightweight & Portable

Whether you’re commuting to work or strapping a bag to your carry-on, it’s important to have a bag that is lightweight yet roomy. It’s one less thing to worry about having enough storage space for your gym clothes or your tote causing you back and shoulder pains.

A great daypack is ideally made with materials that are lightweight, so it’s something to keep in mind when looking for a backpack made with heavier materials, like an all-leather bag.

When you’re at the office, it’s great to have a backpack that is also easily portable, so in addition to the shoulder straps, having a secondary carry handle is a useful feature. Accessory handles on the top or side of the backpack allow you to carry your backpack like a briefcase when you’re walking into your office or in a crowded area like the subway. These bags can also double as a travel backpack, due to their versatility.

Structured Backpack

Work backpacks should have a structured look since it makes them feel more presentable and serious. This can be achieved with padding throughout the bag, and padding is also great for protecting your valuables.

Another benefit of having a structured backpack is that it will stand up straight when placed on the ground. You want to be able to put your bag down, open it, get your tablet, charger, or what you need out of your backpack so you can move on with your work. Having a bag next to you that doesn’t look all crumpled is an easy way to look more professional.

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Comfortable Back Straps

Comfort is another key feature in a work backpack. While it doesn’t need to have all the padding and functionality of a hiking backpack, there are a few must-have features to allow for a comfortable carry.

One of those is having a back panel that is padded. A comfortable backing will have some sort of memory foam (EVA/EVE) or mesh padding inside of it to give your back a nice soft surface to lean on. Having breathable materials on the back straps is great for those hot summer days when you’re trying to keep sweat marks to a minimal.

Padding on the shoulder straps is also a nice feature because it decreases the pressure on your shoulders and allows for an easier carry. Unlike a single shoulder bag or tote, backpacks distribute weight evenly between two straps. The equal weight distribution provides relief on your shoulders and back caused by toting or sitting at a desk for hours on end. Adjustable straps are another essential feature in the best work backpacks.

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Memory foam and mesh straps and back padding make the ISM classic backpack lightweight and comfortable to wear during any season.

Plenty of Internal Organization

For easy access, choosing a backpack that has a U shaped zipper opening is your best bet. This type of shape makes it easy to see where your stuff is while making getting things out simple. Types of backpacks to avoid if you value quick access are bag shapes like a roll top or top loader since these require you to untie a drawstring or unroll a part of the bag first before you’re able to get into the main compartment.

For staying organized and on top of your game, it’s convenient to have a bag that has at least two main compartments, with one of them being a dedicated laptop compartment for keeping your tech safe and secure. A convenient front pocket or side pocket also allows for quick access to your essentials.

In the other compartment, it can be convenient if the backpack has some dedicated space for organization, like a zippered pocket, water bottle pockets, or key rings and retractable cords. More is not always better in the case of an organized work backpack, so its best to find a bag that has all the necessary organization but not too many expandable pockets that will probably go unused and feel cluttered.

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Quick Access Pockets

When you’re commuting to and from work, having easily accessible pockets comes in handy. A quick access pocket can be typically found on the front, side, or back of a backpack. Whether it’s a subway card, phone, wallet, keys, headphones,  gum, or any small item that you carry, having an easy access pocket makes getting items out much easier, especially since you won’t have to take off your backpack. If you like to carry a water bottle to and from work, then using a backpack that has water bottle pockets is also convenient.

Durable & Weather Resistant

Having a work backpack that’s weather-resistant is a nice feature since it’ll give you peace of mind that your electronics are safe if you get caught in the rain. This could be a waterproof zipper that keeps your laptop compartment secure or choosing a backpack that has been coated with a water-resistant layer.

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4. What To Avoid

Heavy Branding

With a work backpack, you want the focus to be on you and not your bag so it’s best to avoid heavy branding and noisy graphics. Instead, go for a backpack with a subtle logo and clean, minimal aesthetic. When it comes to your outfit, by keeping your work backpack to a minimal aesthetic, you can highlight other accessories you might wear like a watch, socks, or jewelry.

Excessive Details

Keeping it simple and minimal is best for conveying a professional look, so try and avoid things like excessive buckles, pockets, or zippers. You want to find a backpack that has just enough detail, but not more than what’s required for a workday.

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5. Final Thoughts On Finding the Perfect Work Bag

There’s no black and white way of using a work bag, it comes down to preference, what kind of profession you’re in, and where you’re based (e.g. the difference in climate between San Francisco & New York.)

One thing we do recommend though is looking for a work backpack that has a sophisticated mix of materials. If you have a bag that uses all of the same material, then nothing really stands out as there is no contrast. But having a bag with a mix of two materials can give it some contrast and uniqueness that can take an all-black backpack and give it some subtle distinctiveness.

The perfect bag was something we had a hard time finding. Most functional bags were bulky. We wanted something that was both useful and sleek. To do this, we interviewed hundreds of professionals on what features they actually used every day and designed our backpack around them, while keeping a minimal and timeless aesthetic.

