Uninspired
Dec 18th, 07 | 24 remarksI probably shouldn’t be writing this. That’s the predominant thought in my head at the moment. Prospective clients might come across it and think again before contacting me. But when you’re having a reeeally rough day, sometimes you just need to put your rant out there in the hopes of commiserating.
I look through a lot designs on the web. Some are truly remarkable and thought-provoking. Others do a brilliant job of communicating a message. Still others exist only for the sake of artistry itself. I see a world of creative talent and possibility and I think it’s wonderful… except for the feeling that I don’t fit into the fold sometimes. Many times, actually.
Don’t get me wrong, I have good days too. Days when I’m satisfied with my abilities and thankful for the clients who are happy with what I produce for them. And I know as a designer I’m part of a peculiar bunch. We tend to scrutinize our work more than anyone else. When I consider the talent around me I find it awe-inspiring and demoralizing all at once.
So my question is this - when you feel yourself falling into that line of thinking, how do you break out of it? Can you? Or do you just have to wait it out like the tide? Surely there are ways to ward off this kind of “I’m not worthy” attitude.
There’s an ebb and flow pattern to everything in life and as creatives, we probably experience more shifts in confidence when it comes to skill than most people. I understand that without the lows, the highs wouldn’t be nearly as exhilarating… but occasionally the lows hit at the worst possible time!
Maybe it’s just the onset of holiday stress, but rather than internalize everything I thought I’d open up a discussion (or perhaps a writing group?) about ways to battle UN-inspiration. Do you have a remedy? I’d also like to invite a few friends - David, Paul, Brian, Lauren and Tara to share their thoughts.
Incidentally, Randa put up a great post recently about what to do when a blogging slump hits… so if your niche has more to do with writing and less to do with creativity, you might want to check it out.
Edit: Lauren offered a few links to some very good related articles in her first comment below, but unfortunately it would not come through despite my approval. I decided to list them here as additional resources for anyone else finding themselves in a creative rut…
- Elements of Great Web Design: The Polish
- Graphic Styles to Try
- How to be a Better Designer: Keep Learning
- What Do You Consider Good Design?
(Her link references appear in bold now instead). Thanks for the contribution Lauren, and sorry for the interrupted flow of the thread everyone!
Though I’m relatively new to design, I know exactly what you’re talking about. Sometimes I’ll think I’m really good (I’m not) and then I’ll stumble upon a site that makes me doubt I have any talent at all.
I do think that ebb and flow is rather endemic to creative endeavors, but when it hits you’ve simply got to keep in mind that you’re doing the work you want to do in the way you want to do it. It’s not really new advice, but it’s the best I know.
Dec 18, 07 | 11:34 amI’m reading a book which theorizes that if you are uncomfortable, you are doing challenging activities that are worthwhile investments of time. What is it about those examples which irks you? Take that discomfort as an opportunity to learn to do it as good or better than the rest.
If you see websites that do amazing things with javascript and get demoralized because you can only manage to validate email address formats, check out jQuery and other frameworks and their free lessons that are abundant across the net.
If graphic shine gives you the blues, start browsing for photoshop tutorials. Don’t just follow along the wrote instructions, but experiment to see why / how things change when you do that so you can make use of similar techniques on your next project.
There was also a recent post on a freelancing blog which I cannot find at the moment, but it basically reminded me that you don’t have to be the best in order to get work, just be better than the other people who have interviewed, applied, etc for the same contract. Clients’ artistic tastes are fickle.
Dec 18, 07 | 11:50 amFound the link, I should have known it was FS - http://freelanceswitch.com/start/5-reasons-you-don%e2%80%99t-need-to-sweat-the-competition/
Dec 18, 07 | 11:53 amGreat thoughts JamieO and thank you for the link. I’d love to know what that book is too. :)
I just got a free 30 day membership to lynda.com for upgrading my Adobe Suit to CS3, so I’ll be spending a lot of time on the tutorials available there. Lately I’ve really wanted to beef up my skills in Photoshop and Illustrator.
I don’t think it’s any one particular thing that gets to me (i.e. javascript vs graphics), but rather the lack of ideas. For example I might see a unique color scheme and think to myself “Now why haven’t I ever thought of putting those colors together?” ;)
Dec 18, 07 | 12:03 pmYou should feel anything but uninspired, your website is very polished, organized and easy to read…One that I’ll keep in my “inspirations” folder for inspiration on future revisions to my own.
As for the book….It’s strange to think that there is conceptual overlap between design and religion. Being agnostic, I’m usually turned off by anything quasi-religious. However I have enjoyed the book my fiancee gave me - True Prosperity: Success Without Side Effects - as a quick read intro to the basic concepts of Kabbalahism which she favours. I have found some good thoughts to chew on in it and will probably use it as jumping off point for a few future blog posts.
Now off to stumble your favourites :)
Dec 18, 07 | 12:23 pmSorry about the comment issue there…
I’m curious about that book… sounds a bit like The Secret, which I’ve also been meaning to read. I’m not agnostic but not particularly “religious” either. I’m a Christian who believes in some fundamentals of the Bible, but I also feel that some of it was (and is) grossly misinterpreted. That’s a completely different conversation though. ;)
At any rate, I think theology is fascinating and I’m adding the book to my Amazon list. Thanks for pointing it out.
Dec 18, 07 | 1:08 pmAh, Charity, I think we are all in your spot sometimes. I went through it recently with a project. I was really interested in doing it, but the ideas just wouldn’t come. How do I deal with it… good question. I don’t think I deal with it the same way every time.
Sometimes it works to look at inspiring designs (like those that you found. Great examples!). But that’s not always enough. Sometimes I need to dissect those designs (I found Collis’ PSDtut post on polishing a website very helpful). I go find designs I like and thumbnail their layouts, too. I take notes on interesting techniques (like my post on Graphic Styles to Try) and collect color palettes from pieces I like.
Exercising or taking a hot shower give me time to roll ideas around in my head without committing too much time to anything.
Talking to other creatives helps too. I’m blessed to be married to a graphic designer, so we talk about work all the time. I love sharing that with him.
Other times, I just have to give up! Really, truly, completely give up (not just hope that if I stop thinking about it ideas will come). Walk away. Do something else. Take an extended break and enjoy a hobby. And I have to put the work out of my head, too. It doesn’t help to be playing and keep thinking “Dang, I still have that project…” But I know that’s not always an option in the real world of deadlines and contracts.
Interestingly enough, this topic is what kicked off my ideas to write the last two posts on my blog, How to be a Better Designer: Keep Learning and What Do You Consider Good Design? They were just musing–hardly took me 20 minutes to write–but they were popular! Just goes to show others get into this funk too.
What do you think? Any of this help?
P.S. This wasn’t supposed to be a plug for my blog, but many things I’ve written come out of dealing with this issue and I hope they can serve as some inspiration :)
Dec 18, 07 | 4:36 pmDarn, I knew I put too many links in there. Can you fish my comment out of the spam bucket, Charity? hehe
Dec 18, 07 | 4:38 pmThis picture gives a very good message of calm and quietness. It gives a message of uncluttered person. Simple and straight forward.
Dec 18, 07 | 8:56 pm@Hair Solutions: Blank…..very bland. It’s no wonder Charity isn’t feeling the creative spirit. Her mental office is built with the most sterile pallette imaginable. Throw a little bit of colour in and the digital shine shall flow like a mad rushing river.
Imagine this deck as your workspace, what artistic gold could you build then?
Dec 18, 07 | 9:10 pm@Lauren - Even after approving your comment it’s not showing, so sorry. What great feedback though! I’ll be looking into each link you posted, and thank you. I’ll also try to see if I can get the post to show up (might have to remove some links though. :( I agree about taking an extended break from something that’s just not flowing. I sometimes play World of Warcraft when I really need to zone out. It’s a double-edged sword for me though, because then I get too involved in the game and don’t WANT to work. ;)
@Hair Solutions - ??
@JamieO - I’m not sure what you mean about my mental office being a sterile palette, but I love the deck. If only I had a workspace like that! Then again I’d probably never get anything done because I’d be on the beach all day. :)
Dec 18, 07 | 9:32 pmForgive me, I just realized you were both referring to the metaphoric photo I posted with the entry. Duh! Sorry about that.
Dec 18, 07 | 9:52 pmI really liked the picture that accompanied your post. The starkness conveyed very well what you were trying to get across.
Dec 18, 07 | 10:18 pmYou’re still playing WoW?? Ugh! That game ate up too much of my life. LOTRO > WoW :D What server are you on in WoW? I played on Illidan (Horde of course) for quite some time.
About my first comment, since you can see it, can you copy the code, sign out as yourself and enter it as though you were me (or send it back over here and I’ll enter it again). It seems to me you’ve had this problem before…
Dec 18, 07 | 10:44 pmHi Charity,
I think we have all been there. I can have weeks when all the design I do works well - kind of effortless, then there will be one week where the ideas don’t flow and you get completely stuck in a rut. Its kind of frustrating - you know you can do it but nothing works.
Word association - spider diagrams always help me and when I am really suck I result to a mood board - i buy a stack of magazines somehow related to a project and print out bits I find online - cut them out and stick them on A1 mountboards. The actual process of doing this actually gets you away from the computer which i am sure helps when you are in a rut and you also get a feel for the type of idea you are trying to portray.
Apart from that do what the Brits do - get a cup of tea - cures everything you know :)
Dec 19, 07 | 7:43 am@Lauren - How funny I had no idea you were a WoWhead! :) I play on Icecrown mostly (both factions), and I have a couple beta characters (horde) on Bonechewer as well. I like the idea of high lvl play on a pvp server, but I’ve never had time to lvl them to find out.
