keys to inspiration

What does it take to be a good designer? Talent and training aside, you have to be constantly looking for inspiration – and to be able to know it when you feel it.

Step One: Stop thinking of inspiration as a lightbulb suddenly going on over your head or like being struck out of the blue like lightning. It is something you at which you have to consciously work.

It’s hard - what’s easy is to stick to what you know and what is convenient and comfortable. What you must train yourself to do is to look at new things – or old things through a different lens, go somewhere new, listen to a new radio station, stream a program outside your usual preference.

Some suggestions: if you work well in coffee shops then head to the other side of town, allow yourself to discover a new neighbourhood, observe the ambience, the people, the music, the smells, the decor. If you’re on a plane, sketch the people around you, catch the different angles of their faces and their bodies. When you are at a seminar say hello to the person next to you, start a conversation, listen.

l find that all this behaviour opens the door to new inspiration. It challenges what you have been comfortable with and subtly helps to modify your next design solutions.

Step Two: Avoid derivative design. I once read that you should look at 3-5 websites full of design inspirations daily. You should be tracking what is new and different, what is being talked about in the design world. Well, I disagree!

l find that all this behaviour opens the door to new inspiration. It challenges what you have been comfortable with and subtly helps to modify your next design solutions.

https://www.sappi.com/video-1 Enjoy these videos. I hope they inspire you as much as they did me.