The Creative’s Box Of Badass
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Armando Dela
Cruz
Your friendly neighborhood nerdboy. I write about the arts, culture, and creative work.
Sep 21, 2017 · 5 min read
The Creative’s Box Of Badass
In which I share all the tools and resources I use for my everyday
creative work.
Peggy Olson has her own. Why don’t you?
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very creative I know has, in one way or another, admired Peggy Olson. She’s
persistent, ever-curious, and skilled. Screw the haters: her fashion sense is
unmatched too. Don Draper looks at her with genuine awe and regret. The former
because she’s incredible and the latter because the time they live in isn’t exactly
forgiving.
Of course, not everyone is a Peggy Olson. And we’re all slaves to our mediocrity,
passivity, and disillusionment. We can’t just strut around the hallways of our office, box
at hand, cigarette in mouth — we’re no Peggy Olson!
What I’m trying to get at: we take all the help that we can get.
For many creatives, help comes in different forms. Some establish routines, some are
For many creatives, help comes in different forms. Some establish routines, some are
crippled without some sort of muse. Some are aided by tools that make creative work
less taxing.
“A tool is just an opportunity with a handle.” — Kevin Kelly
Here, I’ll share tools and resources which I think are essential to everyday creative
work. My goal is for you to leave this post with a new tool that can improve or speed up
your everyday work.
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(A quick aside: this post originally appeared on my blog, Quippie. The full post has book
recommendations and other stuff that’s not included here. Check out my post here.
Also, a few of the links posted here are affiliate links. I get rewards and kick-backs when
you sign up.)
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Trello
You’d be hard pressed to find a creative professional who’s not at least familiar with
Trello. It’s robust, feature-packed, and uber-flexible. But the way I use it is for project
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management. Every creative project I work on goes through a Trello board.
Here’s how it works.
Trello’s features are packed in a kanban-style board layout which allows you to move cards from
column to column. This makes it perfect for project management, be it a team of one or a team of
one hundred, especially for creative projects.
Get Trello today for free.
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TickTick
I’ve tried plenty of task managers in the past, but I’ve finally settled with TickTick. The
features and user experience sit on the fulcrum between high-functioning and easy-touse. Users get granular control on their tasks, from smart scheduling, labels, to deeper
task management via subtasks.
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TickTick is available across plenty of platforms, from iOS to Android to Mac to Windows and more. Its core features are
free, but more advanced ones are available when you upgrade to Pro.
Start using TickTick now.
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Newton Mail
This app is expensive. The $49.99/year price tag simply can’t be justified to anyone. If
you’re already using Gmail or Outlook, you’re honestly relatively set in terms of email.
However, if you bounce back-and-forth with clients consistently, Newton Mail’s
tremendously effective features like Read Receipts, Contact Cards, and Scheduled
Mailing, you owe it to yourself to check out this program.
Newton Mail is available across all platforms. NOT just Windows. Get a free trial by clicking the
link below.
Try Newton Mail for 14 days — free.
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G Suite
G Suite is a collection of free office tools offered by mother Google. Each tool is wellintegrated with one another, which is huge when you’re working on a creative project.
For example, I use Keep for idea capture, Docs for document creation, and Slides for
creating decks and presentations. If you already have a Google account, you can start
using G Suite’s free plan. If, however, you want more features, you can always opt to
pay for the pro plan.
Google Suite is offered by Google. Tools include Docs, Sheets, Forms, Slides, Keep, and more.
Get G Suite today.
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Noisli
I love working at coffee shops. This Chrome extension emulates that, and a bunch of
other ambient noises. You can mix your own unique mood and scene — whichever helps
lull you into a creative flow.
Get Noisli on the Chrome extension repository.
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Grammarly
Editors are the unsung heroes of any professional whose job is to weave together
words. This shouldn’t surprise anyone. Writing is a taxing job. Which is why I’m very
appreciative of Grammarly, a tool that aids writers in crafting better sentences. It’s like
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appreciative of Grammarly, a tool that aids writers in crafting better sentences. It’s like
having a virtual editor around.
Grammarly scans your writing for mistakes in spelling and grammar.
Try Grammarly today.
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Unsplash
Need top-quality photographs for your blog posts? A placeholder graphic for your pitch
deck? A stock photo for a creative project? Unsplash boasts an unmatched library of
completely free-to-use photographs taken by real photographers. I’ve personally used
plenty in countless projects before.
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Unsplash is backed by a community of great photographers who contribute to the platform everyday.
Find great photos on Unsplash.
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Buffer
Creatives need a platform to showcase their work. No great piece, graphic, or video will
matter if no one is able to consume it.
Building a platform, however, isn’t easy. Social media has grown noisy and congested
to the point of no return, it’s become increasingly hard to get people to find your work.
Luckily, tools like Buffer make it easy for us creatives stay on top of our socials. It’s
packed with helpful features, including post scheduling, rebuffing, and calendaring.
Buffer makes it really easy for creatives to put their best work forward.
Stay on top of your socials using Buffer.
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Mailchimp
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If you haven’t started your email list yet, you should. Email is still a very reliable way to
cultivate direct relationships with your audience. Regardless if you want to find clients
you want to service or an audience to share your work to, Mailchimp is a terrific email
marketing solution for creatives like you and me.
Mailchimp is the best email marketing software for creatives.
Start your email list for free on Mailchimp.
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The Tilt Newsletter
I’d have to have a bit of self-promo here. My newsletter, Tilt, is designed specifically
with creative pros and storytellers in mind. Every Sunday, I share stories and valuable
resources to more than a thousand people just like you. It’s also not a one-way
broadcast. I reply to every email I get.
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Fun fact: I called “tilt” because that’s what all great stories and art has. A tilt that makes it uniquely
special from all others.
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Love what you read? I write about media,
culture, and creative work. Follow me on Twitter
@armanddc.
While we’re at it, check out my blog, Quippie. The full post is also published there,
where I share five books every creative must have. If you want to read that, click here.
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Your friendly neighborhood nerdboy. I write about the arts, culture, and
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