Don’t fancy stroking a cat? Can’t find the mythical design key ( APPLE + D & a little magic ). Can’t stand a moment longer of designers block?
Here are our top 5 ways to beat the block…
1. Visit Smashing Magazine…
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/
Smashing Magazine is a nice site to browse and grab inspiration from, with cool resources and interesting tutorials. Ever wanted to re-create a photoshop version of the Apple Shuffle? Need a set of Icons? Smashing Magazine is your place….
2. Visit Design Meltdown
http://www.designmeltdown.com/
If you are struggling with a website concept there are many examples on this site, all categorised by function and colour. So if you’ve got a brief for a pink blog… see how others have done it before you create your masterpiece!
3. Doodle
The best ideas can come from doodling ideas before working on screen. Get out your crayons and as Wayne has already stated in his previous post, pretending to be 6 years old, grabbing a big wad of paper and a fellow designer then furiously scribbling shapes with felt tips does the trick!
4. Take a different approach.
Re-read your brief and write down a list of deliverables, think about how they should work and what the best approach would be for that particular client. Think about it from their customers pov, put yourself in their shoes. What would you like to see, how would you like it to work? Think about ideas before thinking about how it will look. Once you have the foundations set, you can build the rest on top!
5. Tweet it, Facebook it or ask the person next to you…
Design forums are usually filled with know-it-alls who think they know how to use Photoshop better than you, Illustrator better than you ever will, and build a website with code you didn’t even know existed… sometimes its not great to ask these same people for advice or critique on your latest piece of Designers Block. So ask someone else instead, upload your artwork, and tweet it, post it on your mates facebook wall or simply drag the nearest person over to your screen. You may not agree with everything they point out, but it should help to re-focus you, get rid of that Designers Block and get said artwork signed off by the client.
Good Luck!!
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