Sometimes starting a project is the hardest part, especially when we have no idea what the final product is going to look like. Having no requirements or restraints can make a designer feel completely lost. This happens to me way too often. I cannot seem to find a creative thought in my mind and there are no requirements in place to push me in any starting direction, yet I still have a deadline to meet.
The first thing I do when given a project with very little information is scroll through Pinterest. Let’s use invites for a Halloween party for example. I would type “Halloween invite” into the search bar to find a slew of cute and unique invites show up on the screen. I start scrolling to find two or three that I like and when I do I figure out which elements I like about each.
Now that I have a basic idea of what I want my invite to look like, I can pull up an Illustrator artboard and start designing. I can draw out the elements I want from one card and a couple from another, while also playing with the fonts and layout.
The biggest part to remember when looking for inspiration, is to know that what we design does not have to look like the perfect Pinterest picture because it is real and our own. The images we see on websites like Pinterest seem to shift towards the trends. Today, that means cute yet simple and modern. Not everyone’s style is the same, but we should always stick to our own individual style as designers. Coming up with ideas is hard when being creative sounds like the hardest task in the world. So do not be afraid to look to others for inspiration, just do not lose yourself in the process.
Taven Allen 