Meet the ISM Backpack. One bag for all-day in two sizes depending on your fit. We use premium materials and provide a lifetime warranty on the bag (it’s made at the same manufacturer as TUMI, Armani, and Longchamp).

Your grandparents are absolutely right – again. Things really were simpler back in the day, and this is especially true of modern professional dress codes. Back then, you worked in an office, you wore a suit and a tie. Easy. No messing. Job done. Sure, it wasn’t fun, and it made for an awfully tear-out-your-eyeballs dull workspace, but at least it made sleepily dressing yourself in the morning easy.

Fast forward to today, and more and more offices are loosening their ties to allow for a new, more relaxed dress code – business casual. It’s brilliant news for those of us wanting to break free of the three-piece shackles, but terrifying news for those of us – 99% of us – who don’t quite know what such a nebulous and ambiguous description requires us to actually do. And with that, comes the risk of getting it really, embarrassingly, clear-your-desk-your-P45’s-in-the-post wrong.

So we called on Mat Pike, the style and travel blogger behind Buckets and Spades, to help us get through this particular dress code’s assault course. “The one thing that sets smart casual apart from business casual is that you must remember that you still have a job to do,” Pike explains. “But like smart casual, the rules are cloudy. Do you choose to wear the same thing as usual, but switch the shoes for sneakers? Or do you just ditch the blazer that day and loosen up the shirt a little? There are no right answers, and I hate to say it, but there are a lot of wrong answers.”

Let Pike steer your sartorial ship away from those wrong answers with these five must-consider points, all of which will have you dressing smartly, casually, comfortably and stylishly for your office from here on.

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1. Keep It Clean For The Right First Impression

“You often hear how shoes will be the first item of clothing you’ll be judged on, but you can’t disregard how important your shirt choice is – it’s the piece that sits right in your co-workers’ and boss’s eyeline. Whether or not you’ve opted for a blazer and tie combo – a call that’s ultimately up to you – a fresh white Oxford shirt is a reliable choice. For more of a departure, or if you’re more of a denim guy, try a long sleeve medium-wash chambray shirt. I’d always suggest avoiding patterns when it comes to shirts, too. Clean and crisp is the look you want to achieve.”

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2. Sneakers Are The New Wingtips

“Sneakers can absolutely work in the realms of business casual, but anything that could even be considered for the gym should be left at the door. You want something more subtle, modern, clean and laced up for the office. Look for minimalist details, a slim silhouette and luxe leather, because these will fit perfectly into your work wardrobe as well as your weekend attire. Go for white, off-white or navy – they’re safe bets that should work with your slimmer suits too.”

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3. Slim Down On The Leg

“I’d always suggest sticking to the trouser fit you’re most comfortable with, but a slim leg is a failsafe option when it comes to business casual. Here’s where you can really experiment with materials, too. In warm weather, I suggest fabrics such as seersucker, chino cottons or even breathable wool. If you had jeans in mind you’ll need to stick to the slim rule, and in a dark indigo or black. Avoid, at all costs, rips, design details or overpowering faded patches. These things have the power to bring your entire outfit to its knees.”

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4. Sling Some Simplicity Over Your Shoulder

“There’s a tendency to complicate things when it comes to bags – pockets for things that we only use once a year, materials to protect us from every weather imaginable, and meshes or ropes that wouldn’t look out of place on the face of El Capitan. A simple, smart work bag would all be great choices for business casual though. Try to stay a good distance away from anything that you would class as retro, and only really consider pockets or sleeves that’ll house the essentials – your folders, your pens, your jam sandwiches.”

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5. Tweak Your Accessories

“Accessories are a great way to bring up the casual and tone down the business. If you’re sticking with a tie then try a knitted silk one as an alternative, or stick a Nato nylon strap on your timepiece. A pocket square and socks can bring a laidback pop of color too, but swerve gimmicky patterns and bright colors.”

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Peering into someone’s bookshelf is like getting a glimpse into the inner workings of their mind. The books someone cites as their favorites can say a lot about who they are. “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle? You’re spiritual and introspective. “The Rational Optimist” by Matt Ridley? Analytical and business minded. “Bossypants” by Tina Fey? You don’t take yourself too seriously.

Famous entrepreneurs and thought leaders in particular, often regard reading as an essential habit to success. Founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, read 50 books a year, while Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla, read at least 10 hours a day. 

To take a peek into their brilliant minds, here are the bookshelves and favorite books of 10 famously successful individuals.

Elon Musk‍

Originally from South Africa, Elon Musk is a serial inventor and entrepreneur. Notable companies he has founded include PayPal, Tesla, and SpaceX. His reading habits are slightly unusual: he says that he prefers to read books on his iPhone.

His favorite books are:

The Lord of the Rings by. J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by. Douglas Adams

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by. Walter Isaacson

Einstein: His Life and Universe by. Walter Isaacson

Structures: Or Why Things Don’t Fall Down by. J.E. Gordon

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Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook from his Harvard dorm room in 2003. In order to promote reading, Zuckerberg started an online book club called the “A Year of Books” in 2015. He made book recommendations every two weeks through his Facebook account, offering a total of 23 options. 

