The Power Within
Creativity is a funny little creature. Every so often, it will scurry off into some random corner of your mind, leaving you to guess which morsel of inspiration will coax it out of hiding. The difficult part is that the "carrot" to re-inspire can be literally anything in the world (or beyond). The process of getting creativity to come back might be easy, but it’s the process to inspire that’s actually quite difficult. Because it’s the inspiration that feeds.
One of the challenges when it comes to finding inspiration is: where we go for our source material. Most of us look to our peers, because certainly whatever inspires them should inspire us, right? Wrong.
Well... not always.
There are literally dozens of gallery sites that all pretty much share content among themselves. The differences in the top 20 sites? Very minimal. Trends run as rampant as Starbucks. Why does this happen? I think it’s because people assume too easily that what works for someone else will just as successfully work for them. Does that sound very creative to you?
The Blanket Accusation
I expect more from our group than this.
I have a theory: I suspect that web designers decide what they like or dislike based on popular trends more than personal preference. I’d go so far as to accuse most of these people of being lemmings, ready to chatter on about a particular design style even if they secretly prefer something different. Or maybe it’s just that some people can’t think for themselves. I expect more from our group than this.
I’ll admit it: I too have been guilty of this. I’m in a creative rut right now, and part of working my way through it is to write this very article. I’m hoping that when you see the process of how I seek out inspiration, will in turn give you ideas on what you need to do for your own work.
The Careful Distinction
All I’m saying is: until you can become better at forecasting your own style, all that you’re ever doing is just copying somebody else’s.
I believe that it’s perfectly acceptable to be influenced by what your peers like, say, and do. As long as it coincides with what you already know about your own tastes or preferences. We might all share commonalities, but we are all still very different people. We have such a diverse culture in society, arts, music, and literature... yet why do designers (particularly in the web industry) seem afraid to explore beyond a particular set of boundaries?
Here’s what I suggest: Start with yourself. Inspiration isn’t about trends or popularity. It’s about seeking your own path, based on where you’ve been already. You decide where you go by knowing where you are at. Right now.
Look at your own work for inspiration. Look at it with a critical, cynical, evil eye... the kind of self honesty you can’t get from anyone else (or if you did you might likely punch them in the face). If you have to, start at the beginning and trace the path of your own portfolio. It’s possible that you had some f*cking killer ideas that you never followed through on, or that you took step to the left when you should’ve gone right. All I’m saying is: until you can become better at forecasting your own style, all that you’re ever doing is just copying somebody else’s.
The Reward
I’ll bet that you’re thinking about it now. Either you think I’m full of it, or you agree with me... either way, you just might be holding that carrot, ready to approach that dark corner where your creativity creature has been lurking this whole time. Be wary, approach with caution and silence. It comes out slowly, but when it’s close enough, you can catch it with both hands. Soon enough, you just might see your own work infecting and industry of trends.
