Mar 22
Defining the secrets of inspiration
2004 at 03.32 am posted by Veerle
Inspiration is something that comes to me unexpected and often hard to explain. Most days it comes naturally, but sometimes it can be hard to find that spark. And when it’s there, it feels like a mysterious source of energy, and I get an impulse (drive?) to create. But where does it come from? Now THAT’s the question that we’re trying to understand.
I guess the answer is simple and yet also complex. It is simple because lots of things can give us inspiration. For me music can be a source, it sometimes gives me a boost because it gets me in the mood.
The mood I'm in defines an important part of my inspiration. But when a client gives me a very tidy deadline for a project for instance, and I need some fast inspiration, the first thing I do is play some music and relax for a moment... Not VERY long of course since my time is very limited. But I try to forget the time I have left because from the moment I think about that I could be lost. Then pressure and stress could take over and that blocks creativity in my case.
If I haven't got ideas or inspiration from the start I try to trigger it by browsing the web and surf sites that I like*. The first step in the process is defining a style, a color-scheme, the basis. Browsing sites or looking in some graphic design books or magazines* can help a lot too. In fact, it sometimes helps me too much. "How strange is that!", you probably think. I know, but if I receive too much of inspirational information or ideas at once my head explodes. First thing I need to do then is take a short break and try thinking of something else. Since I know this can happen, I try to dose my browsing. When there is a tidy deadline, there isn't much room for browsing anyway. The little things like trying to invent original roll-overs can also be very time consuming, it's hard to be original after all. That's probably one of the reasons there are copycats out there. Lucky for us they are only a small minority.
*Websites to dig into and trigger your inspiration
*Graphic design magazines
While "relaxing" with some background music I try to visualize my design in my head. I imagine colors and certain styles that could suit very well for my client's project. I don't see this very detailed, I see a general idea of how it could be, a certain direction, nothing more. I never think about technical limitations at this point, because it would narrow my mind too much. Secondly I just start in Photoshop. I hardly take any sketches, except if I'm working on an illustration or a logo, then sketching is the first thing I do and it is a very important part of the process. The most difficult projects are the ones where you don't get any material like photos or have any solid data to start with. Personally I find it easier to create when I have nice pictures, let's say from a clothing brand for example. These things trigger a creative spark.
According to Paul Scrivens of White Space, keeping a dairy and making sketches or some doodling might help a lot. This is not such a bad idea, since inspiration often hit you on an unexpected moment, even during the night. This way your idea won't be lost by the time you wake up.
What is also important for me is interaction. Sometimes I start a design and it is going well, till after a certain point I'm kind of stuck, then interaction with a colleague can solve this. It can even improve your design a lot. Sometimes other people lets you see other perspectives that are worthwhile trying out. So in my case I'm glad there more people around at Duoh! because I'm not the kind of person to work solo all the time. In my particular situation it also happens that I don't like the design anymore when I look at it the next day. This seems certainly the case when creating sometime for your own. Like our company website for example, since starting work on that we've gone through 4 to 6 attempts.
A question that pops-up in my head now is: Are we all a bit the same and therefore use similar methods? Do you have a certain kind of steps/sources that you go through to start a inspiration? Do tell us.
12served
1
I find myself following a path very similar to yours when it’s time to create..
Music is fundamental for me as well, right now I’ve got a couple of CDs that can really set me in a good mood to be creative - they’re Talkie Walkie by Air and Give Up by The Postal Service.
Since I’m not very good with a pen or a pencil, I start with a blank canvas in Photoshop and begin to play. If I have a logo, a photograph or even a colour scheme to base my work on things can be a bit easier, otherwise I start by designing the logo and choosing an appropriate font face.
The first hour (or two) is all about experimentation: I try different layouts, techniques, effects. Eventually, something good begins to take shape. I either don’t take into account technical difficulties at this stage of the process, I prefer letting my creativity work and then addressing those problems in a later moment.
Scrivs’ point about keeping a diary to fix your ideas on paper is a very important one and I better start do something about it. For example, yesterday the inspiration struck me while I was driving and I wish I had some kind of voice recording device to memorize my thoughts!
