We are all busy in our everyday work and time will take its toll to inspire you again and to get your ‘stamina’ again on web designing. Well, here are a few tips that may be helpful to you:
Look around your surroundings to gather inspiration. The place where we sleep, eat, and live and more will contribute you for the inspiration that you need. Look around you and definitely your creative and visual juices will just flow. If you are on a public transport like a bus or a train or even a car, look around you. Different signage, plants and more may also help.
The web design galleries are readily available for you to check it out. The different galleries of web design were shown to offer different inspirations. Sample of galleries are the CSS Remix, CSS Drive, CSS Beauty, CSS Import, Screenfluent, Screenalicio.us, Design Snack, Web Crème, Best Web Gallery, CSS Mania, CSS Elite, CSS Vault, We Love WP, and many, many more. These galleries show the many appealing different design work wherein it will give you a little edge when you will design your websites.
Do take time to check out the record store available locally. Whenever you drop by your local record store and rummaged through their records, most often than not, you will be inspired. Normally record stores have lots of CD/DVD album art for design inspiration. There are also many rock bands and alternative bands that have cool album art as well. It is not generally a physical band symbol but it is just an uber-cool or graphical concept art. Found here are some cool album art examples offering many design inspiration.
Do drop by a museum or an art gallery. The art galleries are a great source of inspiration whether you are looking at a 15th century water creature statue or a painting, and most of the entire museum building itself.
Purchase some books. Books, even the non design-based books, are also one of the great ways for inspiration. Every part of the book from the front or back cover to the spine of the book will really provide inspiration. Even the actual books are based on great designs too. To name some of the really best books found to help with inspiration are:
Works of other designers may also serve as an inspiration. This is a vital one. Looking at the designs of your other peers for inspiration may start with Deviant Art and Threadless. These are both design communities that are updated regularly with many designs and other inspirational forms.
Take some pictures of interesting textures and objects. It is advisable to keep a camera handy whenever you are driving around or just simply you are out on a walk. This will play a significant step in helping you to be on the right track faster and it can be as simple as graffiti to get your creative juices flowing. You are free to try it; you have nothing to lose.
Go over an antique or thrifty store. In going to these stores, you may find a special edition novel where you may not be able to find anywhere else, or maybe they have a Japanese-inspired lamp. You may like to rummage through these stores for some ideas and you will never imagine the visual inspiration these stores offer until you enter one. Well, the trash of a person is a treasure of another man. If ever you want to purchase in the store, maybe you can just bring a pencil and a small notepad, or even a camera and take a picture whenever you want to…that is, as long as the shop owner allows you too.
Your designs may be planned out by making some prototypes and some wireframes. There are tools that you may like to try out which is Microsoft Visio or Azure. Whatever software you use, you may be able to mock up your own design, and not just Photoshop. Bear in mind that great designs have a skeleton or the back story. You may begin by laying down always the basic foundation. For instance, the search/login found on the top right, the logo type found on the top left, the content area together with the navigation, sub-navigation, content area and the footer, and definitely that you will find yourself half way there already. Simple concepts like the effects on hovers, and others will really guide your creative juices towards the right direction.
Search more inspiration through other media types. Inspirational methods like checking out the local newspaper or listening to the radio or watching the TV will be able to give more sources of inspiration. The magazines and newspapers have plenty also. Well, apparently some designers do believe that the only sources that they may be able seek an oracle on is the internet.
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I have been walking along our promenade and taking random pictures which I find is giving me some fresh ideas. I always carry my camera now so if I see something I can take an image for future reference. Another place I recently thought of was my wardrobe; clothing has lots of different textures, colours and designs for inspiration
I have been doing this for a while when I get stuck…I got to my backyard, walk around, have a cigg, and just walk around in circles muttering. That starts giving me some ideas, I go back in and get some paper out to write some ideas or design while outside. I think it may be that sometimes being inside and not moving around doesn’t get your blood flowing much…..I guess maybe I should just walk around outside and not smoke anymore…gonna give that a shot!
I am very much interested in web designing. Thank you for this article.
Great suggestions. Personally, I meditate. Sitting, doing nothing … allows the space in which inspiration and ideas can freely arise …