His favorite books are:

Why Nations Fail by. Daren Acemoglu and James Robinson

The Rational Optimist by. Matt Ridley

Portfolios of the Poor by. Daryl Collins, Jonathan Morduch, Stuart Rutherford, and Arlanda Ruthven

The Three-Body Problem by. Liu Cixin

Genome by. Matt Ridley

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Bill Gates

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is well known for his proclivity for reading. He releases a new list of his favorite books annually, and reads at least one book every week. In 2017, Gates shared with Time magazine that reading was “absolutely essential to success.”

His favorite books are:

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by. Steven Pinker

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by. Elizabeth Kolbert

The Man Who Fed the World by. Leon Hesser

Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street by. John Brooks

The Vital Question by. Nick Lane

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Jeff Bezos

When Amazon debuted in 1994, it was known as an online marketplace for selling books. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Jeff Bezos is well read. According to his biographer, he claims to learn more from reading fictional novels, like his top pick “The Remains of the Day”, than non-fiction.

His favorite books are:

The Remains of the Day by. Kazuo Ishiguro

Sam Walton: Made in America by. Sam Walton

Memos from the Chairman by. Alan Greenberg

The Mythical Man-Month by. Frederick P Brooks Jr.

Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by. Jim Collins

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Janet Yellen

Janet Yellen must love what she does, because the economist and former Chair of the Federal Reserve has a book list that matches her resume. The New York Times reported that her vacations to the beach include “a suitcase of economics books”.

Her favorite books are:

The Rise and Fall of American Growth by. Robert Gordon

The Second Machine Age by. Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee

The Federal Reserve System: Purposes and Functions by. Board of Governors

Gold: The Monetary Polaris by. Nathan Lewis

Capitalism Will Save Us by. Steve Forbes

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Gretchin Rubin

Former lawyer and Supreme Court Clerk, Gretchin Rubin is known for her expertise on the subject of human happiness. Her book, “The Happiness Project” was a New York Times Best Seller.

Her favorite books are:

Man’s Search for Meaning by. Viktor Frankl

Jackie Under My Skin by. Wayne Koestenbaum

My Early Life by. Winston Churchill

The Life of Samuel Johnson by. James Boswell

The Habit of Being by. Flannery O’Connor

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Sheryl Sandberg

You might be surprised to learn that Sheryl Sandberg, COO of tech company Facebook, prefers physical paperbacks to digital readers. Though she uses an iPad when traveling, she describes her method of traditional reading: “I like holding a book open and being able to leaf through it, highlight with a real yellow pen and dog-ear important pages. After I finish a book, I’ll often look to see how many page corners are turned down as one gauge of how much I liked it.”

Her favorite books are:

A Short Guide to a Happy Life by. Anna Quindlen

Bossypants by. Tina Fey

Conscious Business: How to Build Value Through Values by. Fred Kofman

Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood by. Michael Lewis

Now, Discover Your Strengths by. Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton

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Barack Obama

The 44th president of the United States releases a list of his favorite books every year through Twitter. He has said, “reading is the gateway skill that makes all other learning possible, from complex world problems and the meaning of our history to scientific discovery and technological proficiency.”
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His favorite books are:

Moby Dick by. Herman Melville

Self-Reliance by. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Song of Solomon by. Toni Morrison

Parting the Waters by. Taylor Branch

Gilead by. Marylinne Robinson

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Larry Page

Larry Page was moved to tears by an autobiography of Nikola Tesla that he read when he was 12 (talented inventor Tesla died in penniless obscurity). Page says, “I figured that inventing things wasn’t any good. You really had to get them out into the world and have people use them to get any effect.” The lesson seems to have taken hold – Page is a cofounder of Google, one of the most widely used internet services in the world.
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His favorite books are:

My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla by. Nikola Tesla

Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! by. Richard P. Feynman

What Do You Care What Other People Think? by. Richard P. Feynman

QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter by. Richard P. Feynman

The Pleasure of Finding Things Out by. Richard P. Feynman

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Oprah Winfrey

Oprah has said that “nothing, not one thing or activity, can replace the experience of a good read – being transported to a different land, a different realm, through words and language.” Her book club recommended 70 books during its 15 year run.

Her favorite books are:

Discover the Power Within You by. Eric Butterworth

A New Earth by. Eckhart Tolle

The Poisonwood Bible by. Barbara Kingsolver

Night by. Elie Wiesel

A Fine Balance by. Rohinton Mistry

For years you used the same backpack for school, work, and everything in between. Now, as you level up your career you’ve grown out of your old school rucksack. In a work environment, what you carry needs to look the part – neutral colorways and smart, low-key designs all of which contribute to creating an air of dependable professionalism. See why making the move from a school backpack to a professional bag is everything you need to level up your career:

1. No More Looking Like a Student

Oftentimes, the bag you carry helps others determine how professional you are – similar to the shoes you wear and the jewelry on your wrist. It’s a great way for potential employers, clients, and customers to see the image you want to portray. The materials play a large part in determining the overall look and function of a bag. With a work backpack, you want to select materials that are very wearable; meaning that the materials themselves are a reflection of your professional style and how you go about your job.

