So your self-promotion has worked and you have that all important new client. The project itself has scope for you to add some personal style or artistic flair to it as well. After the initial brainstorming, research and sketches you are nowhere – with nothing visual to guide yourself. Creative block!
We have various ways that we attempt to get around creative block:
- A Thesaurus
This has worked particularly well with illustration pieces where clients have given us a word as a ‘theme’ – brainstorming doesn’t always do it. Picking up a thesaurus or using the thesurus.com with your theme word can shed new light on different interpretations/concepts/understandings of the word and theme.
- Walking Away
This may sound somewhat foreign and not make much sense; but quite often when stuck, the best thing to do is to turn off the macbook, put down the sketchbook and go do something completely unrelated. At times, giving the brain time and space to think can work wonders – you might not get a classical ‘eureka’ moment but when you next sit down to tackle the project you may see ideas flowing a lot more naturally than before. Worst comes to worst, the cd collection you just organised was a terribly important task that you can now check off the procrastination list.
– Other people’s work
Inspiration and not Imitation is the key here. A useful way to see how others have approached branding companies in similar sectors etc. Also, will hopefully give you a new direction to head down in your interpretation of your brief.
The design community is a great place. You tend to get out of it what you put in. Helping others will pay off when yu need help in return. Asking for different approaches/ techniques / research paths / colour choices etc can help get you through the block and into a place where your able to develop the project!
Creative Block – Beating It – Fresh ideas and inspiration
So your self-promotion has worked and you have that all important new client. The project itself has scope for you to add some personal style or artistic flair to it as well. After the initial brainstorming, research and sketches you are nowhere – with nothing visual to guide yourself. Creative block!
We have various ways that we attempt to get around creative block:
- A Thesaurus
This has worked particularly well with illustration pieces where clients have given us a word as a ‘theme’ – brainstorming doesn’t always do it. Picking up a thesaurus or using the thesurus.com with your theme word can shed new light on different interpretations/concepts/understandings of the word and theme.
- Walking Away
This may sound somewhat foreign and not make much sense; but quite often when stuck, the best thing to do is to turn off the macbook, put down the sketchbook and go do something completely unrelated. At times, giving the brain time and space to think can work wonders – you might not get a classical ‘eureka’ moment but when you next sit down to tackle the project you may see ideas flowing a lot more naturally than before. Worst comes to worst, the cd collection you just organised was a terribly important task that you can now check off the procrastination list.
– Other people’s work
Inspiration and not Imitation is the key here. A useful way to see how others have approached branding companies in similar sectors etc. Also, will hopefully give you a new direction to head down in your interpretation of your brief.
Some good resources:
- 10 sources of Logo Inspiration
- Web Design Gallery
- Illustration inspiration
- Asking Others
The design community is a great place. You tend to get out of it what you put in. Helping others will pay off when yu need help in return. Asking for different approaches/ techniques / research paths / colour choices etc can help get you through the block and into a place where your able to develop the project!
Related Posts: