As much as we want to be able to say creativity comes easy to us all the time, let’s be honest here, it doesn’t. Working on a project totally outside of your knowledge set, having trouble at home, not getting enough sleep or simply being in a different mood can mean the difference between inspired graphic design work and design projects that turn out a little…well…stale.
Just because you are not feeling at the peak of your creativity doesn’t mean that your graphic design work has to be bland. There are many ways to work around it that may actually help you to discover your peak design greatness. Our team of pretty kick ass (if we do say so ourselves) graphic designers are spilling their secrets to help all you designers out there boost your creativity.
Know Thyself
That’s just a really cheesy way of saying pay attention to your workflow during the day. Unless you are a freelance designer and can work whatever hours work best for you, it is likely you are trapped in an eight-hour workday box.
Are you at your most creative first thing in the morning, or in the afternoon after the caffeine has really kicked in? Know your peak hours for design prowess and schedule your most boring or less creative projects for then. Use your less peak hours to peruse the internet and books to look for inspiration.
Get Inspired
Speaking of inspiration, it’s imperative to get inspired, especially when your creative juices are not necessarily flowing. Some designers think that they shouldn’t need to get inspired as a source of pride, while some feel like they need to create completely original work. This is not possible, especially for designers. We can find and take inspiration from pretty much anything we look at, it just happens to be easier to draw your inspo from, say, Pintrest than it is from the coffee table. We’re kinda rad ourselves and have developed some cool graphic design in all sorts of industries, you can probably find some graphic design inspiration in our work!
Set Some Boundaries
This one may seem counterintuitive, but boundaries can be a super helpful thing in graphic design, especially when it comes to fonts and a colour palette. Graphic design is a big wide world and it’s easy to get lost in an endless sea of options. Setting up some boundaries will help anchor you in the ocean.
Find Feedback
Getting feedback from trusted friends or even more importantly the client, will help you to refine your focus and increase your creative flow. You’d be surprised at how finding some constructive criticism will mean the difference between creative blow and an abundance of ideas.
Take Breaks
There’s nothing like staring at the same design for too long to make your project look like a steaming pile of crap – whether it is warranted or not. Sometimes, looking at your design with fresh eyes will allow you to see what is working for you and what is working against you.
Graphic design, anything in the creative field really, can be a fun and rewarding job but it can seem like quite the slog when you’re not feeling your creative best. Just use these handy tips to get your creative juices flowing and you’ll be designing your butt off in no time!