Designer's Block: How to Handle a Lack of Creativity Without Burning Billable Hours
Aug 27 2010
So you're sitting down to a new website design project. You make some coffee, set up your files, crack your knuckes, and ... nothing. Just empty white space - both on the screen and in your head. Or maybe you're part-way through the project, but haven't been feeling the inspiration. The muse is off on an extended coffee break and yet the clock is still ticking towards your deadline. Sound familiar? In this blog post I'll share some tips on awakening the creative beast within and making the most of your billable time. They may not work for everyone, but they've certainly helped me tear my eyes away from the peeling paint on the wall and get back to work with fresh energy and ideas. h2. 1. Fill With Content Give your creative side a break. You know all those administrative or non-creative parts of your job you hate but that still need doing? This is the time to do them. For example, if you're in a creative rut and can't get out, trying enlisting the content as support. Copy and paste all the text, paragraphs, main menu titles, footer address text, etc. from the wireframe or copy deck into the layout. It's definitely a no-brainer activity that still needs to be done sometime, so doing it now will save time later on. And then seeing all the content and headings in place might give a little jump-start to your creative side and you can get back to designing. 
h2. 2. The Switching Thing This step is an obvious one, but one we sometimes don't take advantage of if we're trying to force ourselves to be creative on demand. If you have already all the content copied into your layout and still don't feel the creative juices flowing, simply work on a completely different project (assuming you have another one, that is!). Sometimes, however, this is hard to do for legitimate reasons: * The other projects on your plate aren't the priority * The design stage is on hold * The wireframes haven't been approved yet, and so on... But before you latch on to one of these excuses, remember that you don't have to *finish* the next design project. Just work on what you can to avoid wasting time and still be productive. Start with the easy details, e.g.: the top part of the site such as the logo area, main menu style, search bar, icons etc. Once you work for awhile on this project, which probably has a different style and direction that the first one, stop and jump back. This break for your eyes and your brain could be the trick to coming up with new ideas for the original project. h2. 3. Explore the Colour Palette Wow, you must be *really* stuck. If you've already tried suggestions #1 and #2 above, try exploring the colour palette you will be using on the project. 
You can speed up your results by using free online services and apps such as: * "Adobe Kuler":http://kuler.adobe.com * "Color Scheme Designer":http://colorschemedesigner.com * "Color Schemer":http://www.colorschemer.com * "And Many Others":http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/best-color-tools-for-web-designers/ h2. 4. Fonts 
Next step: have a nap. Ok, just kidding, although that's probably what you feel like at this point. Instead, try a little playtime with fonts. Usually, beside using web-safe fonts, you'll end up using some special fonts for a banner, tagline, posters and/or headlines. So another way to try and spark your creativity while also getting some work done is to explore your options for font style. On the internet you can find plenty of resources about fonts, as well as "software to preview":http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/09/05/25-font-management-tools-reviewed/ fonts in your computer. h2. 5. Images & Icons Tick, tock. Everything else you can possible do - except for design - is almost done. But take heart: there's one last procrastination, I mean, creativity-sparking technique you can try. Check out the materials you probably have, like images you're going to use on the banner area, "icon families":http://www.iconfinder.com, stock photos and so on. Sometimes the client already has some ideas about the pictures to be added in the banner area, and looking for stock images or analyzing the material the client sent might give you a bit more "not-so-creative" time to burn and still be productive. **These are some of the ways I've found useful, but what about you? What practices have you found helpful to spark the creative juices when you feel like you've hit a brick wall but still need to create something?** h4. Similar resources / articles: * "How to Boost Your Creativity: 20 Tips from Psychology for Boosting Creativity":http://psychology.about.com/od/cognitivepsychology/tp/how-to-boost-creativity.htm | By "Kendra Cherry":http://psychology.about.com/bio/Kendra-Van-Wagner-17268.htm, Psychology Guide * "The best creativity technique known to mankind":http://www.pragmaticmarketing.com/publications/topics/10/the-best-creativity-technique-known-to-mankind | By "Mark Schaefer":http://twitter.com/markwschaefer from {grow} * "The awful lack of creativity":http://www.ilovegraphics.net/2009/10/the-awful-lack-of-creativity/ | By "Zélia":http://www.ilovegraphics.net/about/ from I.Love.Graphics * "11 Ways to Get Inspired – See What Best Designers Do":http://mogdesign.eu/blog/11-ways-to-get-inspired-see-what-best-designers-do/ | By "Jozef Toth":http://mogdesign.eu/blog/about/ * "10 Ways to Get Inspired by the World Around You":http://www.howdesign.com/article/worldinspiration/ | By "Sam Harrison":http://zingzone.com/ * "Finding and Storing The Creative Juices":http://lifedev.net/2009/02/finding-and-storing-the-creative-juices/ | By "David Pierce":http://www.digitizd.com/about-2/ * "6 Things I Do to Stay Creative":http://lifedev.net/2009/05/stay-creative/ | By Glen Allsopp writer at "Plugin ID":www.pluginid.com