Consider materials like polyester or cotton canvas, often seen in many school bags like Jansport or Herschel. The casual looking material can give off a seemingly unprofessional vibe. If you’re at a meeting and getting something out of your bag, the last thing you want is to draw attention to you from the crunchy sound that a canvas bag can make.

Contrast this with the professionalism of leather. Leather is a classic material that gives any work backpack a premium and stylish feel. Tried and true in the business world, leather bags have been used by working professionals for years, so a leather backpack can help you fit right in with a history of elegance.

As cliche as it sounds, there is truth behind the phrase “first impressions count.” When you upgrade your bag, you also upgrade your image. Don’t leave your image to chance.

The ISM Backpack is made from a considerate mix of full-grain leather and water-resistant nylon for that perfect balance between professional and casual.

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2. Be a Prepared Professional

As a professional, you want to be prepared for any occasion – whether it is a last minute client meeting or a drizzle during your commute. Upgrading to a more professional bag designed for work can help you organize your items (and life) better.

For staying organized and on top of your game, it is convenient to have a bag that has at least two main compartments. A dedicated laptop compartment will keep your tech and papers secure and easily accessible. You want to be able to put your bag down, open it, get your tablet, charger, or what you need out of your backpack so you can move on with your work. A structured bag that stands up straight and doesn’t look all crumpled is an easy way to look more professional.

A dedicated waterproof zippered laptop compartment is one of the main features in the ISM Backpack. The Large Backpack fits up to a 16-inch laptop, while the Small Backpack fits up to a 13-inch laptop.

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3. Invest In Yourself & Your Future

While a luxury fashion bag from St. Laurent or Prada is an investment in your style, designer bags are often an inappropriate status symbol for the workplace. For work, you want to invest in assets that help you advance your career. A work bag upgrade is an investment that will pay for itself via the improvements in your professional life – just think about all the people you will interact with, especially after COVID.

Cheap bags cost you less in the short-term, but more in the long-run. Quality, professional bags are durable, which means they are made from premium materials. Consider two bags made from different grades of leather. The bag made from cheaper leather like top-grain or vegan leather will start to crack and crease in its corners after only a few months of use. The bag made from real full-grain leather (like the ISM Backpack), will age well over time and last for years.

Having a professional backpack that is weather-resistant is a nice benefit since it’ll give you peace of mind that your electronics are safe if you get caught in the rain. This could be a waterproof zipper that keeps your laptop compartment secure or choosing a backpack that has been coated with a water-resistant layer.

A bag made with real full-grain leather like the ISM Backpack is made to last for years, especially if it’s regularly taken care of. The ISM Backpack also comes with a Lifetime Warranty.

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Meet The Only Professional Bag You Need

We wanted to address a problem that many working professionals like us faced with the current bag options ー they were either too student-like, too expensive, or too bulky. We wanted one bag that can be seamlessly used to go from one event to another. That keeps our laptop safe. Something made with quality leather materials that would last years, staying sleek, minimal, and in great condition.

To do so, we took our favorite aesthetic pieces from designer bags and combined it with the functionality of a tech laptop bag and the comfort of a hiking bag. The result is a sleek, minimal backpack that fits everything you need, and won’t cost a few month’s rent.

Meet the ISM Backpack. Large enough to fit two 13” – 16″ Laptops, The Backpack is comprised of half full-grain leather, half nylon for that perfect balance of casual and professional. Made in the same factory as the top luxury bag brands, your ISM Backpack is guaranteed for life. It’s our way of standing behind the quality of our products.

How should we best define the concept of great design? Unsurprisingly, the answer has never been simple. Much like “love” or “success,” design can differ sharply among its admirers and critics. And so, we continue to struggle for a design definition that encompasses all its fields — from architecture to human computer interaction (HCI) design.

What’s resulted is an impressive range in the designer’s experience. As design expands to acknowledge the traditional (architecture, engineering) to the contemporary (animation, user experience), designers draw wider lines around their disciplines. A designer’s discipline can and often do inform their definitions, mediums, and approach to synthesizing human experiences. And in the professional space – as with a fashion or industrial designer – those roles are sharpened still to reflect the motivations of businesses, brands, and audiences.

But we can still find meaning in how iconic designers have since explored personal experiences, challenges, and beliefs about the design process. Here are some useful design quotes on the role of good design and bad design.

ON FUNCTION IN GOOD DESIGN

Originally misattributed to Leonardo da Vinci, it was William Gaddis that went on record to remind us that “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” with his 1955 debut, The Recognitions. There’s no telling if he too intended to invoke design’s oldest adage at the time, but thus there it was – finally in print.

Within classic design theory, architects and engineers were driven by viability, not aesthetic. What resulted was an artform informed by purpose, and where good design was considered useful. At its core, classic design theory argued that good design should always serve human needs.