2
I like this one too:
http://www.cwd.dk
3
Being a developer and having absolutely no background in graphical design I find it really hard to find inspiration.
I also used to start browsing the web for inspiration but I always get to much ‘carried away’ with nice designs, I see something nice and plan to use ‘something like that’ in my design. Then I realize that either I can’t make it, or I’m copying to much and browse on…
Also, since I’m only starting with graphical design, I get de-motivated really quick by good websites :) So I try to surf as less as possible when I’m trying to come up with something.
Things like music, movies and writing ideas down when they do come, or little utils like color pickers are the best solution for me so far.
btw: nice posting I hope some more people post how they come up with ideas.
4
great topic V. ! ( and very interesting responses by Michele, Tomas and Jezter :-) ) I’m not even half visiting all the URL ( and links beyond those ... ) you guys posted !
I’m more of a ‘nightguy’ , darkness or very early mornings and of course very loud music always delivers it’s creativity . ( My wife hates me for that ;-) )
Imagine… Café del Mar, 4.15h, rain against a window, Crayons, felt pen and loads of paper ...and Apple has a great screendump function these days, so after a creative morning, I create(d) an overload on the desktop ! ;-) Fun !
5
Lately, I’ve been trying a method that Andy Budd described in his write-up of his Zen Garden entry. He took a photo and pixelated it in PhotoShop to extract a color palette. (In his case, he liked it so much he used it in the design.)
This may be common for more experienced designers, but I find that really helpful for coming up with some good colors to get me started.
6
For this amateur, your site is a good place to start- lot’s of good links to check out.
7
What a great question. I love this site. :)
Personally, music is a must for me. Right now it’s Ian Pooley and James Zabiela.
I spend the first few hours pouring through CSS Vault, Netdiver, and several other review sites (to steal ideas) to get inspiration. The trick being how to consider the most striking design elements not as they are, but how I can build on that/relate that to the needs of the client’s website I’m working on.
After getting some inspiration, I’ll sketch things out on newspapers or in sketch books for a couple hours before getting to the computer. It seems to work okay, other than these days by the time my clients even get a rough draft, it’s at least a version 3 or 4 as far as design goes. Rarely happy with things as I build them, but trying to cut that down a bit.
8
“The trick being how to consider the most striking design elements not as they are, but how I can build on that/relate that to the needs of the client’s website I’m working on.”
That’s a very good point, Robert. Most newbies think that some “cut & paste” of other site’s best designed elements is enough to make a better site, but they end up getting the very opposite effect. The key is to get inspiration from other’s ideas and then try to adapt them to the specific needs of the audience you’re targeting.
9
dont forget http://misspato.com/
another great resource for inspiration :)
10
Translated u know where to .es! (+ my comments) . Thanks a lot for your ideas, u keep us happy when u post!
11
You seems to talk very mutch about design but I will ask you then : why are the most of all those website layouts made on a mac always SO SMALL ? Like this one ! It only takes the half of my screen ! Why not put width="100%” in html or in css.. codes so it’ld be much easyer to read the text and that means less scrolling too ! I know many mac screens are disgusting small but even then… it’s up to the webdesigner.
12
@Michel: when I started my blog a lot of my visitors (almost half of them) used 800x600 but it has evolved a since I attract a lot of designers. Still, some part of my visitors use 800x600, so I don’t want to ignore them. It’s not because you and I have a bigger resolution that everybody has it. My next design will be 1024x768 based because that’s now the most common resolution. And about making it stretchable, that’s just a personal choice that I didn’t want for my design, I prefer fixed just for design reasons.
Mac screen so small? I would suggest that you take a look at the Apple website. Apple is the only computer manufactory that has gone completely tubeless (CRT). I don’t know any other computer manufacturer that has a “home computer” with a 20” LCD display, like Apple’s iMac. Besides, most Mac users have a rather big screen instead of a small one since most of them are designers. Like me for example, I’m working on a 22 inch Cinema Display and that screen is now 4 years old already. So tell me, which PC company had a 22” screen 4 years ago? You won’t find one I’m sure.