I've gotten ideas from TV, from my dogs, and from other designers
Tuesday August 7, 2007
6 Ways to Get Unblocked
Where do you get your design ideas? But what happens when you get writer's block? I suppose it would be called "designer's block", but whatever you call it, it can completely stop you in your tracks when working on a Web site. If you rely on your Web devleopment or design work for your primary income, writer's block can be very frightening. And that fear can block you even longer. I have some suggestions for how to overcome writer's block for Web designers in the following article. If you have additional suggestions, please let us all know.
Comments
6 very good ideas. Take a break, go for a walk with your MP3 player and look at nature or window shop!
Old school design teaches you to draw the viewer’s attention to the center of the page, so euphuistically speaking, I begin in the middle and work my way out.
One of my favorite methods is to make a list of words and short phrases from the customer’s propaganda and juggle them around in a spreadsheet or Word with the hope of conjuring an image. Googling the words and phrases leads to interesting finds.
Then I dump my finds into Illustrator and play!
Example:
In one project this year, I decided to use photos of real frames, so I went to Fotolia and downloaded half-dozen images for $20. After playing in Photoshop for a couple of hours, I settled on ornamental gold on black that I chopped up and rearranged to size. In my search, I found some shots of parchment and overlaid gilt from another photo, and used this for another project.
thanks for your tips…its really help me
I believe “Writer’s or webdesigners block” is caused through the files within our own computer, our brain, containing not enough information. As clever and well designed as our brains are they cannot contain a limitless bank of knowledge. Therefore, it is always necessary to “research” further material. In other words, this usually means copying other people’s information, but of course, making sure it does not conflict with any copyright laws.
As a commercial artist I have always believed in copying other people’s work. That way we learn from their own skills and knowledge, but of course, in time, we develop our own styles and abilities.
Every commercial artist or writer knows when you get stuck visit the library, take a walk and observe life or wander around a bookshop to look for inspiration. Find a hero and copy their example.
I’ve found interesting colour combinations in clothing catalogues: a paisley blouse, plaid shirt, etc.., I’ll scan the page then colour pick with Photoshop. Often some editing is required since screen reproduction differs. Working with the colours seems to kickstart the creative flow.
If it’s a block that is full of tension, then it’s a plateau phase that’s just about to break through.
If not, I get out a little book from the 1940’s, written for designers of another genre, that has inspirational cards in it. The cards read, in part: make it bigger; make it smaller; change the color; change the direction; spend less; spend more; make it heavier; make it lighter; etc. The idea is to shuffle the cards, and go through them one by one, using the card’s concept on the problem at hand, interpreting at will. The system usually works; if it doesn’t, a walk in the woods and a cup of hot klah.
When my mind stop giving designing ideas, I close the designing software and start blogging on my personal blog. Due to this for some time my mind shifts away from that design. After some time when I come back to the design I feel as if I am working on that design first time. In that way I start getting fresh ideas in my mind.