An original proponent of this school of thought, industrial designer Dieter Rams never wavered from functionalism in his extensive dialogues on product design:

Design should not dominate things, should not dominate people. It should help people. That’s its role. […] [Good designers] should–and must–question everything generally thought to be obvious. They must have an intuition for people’s changing attitudes. For the reality in which they live, for their dreams, their desires, their worries, their needs, their living habits. They must also be able to assess realistically the opportunities and bounds of technology.

And while ushering in the bulk of the computer age (with IBM), Thomas J. Watson was the first of the digital age to agree:

Design must reflect the practical and aesthetic in business but above all… good design must primarily serve people.

Socially responsible designer Victor Papanek thought that if design were to have any function, such benefit should be clearly rooted in ecological innovation. He wasn’t fond of manufactured products that were unsafe, unnecessary, or functionally useless:

Design, if it is to be ecologically responsible and socially responsive, must be revolutionary and radical. [It] is the conscious effort to impose a meaningful order.

In 2011, British architect Norman Foster agreed. Unlike his predecessors, Foster asserted that modern architecture could too be transformative.. With his 2011 TED Talk on green architecture, Foster posed that architects and civil engineers had a social responsibility to consider and integrate important issues – such as the environmental agenda – into their design processes:

As an architect, you design for the present, with an awareness of the past, for a future which is essentially unknown. […] Everything we design is a response to the specific climate and culture of a particular place.

However, graphic designer and architect Ivan Chermayeff advocated for human-centered design. He thought design was strictly meant to solve the problems of humans:

Design is directed toward human beings. To design is to solve human problems by identifying them and executing the best solution.

But designer Lindon Leader thought it was much simpler than that:

“I strive for two things in design: simplicity and clarity. Great design is born of those two things.”

As for American graphic designer Saul Bass? Simpler still:

Design is thinking made visual.

Multidisciplinary designer Massimo Vignelli placed more value on logic than aesthetics when creating his pieces. Vignelli worked on a range of projects from houseware and furniture design to designing the New York Subway Map.

Good design is a matter of discipline. It starts by looking at the problem and collecting all the available information about it. If you understand the problem, you have the solution. It’s really more about logic than imagination.

New media designer and filmmaker Hillman Curtis too thought a designer was only as good as his ability to anticipate and address common problems:

“The goal of a designer is to listen, observe, understand, sympathize, empathize, synthesize, and glean insights that enable him or her to ‘make the invisible visible.’

But ultimately, it was architects that first threaded form and function together. Upon its birth, architectural design was only considered “good” when it best performed its primary function: shelter. Regardless of its design, a building’s shaky foundation or structural flaws rendered it useless, and thus: badly designed.

With the expansion of modern architecture design, architects were seen as public figures, invited to theorize about their creations at public showings. Here, buildings could be considered both craft and refuge. Yet the first modern architects held fast to “designing with purpose,” reluctant to assign any artistic value to their creations – as evidenced best by architect and professor Michael Graves:

Good design to me is both appearance and functionality together. It’s the experience that makes it good design.

Celebrated architect Frank Lloyd Wright took “function-as-form” even further by designing The Guggenheim Museum as a testament to his explicit belief that form and function shared the spotlight:

Form follows function – that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union.

Still, for Zaha Hadid, known for her modern aesthetic and unique style of rendering surprising new spaces with fluid forms, there was an intangible quality of taste and pleasure that good architecture design should have on a space. Hadid believed that:

Architecture is really about well-being. I think that people should feel good in a space… I don’t think that architecture is only about shelter. It should be able to excite you, to calm you, to make you think.

With the boom of the American luxury goods market, product engineers and designers were inclined to agree. As architecture served an explicit human need, so did the original car, digital device, and household products. It didn’t take long for traditional design theory to give way to modal design processes that hyperfocused on rapid iteration. With the rise of design behemoths like Apple and Microsoft, designers quickly spurned the warnings of Charles Eames (of the pioneering design duo Charles and Bernice “Ray” Eames), who once advised that:

Designers should only innovate as a last resort. […] Recognizing the need is the primary condition for design.

Imagine if James Dyson hadn’t fundamentally disagreed. (The idea for his $3-billion Dyson company sparked from his childhood hatred for vacuums.) In Margaret Heffernan’s book, A Bigger Prize: How We can Do Better than the Competition, Dyson once argued the case for modular innovation, noting simply that “people buy products when they’re better.” In 2011, while heralding Apple’s intuitive products, he went onto complain that:

Far too few designers put any thought into usability, ending up with a great product that’s completely inaccessible. You read about all the amazing things it can do but when you try to use it you’re just frustrated.

