As a designer, if there’s one thing you’re afraid of losing, it’s your creativity. But sometimes, you just can’t seem to have any ideas. Or you find it impossible to continue with a project or start a new one.
Welcome to the designer’s block club!
Let me tell you a secret - the best designers are in this club. We all go through this but we don’t have to remain stuck in this rut. Here are 4 ways you can overcome designer’s block.
1. Go back to the basics
Instead of waiting for that idea to strike while you’re glued to your computer screen, go back to the basics and take out your notebook and pen. Draw different shapes, pour out your thoughts, combine different design elements, or just doodle. The act of actually drawing things on paper will make you look at whatever you’re working on currently from a whole different perspective. It also gives you a digital break and when you come back, you can experiment with different things and see which idea on that paper worked the magic for you.
2. Look for different sources of inspiration
This could be either online or offline. You can go through the works of the designers and artists you look up to and figure out why those designs come out to be amazing. What do they do differently? What new styles do they bring? How do they combine different design elements? This can get you going to come up with your own amazing designs.
But your inspiration sources do not stop here. You can go out on a walk, immerse yourself in a travel video showing great architecture, or change your environment. You can see how different shapes come together, the color combinations of renowned buildings, the way different font styles build up a billboard poster, and so on. This can help you take away great ideas from not just existing designs but from the real world as well.
Pro-tip: You can create an inspiration folder for anything that inspired you. You can go through it when you’re in a rut to get your creative juices flowing.
3. Perform a monotonous activity
Maybe you have worked your creative mind too much. Instead of waiting for that idea to strike, perform a simple, monotonous task that gives your brain a much-needed rest. It could be something simple as washing your dishes, doing the laundry, or watering your plants. This gives your creative muscles a break and guess what, you can still get so many productive things done in that time.
4. Improvise existing designs
Hop on to Ruttl, take any existing website design, and try to make it better. You could change the fonts, the color palette, or move designs around. This can get your brain going and you can move on to your current project with new ideas. If you feel you made an amazing website design with these modifications, you can even get in touch with that brand and pitch your ideas. Who knows you might land a new client while trying to be creative?
