Where Do You Find Your Inspiration?

21 posted on May 21, 2008

POSTED IN: Creativity, Marketing

I was in Starbucks this morning when I saw a display for their new iced coffee drinks. The colors and layout jumped out at me and I grabbed my moleskine and started sketching away. I had been running into a mental roadblock on a web design project I’m working on until inspiration hit. Eureka!

I find inspiration for my writings and designs everywhere. I’ve almost gotten into accidents because I was looking at creative designs on billboards. Sometimes I thumb through magazines without reading a single word, just looking at fonts, colors and photos. I just picked up a copy of the Lürzer’s ARCHIVE magazine and have flipped through it at least a dozen times.

I suppose there are some artists who can sit down with a blank canvas/paper/screen and come up with brilliant art but most designers I know spend hours geaning new ideas and inspiration from other designers. I’m not talking about copying someone’s work entirely. There’s enough design plagiarism out there. But sometimes the smallest thing can make a light bulb go off in your head and remove a mental roadblock. For example, I just discovered this font on this site that I’m going to use as a redesign for another site I’m working on.

What inspires you? Where do you go, what do you read, what do you do to find inspiration?

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 21st, 2008 at 9:27 am and is filed under Creativity, Marketing. 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.

12 Comments

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May 21, 2008

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1 Jason Ruggles said:

I’m so glad you linked to Starbucks site. Just this morning, I was driving past there, and was like, “Shoot! What is there website? Is it .com or .org… is the s in starbucks capitalized?” But then I read your blog, and you conveniently post the link, seemingly just for me. So thank you.
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May 21, 2008

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2 Brad Ruggles said:

Blame it on my wikipedia tendency.

- Brad
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May 21, 2008

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3 brad cooper said:

Random places…. but i see a lot of what inspires me via illustration in sociology… people watching (as long as it’s not creepy sketchy stalker’ish) really allows me to objectively observe and gain traction with an audience… but that’s just me…

brad coopers last blog post..We’re Fat….
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May 21, 2008

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4 CJ Mills said:

I don’t do a lot in the realm of graphic design (just a little). My focus in creativity and inspiration is more towards visual media and film. I was actually discussing this topic with with a friend two nights ago and we both talked about commercials and music videos as our source for recent inspiration. I can get more out of a 30 second commercial than I can a movie.

CJ Millss last blog post..Sending Jadyn Home
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May 21, 2008

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5 tam said:

I get inspiration from music. Being a writer it just takes one good hook line to take me in a completer other direction. I love it when that happens!

But oddly enough – I get inspired mostly when I’m doing absolutely nothing at all or a mundane task. It’s when my brain is on a “take 5″ that something has a chance to pop in their and say “HELLO there!”

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May 21, 2008

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6 Abbey said:

I agree with both Tam and Brad C. My inspiration comes from random places, and it most often comes at the times when I am the most still. It is these during these quiet times that I am “struck with inspiration”, as the saying goes (in my own words, an idea wallops me over the head). =)
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May 21, 2008

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7 Coni Andress said:

Lately i find a lot of inspiration on this person’s blog. Christainlovestories.com
This couple is going through such heart ache right now and yet their love for Jesus and their assurance of His love for them inspires me beyond words. God is sooo good.

Coni Andresss last blog post..Experience, strength and hope
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May 22, 2008

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8 Tyler said:

I get inspiration when I have time just to listen to music, go to a concert, or play music in a silent room.

Tylers last blog post..We the Purple .1
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May 22, 2008

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9 jason said:

I’m big on plagiarism! I’m convinced there isn’t an original idea out there, just people putting their own spin on an inspiration.

jasons last blog post..A beautiful idea…
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May 22, 2008

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10 kim said:

i find greatest inspiration in random snippets of ideas i hear (from other people, from media, wherever) that lead to an idea that’s really worth pursuing. A great idea will grab a hold of me, pester me, and will not be dismissed, which is good. because the medium-great ideas get lost in my everyday family-and-work chaos. for me, inspiration is always in concept…word…thought. never pictures.

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June 18, 2008

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11 spatulahandle said:

A lot of different things inspire me…it depends on what I am working on and who I am doing it for, what they like. A few days ago I started working on a scrapbook in memory of my uncle who passed away a week ago. I really didn’t know where to start with it, but looking through all of the pictures made me feel closer to him and that inspired me. Music and colors are both big inspirations for me too.

spatulahandles last blog post..Kids Are Quick
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July 3, 2011

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12 Ashleigh Collett said:

Howdy! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could get a captcha plugin for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having problems finding one? Thanks a lot!