ON DESIGN AS COMMUNICATION

Nearly twenty years before Ive’s contributions to design, Paul Rand, the father of American graphic design saw design as a vehicle of expression and a means with which to communicate ideas or emotion. By 1997, modern graphic design had already integrated heavily with the modern advertising industry, a booming luxury good market, and experimental design software. Graphic designers had entered a buzzing job market dedicated to assisting brands and businesses in the art of creating iconic narratives. It was in this time period that Rand remarked:

Graphic design, which evokes the symmetria of Vituvius, the dynamic symmetry of Hambidge, the asymmetry of Mondrian; which is a good gestalt, generated by intuition or by computer, by invention or by a system of coordinates, is not good design if it does not communicate.

Rand believed there was more to good graphic design than previously believed. A year later, for the The School of Visual Arts’ Paul Rand Symposium, he expounded his original assertion by detailing the delicate web of thought and skills necessary for emotive, intuitive design:

Design is a way of life, a point of view. It involves the whole complex of visual communications: talent, creative ability, manual skill, and technical knowledge. Aesthetics and economics, technology and psychology are intrinsically related to the process.

A new practice at the time, graphic design faced the challenge of redefining mass communication with an entirely novel set of tools: graphics, logos, colors, typography, and the modern desktop computer. Iconic graphic designer and artist Milton Glaser had already built a considerable toolbox of his own by the time he co-founded New York Magazine in 1967. He too joined Rand in asserting:

To design is to communicate clearly by whatever means you can control or master.

Massimo Vignelli took this much more literally:

“Styles come and go. Good design is a language, not a style.

Like communication in language, good design should be simple and easy to understand. It’s a principle that Steve Jobs famously remarked about the importance of focus and saying no to the things that don’t matter. The multi-hyphenate writer, poet, journalist, and designer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry remarked:

A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

One of the first graphic designers to theorize on developing one’s graphic design process, James Van Hamersveld noted:

I look at graphic design as communication, meaning that the work has to have a vibe to connect to the viewer or perceiver. I make a black and white drawing and then add color digitally, bringing in a contemporary pattern to the composition to create a vibrance.

Decades later, David Carson has taken up the mantle for intuitive design, a facet of design theory that has further bled into digital product design, mobile application design, and user experience design. Carson, famous for his use of experimental typography said:

I’m a big believer in the emotion of design, and the message that’s sent before somebody begins to read, before they get the rest of the information; what is the emotional response they get to the product, to the story, to the painting – whatever it is. […] Don’t mistake legibility for communication.” Just because something’s legible doesn’t means it communicates. More importantly, it doesn’t mean it communicates the right thing. So, what is the message sent before somebody actually gets into the material? And I think that’s sometimes an overlooked area.

More so than its peers, the fashion industry’s dependence on visuals paved the way for its adoption of graphic design as a tool for creative people to utilize. From advertisements to branding, fashion ebbed and flowed by the invention of exciting, functional clothing products and the inventive advertising campaigns that housed them. Luxury or haute couture fashion could clearly invoke a certain feeling, mood, or look with imagination or exclusion. Long before “fast fashion” flooded the market, fashion was only considered viable when could produce the desired emotion about one’s body or self – or so says celebrated Gucci designer Tom Ford:

When you are having fun and creating something you love, it shows in the product. So when a woman is sifting through a rack of clothes, somehow that piece of clothing that you had so much fun designing speaks to her; she responds to it and buys it. I believe you can actually transfer that energy to material things as you’re creating them.

But even Ford could rightfully acknowledge that fashion needed a little help when communicating such complex messages:

[…]The key to marketing is to make something people want. When they want it, they buy it. When they buy it, you have sales. So the product has to speak. The product is what markets things. Advertising is of course important because advertise is the final design. It’s the last layer that speaks to the customer, that tells them what you have.

EVERYTHING IS DESIGN

In its loosest form, “communicative design” still relied on the idea of functionality. Much like the architects before them, modern graphic designers believed that design was a tool meant to accomplish a purpose. With further experimentation across subsects of fashion, architecture, digital design, and advertising, design theory took on a certain fluidity, like many of the logo designs from Paul Rand. To let Paul Rand describe it:

Design is everything. Everything! […]To design is much more than simply to assemble, to order, or even to edit: it is to add value and meaning, to illuminate, to simplify, to clarify, to modify, to dignify, to dramatize, to persuade, and perhaps even to amuse.”

What’s important about good design is that there is a point of view and a worldview expressed by combining ideas from different parts of life. As the influential graphic designer Paula Scher writes:

Be culturally literate, because if you don’t have any understanding of the world you live in and the culture you live in, you’re not going to express anything to anybody else.

Graphic designer Robert L. Peter shares the same idea as Paula Scher around the role of design in shaping culture with his well-known design quote about how culture shapes values:

Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future.

Designer Tom Peterson was convinced that design wasn’t just part of the process, it was the process in creating good work:

The dumbest mistake is viewing design as something you do at the end of the process to ‘tidy up’ the mess, as opposed to understanding it’s a ‘day one’ issue and part of everything.

As did communications and multimedia artist Erik Adigard, who thought design to be the composition of many integrated practices:

“Design is in everything we make, but it’s also between those things; it’s a mix of craft, science, storytelling, propaganda and philosophy.”

