Intern Diaries 3: Reduce speed, designer’s block ahead

Ahhhh… it’s the start of a new day, and a new project. You crack your knuckles, pick up your freshly sharpened pencil (or if you’re like me, a non-leaky ink pen) and you face that blank, crisp piece of paper that sits in front of you, ready to bust out that creative storm in your brain.

Then something hard hits your head. Ouch!
Well hello, designer’s block.

Blocks: be it for writers, designers, or drivers, they are never fun, and they sometimes hurt (your brain, that is). And if you’re impatient and antsy like me, they are quite hard to get through. I recently got hit by one while I was in the process of coming up with concepts for a promotional piece for Studio66.

Luckily I’ve found ways to get me around or over the block, thanks to my professors, fellow design buddies, and just experience in general. Here they are (in no particular order):

1. Going out for a walk
This may seem out of the blue, but sometimes it’s nice (and healthy) to just get out of your chair, go out, get a whiff of fresh air, and clear your head. I know for myself that I get my brain moving as I’m physically moving. Plus, you never know what’s out there that may end up inspiring you. 

2. Reading design books
While working on concepts for the promo piece, I literally scoured all the packaging design books in both Barnes & Noble and Borders. I even read through other design books because there weren’t enough books on packaging. I would jot down ideas and doodles on a little notepad I always carry in my bag.

3. Looking through design blogs
The piece I was working on was packaging, so I checked out some packaging blogs online (thedieline.com, Lovely Package) to see what was out there and to get inspired. In fact, I check on my favorite design blogs daily for inspiration and general awareness.

4. Dictionary
Something I learned in class; we were told to look up words similar to or relating to the subject of the project. From this research we got new words, from which we got new images and concepts, all the while still keeping with the main word/theme.

5. Talking it out with fellow designers
This is a given; they, out of all people can relate to designer’s block ‘cos they go through them too. I bounce ideas and concepts off my classmates all the time because I like how they are able to see a solution in a different perspective – something I sometimes don’t see.

6. Talking it out with friends
I’ve gotten some great ideas from my friends. Just because they have little or no formal design knowledge doesn’t mean they can’t be creative. Plus, sometimes they are the audience of your piece, so it helps to see what attracts them, what catches their eye. 

Well, these are just the things I’ve personally done to nurse my wounds from a designer’s block. If anybody else has other ways they’ve found to help them get around or over the block, please post them!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 3:30 pm and is filed under Intern Diaries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.