Just be creative! I have a newsflash for you, people. Sometimes the work creates itself, the artist comes out and the designer takes a back seat. Truly. My best work has happened by simply being creative, letting things happen and seeing what comes out.
These days, it’s easy to begin designing straight on the computer, but do you realise how many good ideas immediately get culled quicker than you can say “CTRL+Z”?
You must start on paper to truly have innovative ideas, every good designer knows that.
And no, by saying that I’m not promising you will have the answer to your visual communication problem immediately by doing so. You just generate a ton more ideas this way which increases your odds of coming up with something brilliant.
It also takes time and more than one sketching session. I have a sketchbook (A5, nice and compact), that I just put stuff in, doodles and sketches and ideas, absent-mindedly almost. And even (and especially) when I’m not feeling creative, I force myself to reference something or just pick a topic and draw something out. Then, (here’s the secret), sleep on it. Put it down, leave it there and come back to it again later at another session. Why? You will see things afresh and your subconscious mind has had time to work out the hidden connections between ideas you don’t see the first time. I’ve spoken about this before.
Put simply:
- Gather. Just be creative. Sketch, draw, doodle. Paper is best. The iPad / pencil is also a second-best option. No computers.
- Walk away, leave it, sleep on it.
- Revisit your ideas (even from months back) and watch the magic happen. You will find something to use for your purpose.
Yes, this is a bit of an ambiguous tip, but I hope you understand where I’m coming from.