At Apple, Jonathan Ive had since expanded his “function first” views into an overwhelming indifference to the traditional product “design” process by 2012.

Design is a word that’s come to mean so much that it’s also a word that has come to mean nothing. We don’t really talk about design, we talk about developing ideas and making products.

Great user experience can also be one that surprises and delights. For Frank Chimero, such thing as joy and delight can make the difference in the design experience.

Design doesn’t need to be delightful for it to work, but that’s like saying food doesn’t need to be tasty to keep us alive.

This ethos is shared by the iconic web designer and entrepreneur Jeffrey Zeldman. For Jeffrey Zeldman, the user experience is everything:

Put simply, if an interface is poorly designed, I will not see the data I looked for, even if it is right there on the page.

In Axel Madsen’s 1991 biography, A Woman of Her Own, Coco Chanel had since warmed to the idea of fluid fashion design. Though never one for rules, fashion’s trailblazing maven had maintained a rigid set of rules in her approach to creating the signature Chanel look until that pivotal moment:

Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.

Twenty years later, in 2011, James Dyson echoed Chanel’s sentiments in the world of digital product design:

When you say ‘design,’ everybody thinks of magazine pages. So it’s an emotive word. Everybody thinks it’s how something looks, whereas for me, design is pretty much everything.

American architect Buckminister Fuller, however, thought designers themselves must be “everything:”

A designer is an emerging synthesis of artist, inventor, mechanic, objective economist, and evolutionary strategist.

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Nike designer Tinker Hatfield thought all designers sourced from their own experiences consciously or otherwise, as related in a Nike Sportswear ad in that same year (2011):

When you sit down to design something, it can be anything, a car, a toaster, a house, a tall building or a shoe, what you draw or what you design is really a culmination of everything that you’ve seen and done in your life previous to that point.

Poet and cultural critic George Santayana saw graphic design as the culmination of self-expression, capable of translating the beliefs and experiences of the designer themselves:

Graphic design is the paradise of individuality, eccentricity, heresy, abnormality, hobbies and humors.

Unlike fashion, streetwear learned quickly to blend the instincts and experiences of urban youth culture with the innovation of haute couture. In the vein of Chanel, streetwear icon, former Nike designer, and current Louis Vuitton creative director Virgil Abloh further thinned the line between design and the ordinary:

There’s endless inspiration in the mundane. That’s the cheat code of streetwear. […] You can take this and claim that it is a sculpture, it is a work of art.

For years, women have been on the quest to find the perfect work-life carryall. Backpacks haven’t really been an option for us since most of them were either too casual for the workplace, too techy, or too masculine looking.

Now, women are ditching their single-shoulder bags totes and handbags for a more practical toting solution, and never looking back.

See why the world of practical-yet-stylish work backpacks are everything you need to make it through your day:

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1. No More Juggling Multiple Work Bags

Why has it become a norm for professional women to carry multiple crossbody bags to the office? While men’s bags are able to fit it all, women’s bags seem to have forgotten about functionality.

This leaves women looking to men’s bag brands for utility, carrying less than desirable looking laptop bags and having a separate, prettier handbag or leather tote for smaller items. Every day, there’s the “great morning purse transfer” of moving your wallets, keys, notebooks, and workday essentials from one satchel to the other.

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Women who have switched to a leather laptop bag, and are able to carry one bag for an entire day, have a huge weight taken off their shoulders (pun intended). It’s all about the convenience. Not having to worry about dropping your phone or passport as you’re running through the subway or airport. Being hands-free is refreshing” says Beth Goldstein, NPD’s accessories analyst.

Preparedness is the ultimate power move.  

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How many items do you carry every day? Some backpacks, like The ISM Backpack have separate zippered compartments for storing your laptop, iPad, and everyday essentials.

2. Enjoy A Hands-Free Commute

Once you backpack its hard to go back.

Backpacks are a little bit of everything at once — professional and casual, spacious enough to fit your Macbook and gym sneakers and designed with just enough pockets and zippers to store the things you need. Whether it’s for the morning commute or a long haul trip, carrying one backpack instead of multiple handbags lets you seamlessly go from one event to another. The best work bags are also water-resistant, so you’re never left stranded in the unexpected drizzle.  

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For the road warriors out there, a backpack can be the ideal travel bag, especially when airlines have a strict one carry-on bag limit. A business travel backpack paired with a sturdy carry on luggage can be all you need for a work trip or weekend away.

Bonus points to a backpack that has a separate laptop compartment and top handle — which makes going through TSA feel like a breeze.

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3. Ease Your Back Pain, Comfortably.

Just like the rise of athleisure and sneakers as officewear, comfort is king. Women have stopped accepting that beauty has to be painful, ditching the pumps and now, the one-shoulder bags. Who decided that carrying a heavy bag on one shoulder every day was a good idea?

Some women have sustained chronic back and shoulder injuries from lugging around heavy tote bags or purses — something that chiropractors and doctors have confirmed can be the direct result of carrying a heavy crossbody bag on a single shoulder.