h2. 2. The Switching Thing This step is an obvious one, but one we sometimes don't take advantage of if we're trying to force ourselves to be creative on demand. If you have already all the content copied into your layout and still don't feel the creative juices flowing, simply work on a completely different project (assuming you have another one, that is!). Sometimes, however, this is hard to do for legitimate reasons: * The other projects on your plate aren't the priority * The design stage is on hold * The wireframes haven't been approved yet, and so on... But before you latch on to one of these excuses, remember that you don't have to *finish* the next design project. Just work on what you can to avoid wasting time and still be productive. Start with the easy details, e.g.: the top part of the site such as the logo area, main menu style, search bar, icons etc. Once you work for awhile on this project, which probably has a different style and direction that the first one, stop and jump back. This break for your eyes and your brain could be the trick to coming up with new ideas for the original project. h2. 3. Explore the Colour Palette Wow, you must be *really* stuck. If you've already tried suggestions #1 and #2 above, try exploring the colour palette you will be using on the project. You can speed up your results by using free online services and apps such as: * "Adobe Kuler":http://kuler.adobe.com * "Color Scheme Designer":http://colorschemedesigner.com * "Color Schemer":http://www.colorschemer.com * "And Many Others":http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/best-color-tools-for-web-designers/ h2. 4. Fonts Next step: have a nap. Ok, just kidding, although that's probably what you feel like at this point. Instead, try a little playtime with fonts. Usually, beside using web-safe fonts, you'll end up using some special fonts for a banner, tagline, posters and/or headlines. So another way to try and spark your creativity while also getting some work done is to explore your options for font style. On the internet you can find plenty of resources about fonts, as well as "software to preview":http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/09/05/25-font-management-tools-reviewed/ fonts in your computer. h2. 5. Images & Icons Tick, tock. Everything else you can possible do - except for design - is almost done. But take heart: there's one last procrastination, I mean, creativity-sparking technique you can try. Check out the materials you probably have, like images you're going to use on the banner area, "icon families":http://www.iconfinder.com, stock photos and so on. Sometimes the client already has some ideas about the pictures to be added in the banner area, and looking for stock images or analyzing the material the client sent might give you a bit more "not-so-creative" time to burn and still be productive. **These are some of the ways I've found useful, but what about you? What practices have you found helpful to spark the creative juices when you feel like you've hit a brick wall but still need to create something?** h4. Similar resources / articles: * "How to Boost Your Creativity: 20 Tips from Psychology for Boosting Creativity":http://psychology.about.com/od/cognitivepsychology/tp/how-to-boost-creativity.htm | By "Kendra Cherry":http://psychology.about.com/bio/Kendra-Van-Wagner-17268.htm, Psychology Guide * "The best creativity technique known to mankind":http://www.pragmaticmarketing.com/publications/topics/10/the-best-creativity-technique-known-to-mankind | By "Mark Schaefer":http://twitter.com/markwschaefer from {grow} * "The awful lack of creativity":http://www.ilovegraphics.net/2009/10/the-awful-lack-of-creativity/ | By "Zélia":http://www.ilovegraphics.net/about/ from I.Love.Graphics * "11 Ways to Get Inspired – See What Best Designers Do":http://mogdesign.eu/blog/11-ways-to-get-inspired-see-what-best-designers-do/ | By "Jozef Toth":http://mogdesign.eu/blog/about/ * "10 Ways to Get Inspired by the World Around You":http://www.howdesign.com/article/worldinspiration/ | By "Sam Harrison":http://zingzone.com/ * "Finding and Storing The Creative Juices":http://lifedev.net/2009/02/finding-and-storing-the-creative-juices/ | By "David Pierce":http://www.digitizd.com/about-2/ * "6 Things I Do to Stay Creative":http://lifedev.net/2009/05/stay-creative/ | By Glen Allsopp writer at "Plugin ID":www.pluginid.comLearn from us
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