Innovating requires a specific frame of mind, feel inspired & focused & in the zone to create your best work. So it’s incredibly frustrating when you’re chugging along, trying to be your most brilliant, creative self &, suddenly you realise you broke your imagination. Crickets.
Creative block is quite literally the last thing you need when you’re up against time constraints & the whole reason the client hired you for this job was that you convince the client that you were full of ideas. You can start on the right foot to set yourself up for success initially, but that doesn’t guarantee that you won’t run into problems later on once the dust has settled.
Don’t fret, dear designer – here are a handful of professional designers’ tips on overcoming creative block & staying inspired. Creative block is pretty normal & happens to the best of us, but it doesn’t have to slow us down. With a little advice inspired by the pros, you’ll be back on track in no time.
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Shake Your Creative Block By Creating Constraints.
If we think we have loads of ideas & plenty of time to go with it, many of us will feel inclined to procrastinate. Famous photorealist painter, artist & photographer Chuck Close once said “Inspiration is for amateurs—the rest of us show up & get to work. Set yourself some austere time limits to get the ball rolling. Say to yourself- I’m going to ponder this till X o’clock & then, no matter what, I will do something.
The challenge is no to create great work- if it sucks, let it. The challenge is to get started. Soon you will have a precedent to work from, & you will have something to improve or use a base. Similarly, if you have limited resources, use those to get you started. Use a pen & paper. Don’t sit around & wait for inspiration to strike.
Shake Your Creative Block by Tapping Into Your Subconscious.
Magic happens in a semi-sleep state when your unconscious takes over. Wake up & write down whatever was happening before you forget it. Great ideas can surface while undertaking seemingly mundane daily tasks & we often hear of ideas popping into the mind when showering, driving, or washing the dishes.
When you switch your brain off, the subconscious mind begins to take over. Research into the incubation period suggests that the period of distraction with the mind focussed elsewhere & unconscious thought processes play a part in developing ideas with the mind making connections between seemingly unrelated actions or occurrences & the problem at hand.
Shake Your Creative Block by Documenting Your Concepts.
Write your main ideas down in columns, & list absolutely everything that comes to mind. You can mix & match the lists for unusual & original combinations. Don’t go looking for inspiration. Inspiration will often come to you when you are relaxed & in a flow state.
A visually loaded word or a specific phrase can jump out from a text passage or a song to sketch those ideas down when they come. The best ideas often come when we’re going about our everyday lives. Keep a notebook or use your phone to jot them down or take a picture as they come to you.
Shake Your Creative Block by Stepping Away.
Briefs with little constraints can be the worst for causing a creative block. When you have too much freedom & nominal variables, try to distance yourself from the project; take a break & come back to it with a clear head. Take a break, take a stroll in a relaxing & natural environment preferably, but even a five or ten-minute walk around the block could help.
Be good to yourself in your spare time; maybe try some meditation or similar relaxing activity to help your brain switch off/reset. Once refreshed, think about how you can break the task down into manageable chunks. Sometimes a project or task can seem enormous & overwhelming that we lose track of what matters & we get stuck—time to take a step back.
Shake Your Creative Block by Completing an Old Project.
There’s no such thing as a terrible idea: try to see every idea through to completion, & turning dreams into reality. Even if it means taking big breaks in between, you would be surprised the amount of Inspiration revisiting old projects give me. Always try to inject some colour & life into your studio, & don’t run it like a clinic or a prison.
Shake Your Creative Block by Starting From Scratch.
You can’t get inspired on purpose; if you try to recreate a project based on past success & you’re unlikely to get the same result. If you’ve been scratching you head wondering why the same formula that worked for something else doesn’t work now- relax.
Shake Your Creative Block by Looking in Unlikely Places.
By this point, if you can’t get past your creative block go & do something else entirely. The mind comes up with ideas in a meditative state, meaning that concepts will begin to take shape when you least it. You’d be amazed at where new ideas are hiding. Immersing yourself in particular arts or cultures that you wouldn’t usually be interested in could lead to fascinating mixed-context inspirations, so get involved.
When you do the same creative work repeatedly, it gets harder to keep your mind fresh. Your creative block should fade away by exercising a different part of your brain with another medium. If you are a graphic designer, try writing or painting — whatever you can easily step away from your desk & complete quickly.
Shake Your Creative Block by Expecting the Unexpected.
The best ideas tend to come to you; you have to train yourself not to dismiss them. Like attracts like, so expect good things to come to you all the time in expected & unexpected ways. Expect to find a solution or idea quickly, then let it go.
Shake Your Creative Block by Exploring Other Creative Disciplines.
Inspiration can come from anywhere. Look beyond other illustrators & designers: photography, typography, fashion, film, packaging & signage, for instance. A university tutor taught me this technique during my undergraduate studies, & it’s been helpful ever since.
When you get stuck, think of a creative hero who inspires you. Then, find a sample of their work that you particularly like. Try to recreate its style or structure without copying it. View things from different angles. Some upside-down lettering in a stack of papers or a scrunched-up sketch can create unusual shapes & spark new ideas.
Kick Start Creativity by Expanding Your Mind.
Try to approach every brief with the opposite of what everyone else would do. It might not be the direction you choose in the end, but it can help avoid cliched scenarios. Pretend you are a well-known personality & ask yourself what they would do. That will provide an unfamiliar angle & perhaps a new perspective.
Or you can try thinking outside the brief. Less information can sometimes be better on smaller jobs. Your solution might open the client’s eyes to new things – experiment with your projects or, if you haven’t got the time or energy after a hard day’s work, go off on a tangent for an hour while working on an actual project.
Shake Your Creative Block by Going to Bed.
Try not to think & do on the same day. With some time & some rest, you can sort the good from the bad naturally & occasionally come up with something innovative when you relax into a flow state. Listen to your body. If you’re finding yourself tense with pressure, permit yourself to abandon your struggle. Breathe, eat a snack, opt for a nap, or do something else. Be kind to yourself. Sometimes taking care of yourself is all you need to recharge & trigger a breakthrough.
Spark Creativity by Going Some Place New.
Try different working environments to keep things fresh. Sketch at home or on the train, refine final work in your studio, & brainstorm in coffee shops, for instance. Working on multiple projects at once can temporarily drain the creative well. If you’re feeling burned out, take some time to yourself & turn everything off for a couple of days.
Shake Your Creative Block by Exploring Alternative Uses.
Developed initially by J.P. Guilford in 1967, alternative uses forces you to change your perspective & think beyond the status quo. It’s a simple exercise that you can do anytime, anywhere. For example: Pick an ordinary object, like a stapler or a shoe, & give yourself a time constraint. Five minutes will usually suffice. Then, list as many alternatives uses for that item as you can imagine.
Aim to develop divergent thinking, where you create lots of original ideas rather than seeking a single right answer (i.e., convergent thinking). The point is not to find a genius new application (though you might!). This exercise applies whenever you need a creative solution or a new concept. Isolate the thing at the heart of your challenge & brainstorm every possible weird use for it. Or, follow these steps for a random object to break out of a rut.
Shake Your Creative Block Off By Reassessing Your ‘Whys.’
When faced with a block, ask yourself, “Why?” five times in a row to suss out the root cause of your issues. The idea is that each time, you will get a little closer to the solution. This technique was popular with Sakichi Toyoda — the founder of Toyota Motor Corporation.
Creativity is that it’s not a finite resource. The more you use it, the more you have. It is always available, but you must first tune in unlock it. Whenever you have a problem or block in your way, give these techniques a try. You may surprise yourself with how quickly a solution comes to light.
Wrapping it All Up.
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