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Unlike a hobo bag or canvas tote, backpacks distribute weight evenly between two shoulder straps. The equal weight distribution provides relief on your shoulders and back caused by a heavy single shoulder bag or sitting at a desk for hours on end.

The best work backpacks are also designed with memory foam and mesh padding on the straps and back panel for an extra soft touch.

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Many modern work bags have mesh and EVA foam padding on the straps and back panel, like the genuine leather ISM Backpack.

4. Accessorize Your Outfits

The backpack is making a seamless transition from the work space to the runway, with designers from Louis Vuitton, Chanel, to Jeremy Scott, making their own rendition. “Backpacks are having a more prominent presence with the ‘90s resurgence, and many designers and brands are creating ones as pretty as they are practical,” explains Nicole Russo, stylist and founder of Let’s Get You.

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In a work environment, the best backpack needs to look the part – neutral colorways and smart, low-key designs all contribute towards creating an air of chic style and dependable professionalism. Minimal logo placement and premium quality materials like full-grain leather and nylon can add to the work and street-style look of a leather bag.

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As a result of COVID-19, a majority of the population has been ordered to shelter in place to combat the extensive spread of the disease. And while this has forced students and employees to quickly adapt to operating remotely, it has also left most people with an abundance of time to spend in the comfort of their homes. Whether you are completing work on the company clock, or trying to find a way to spend the free time you have indoors, you might consider taking a page from history.

Here are 5 famous figures who managed to write history while in social isolation:

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Isaac Newton

If you are a student who was sent home from college and are unsure of how to spend your time, consider this: Isaac Newton was one of many undergraduate scholars at Cambridge University sent home during the Great Plague of 1665. He was not an especially distinguished student while at Cambridge, but managed to spend his time in quarantine wisely. In the two years he was in isolation at his parent’s manor, he developed theories that led to the development of calculus, optics, and the law of gravity.

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With the lack of online schooling during that time, Newton spent most of his days in isolation reading and studying in his backyard. Newton’s apple, famously known for falling on his head and prompting him to ponder why things fall, came from a tree in his childhood backyard. An entire year in isolation led Newton to experience what he calls the most productive period of his life, eventually planting him as one of the most influential scientists today.

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William Shakespeare

Before the 20th century and the development of antibiotics, a new plague hit Europe once every 5 years or so. A particularly serious strain hit England in 1606, causing theaters and plays to shut down for over a year. Though some writers may have taken the time off, Shakespeare saw the quarantine as an opportunity to refocus and create new plays for the holiday court season. During this time in isolation, Shakespeare channeled his creative mind to write some of his best works including King Lear, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra. 

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This was not the first time Shakespeare managed to find a silver lining during a time of life-threatening illness. He also wrote poetry 13 years earlier during the plague of 1593. Quarantines were also incorporated into his later works. For example, remember the friar who was supposed to tell Romeo that Juliet wasn’t actually dead? Well, the reason he didn’t reach Romeo was because he too was in forced quarantine. 

The friar says: “The searchers of the town…suspecting that we both were in a house..where the infectious pestilence did reign…sealed up the doors and would not let us forth.”‍

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Giovanni Boccaccio 

Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian writer whose book, “The Decameron,” is still referenced today. Strangely enough, the story takes place during a pandemic known as, “The Bubonic Plague.” As you might imagine, the event inspired quite a few quarantines. “The Decameron” is a collection of fictional short stories that are told by 10 friends who escaped to a villa in the Italian countryside with the goal of avoiding the Black Death.

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Boccaccio was likely inspired to write this collection by his experiences in his own life: he also fled Florence to avoid the Bubonic Plague, a good idea as it eventually took the lives of three fourths of the city’s population.

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Jack Ma

Jack Ma is the Chinese billionaire behind the wholesale website Alibaba. He founded the site in 1999, and his business began to thrive until he faced a pandemic in 2004 known as “SARS”. The illness drastically hit China, and when one of Alibaba’s staff tested positive for the disease, Ma and 500 workers were forced into quarantine. Many commentators predicted that the virus would be the end of Alibaba, but Ma believed otherwise.

Alibaba employees managed to set up a system that allowed them to work from home within 2 days. Not only did they prevent a complete shutdown during the virus, but they also added 4,000 new members and 9,000 listings to their website per day, a 3-5x increase compared to their business before the SARS epidemic. The company also used the quarantine to launch another website called “Taobao.” The new site managed to unseat eBay in China, and is currently listed as the 8th most visited website in the world.
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Edvard Munch

Norwegian painter, Edvard Munch is best known for his work, “The Scream,” which effectively captured feelings of horror and human suffering. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that he found an outlet for his talents during the infamous Spanish Flu of 1918. Unlike others from this list, Munch actually contracted the virus he was trying so desperately to avoid. He dedicated his time between 1918 and 1919 to sketching portraits and paintings of his experience with the illness.

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Munch’s history of childhood illness and his advanced age may have made him more susceptible to getting sick. Eventually, Munch recovered and painted an “after” version titled “Self-Portrait After the Spanish Flu”.

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