Want to stand out? To be iconic? All brands do, but it’s become very difficult in a world with so many vying for our attention. Author Jamie Mustard believes he holds the key to success, in The Iconist: The Art And Science Of Standing Out, but his solution clearly fails to do so.

The Iconist

Becoming an icon in incredibly hard in a world where you’re constantly bombarded by brands trying to get your attention. We’re exposed to thousands of messages every day, but few really resonated with us. The Iconist: The Art And Science Of Standing Out claims to help cut through the clutter.

The book is broken into four sections. Part 1 explores the problem. We already know what it is, which is why we’re looking to a book for answers. State the issue but there’s no reason we need to spend 32% of this book looking at the problem, without even beginning to explore solutions.

While the author offers numerous examples, they’re far too long-winded. There’s no reason to have an 8 page story about an MMA fighter to highlight the problem of standing out. A couple paragraph example would have done the same, without wasting the readers time and boring them.

Blocks Eveywhere

The entire premise of the book is that Blocks are the key to getting cutting through the noise, getting noticed, and becoming iconic. What’s a Block? We’ll it’s pretty much any simple or central idea, repeated again and again, as the author outlines.

Countless examples of iconic things are given and reduced to basic blocks. The problem is, nearly any successful or iconic product or idea can be reduced to a simple concept or Block. As can every single unsuccessful product, company, and idea.

Blocks may be in nearly everything we see and create, but they don’t mean success. Most Blocks don’t become seen and only few see major success. If this idea is so powerful and foolproof, why has the author been unable to capitalize on his own concept and push The Iconist to the top of the New York Times Best Sellers charts?

The Atypical

Truth be told, there’s no simple magic formula to success. Any smart business person knows that. Yet authors continuously offer snake oil to attract anyone searching for the secret formula to succeed.

If you’d like to waste your time hoping for a simple means to becoming successful that simply doesn’t work, grab a copy of The Iconist: The Art and Science Of Standing Out from Amazon now. Best of luck.

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