Peachpit Publishes The Business Playground: Where Creativity and Commerce Collide, by Dave Stewart and Mark Simmons

“If you are an entrepreneur and you spend time with Dave, you will know exactly what your next business idea should be” -Simon Fuller, creator of American Idol

BERKELEY, Calif., July 22, 2010–The Business Playground, written by prodigious musician, producer and entrepreneur Dave Stewart, and by advertising and branding guru Mark Simmons, contends that the business world needs more creative thinking to compete in today’s economy, and tells the fascinating stories of companies and individuals who have used their ingenuity as a platform for success.

Aiming to bring the workplace back to life, Stewart and Simmons highlight case studies of innovative companies including Google, NASA and Nokia, among others, and offer a mix of inspiring conversations with Mick Jagger, Tony-award winning director Matthew Warchus, and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. The book’s Foreword was written by Virgin founder Richard Branson.

The Business Playground includes games, puzzles, illustrations, photos, and practical exercises to help readers unleash their own creative juices and sense of play.

What people are saying about The Business Playground:

“The Business Playground is an inspiration to all of us who dedicate our professional lives to reinventing the old adages of what makes a business successful. It reminds us that instilling a good dose of humor and a bit of fun and games to the process is one of the most powerful creative tools an organization has to driving performance, collaboration and shareholder value in a highly demanding environment.”

-Stephen Davis
President, Hasbro Studios

“Dave and Mark’s enthusiasm for creativity and how it can be applied in business leaps off every page. The Business Playground will bring out the creative child inside of all of us and I can’t imagine many readers being left uninspired to try it out for themselves. Their mix of insights about creativity, revealing examples, anecdotes, interviews with creative thinkers and games make for an entertaining and informative read. If you get half as much out of this book as I did you’re in for quite a treat.”

-Richard Branson (from the Foreword)
Virgin

“Jump onto the playground with Dave and Mark and learn how having fun leads to being your most creative which leads to success, not just in business but in life. Some people are surely born creative, some are electro-shocked into it and Dave Stewart is both. In this thoroughly enjoyable and highly instructive book, he and Mark Simmons tell you how we all can tap into our best creative selves, the way we could when we were children. Who knew having so much fun was the key to success!”

-Laura Ziskin
Motion Picture Producer (Spider-Man 1, 2 and 3, Pretty Woman, To Die For, As Good as It Gets), Co-founder of Stand Up to Cancer

The Business Playground is available at: Peachpit.com,: Amazon.com,: Barnes & Noble,: Borders, and other retailers worldwide. Learn more at peachpit.com/businessplayground; join: The Business Playgroundcommunity and watch the related video at facebook.com/businessplayground.

DAVE STEWART

A multi-media entrepreneur,: Dave Stewart is recognized as one of the most respected and accomplished talents in the entertainment industry today. Stewart’s career spans more than 25 years and more than 100 million album sales, plus a Lifetime Achievement Award with Eurythmics partner Annie Lenox. One of the most sought-after writers and music producers, Dave has crafted songs for and collaborated with the likes of Bono, Gwen Stefani, Tom Petty, Celine Dion, and Shakira and has shared the stage with everybody from BB King, U2, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, and Bob Dylan. Beyond his creative works as a musician, Stewart is a renowned producer, writer, and known for his astute business acumen. In January 2008, he was made Advisor to Nokia and was recently named one of the 100 Most Creative in Business by Fast Company Magazine.

MARK SIMMONS

Mark Simmons is a branding expert, innovator and the co-author of Punk Marketing: Get Off Your Ass and Join the Revolution (HarperCollins, 2007). Over the past twenty years he has been a senior global marketer at Coca-Cola, run advertising agencies in the UK and US, been an advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection, and is the co-founder of useless.org, a social enterprise dedicated to helping people use less and give more.

About Peachpit

Berkeley-based Peachpit has been publishing the industry’s best-selling books on the latest in graphic design, desktop publishing, multimedia, Web design and development, digital video, digital lifestyle, and all-things Mac-related since 1986. Its award-winning books feature authors who are at the top of their field, pioneering new techniques and new approaches. It is the home of the internationally recognized Visual QuickStart Guide series, the design imprint New Riders and its highly popular Voices That Matter series, and is the publishing partner for Adobe Press, Kelby Training/NAPP, Apple Certified, and others. Peachpit is part of Pearson (NYSE:: PSO - News), the international media company. Pearson’s primary operations also include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group. Learn more at: www.peachpit.com and: www.pearson.com.