On the comment - you’re right I have had problems with this before and it is so irritating. I’ve scoured the codex and forums and cannot find a solution. It has something to do with the number of links, even though I’ve upped the allowed number. Also it seems to be random, sometimes only 2 links with hang it up, sometimes 4. The max is set to 5, so I don’t get it.
I can’t see your comment on the page when signed in, but I can see it in the Comments panel of the admin. I think what I’ll do is edit your comment so it’s sans links, then refer to your links directly in my post. That be alright?
@David - Your comment got marked as spam so I missed it before, but thanks for stopping in! You’ve got a good point, and I do love what I do. I feel lucky to have creative control over my projects (most of the time), and the ability to map out my day the way I want. It certainly helps, since creativity can rarely be produced on-demand.
@Tara - I like the idea of doing a mood board, though I’ve never done one so I’m not really sure how. Even if it just ended up being a hodge-podge of magazine cutouts I think it’s worth a try. :) I’ve done something similar with screenshots, where I take a bunch from different sites I like and then drop them all into Photoshop and start arranging elements in different ways… but it doesn’t get me away from my machine which I think I need to do more often.
Oh and I do love tea… but I’m a coffee girl at heart. :)
Dec 19, 07 | 8:39 amThe idea of mood boards was one I came across years ago when I designed those plasticky (swatch type) watches. We used to be supplied mood board by fashion designers to give us a feel for what the next years fashions and colours would be. Mine are just a hodge-podge of magazines etc too prit sticked onto mountboard or paper ike massive scrap book pages - give it a go.
Dec 19, 07 | 8:48 amCharity, good solution! I can see the comment now (sans links, like you said). Crazy things these computers can be at times!
Hehe, I only leveled up my Forsaken mage to 58 (before the expansion came out). I couldn’t take the grinding anymore. It just wasn’t fun. LOTRO is fun though. I’ve maxed out an elven hunter (lv 50) and it’s just so cool to run around Middle Earth! PvP still needs some work though. I will give Blizzard the props for having great polish on WoW. LOTRO is still bumpy, but I like it. Let me check my email and see if I have one of those 10 day friend passes ;)
Dec 19, 07 | 11:58 amGreat! I wouldn’t mind giving it a try… as if I need more distraction. ;) My highest lvl horde side character is a 52 Blood Elf mage. She’s my fave. I also have a 70 hunter on ally side. The grinding does get old, and I find that I’ll have long stretches where I don’t play at all, then I get the itch again and play like an fiend for a while. Hits me hardest in the winter when it’s miserable outside, and I’m a sucker for battlegrounds. :)
I’m bound and determined to figure out the comment problem. I really bugs me but I have no idea how to isolate the issue or where to begin with testing. :( It’s possible that it’s theme related, since this layout spawned from another one that had the problem too. Ah well, it’s on the list anyway.
Dec 19, 07 | 12:38 pmOops, double comment sorry. I’m having the worst luck with comments today, ugh!
Dec 19, 07 | 12:40 pmAt times like this I would suggest reading Og Mandino’s “The Greatest Salesman in the World”; no I don’t profit off of this and usually don’t give this gem of advice out ;). We all have our ups and downs…sometimes I wonder if what I’m doing will pay off…is it worth it, and should I just get a “regular job”. Anything worth anything is going to take sacrifice, time, and dedication. Be proud of your past accomplishments but don’t settle. Strive for greatness in 08 and happy holidays.
Dec 20, 07 | 1:25 pmHi Charity,
I think I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, I really like your avatar. It works very well, and certainly stands out amongst others.
Anyway, back on topic. A creative slump is part and parcel of being a designer, kind of like an off-form sports star.
I find that taking a break, or concentrating on something else non-work-related helps. See the bigger picture, and realise the chances we have in life.
Have a great festive break!
Dec 23, 07 | 9:45 amI think we can all agree with you and these moods that we find ourselves in. Everyone deals with it differently. I play video games or read books to help me out of mine. Usually browsing at what everyone else has done makes me fall deeper into the pit or just mimic what they did in the end. So I avoid references - but that’s just how I cope. :) Hope you find a happy place soon!
Jan 2, 08 | 3:02 pm@Matt - Years ago I read “Salesman” and A Better Way to Live… loved them both. In fact I’m sure I still have them around here somewhere. Thanks for the reminder - I’ll have to dig them up. I was really into books like that in my twenties. I also read Think and Grow Rich, The Magic of Thinking Big, and Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude. Perhaps I should revisit them now that I’m older and “wiser”? ;)
@David - thanks for the perspective. It seems the general consensus is that slumps are normal and happen to the best of us… but I sure wish they didn’t. At least I have the good fortune of working for myself so I can take the time to sort things out. I’m sure if I had a boss s/he would not appreciate me flaking out the way I have lately!
Louisa - I agree! I love seeing what others are doing, but sometimes it’s more harmful than helpful. It usually depends on my mindset when I’m browsing. But in this case, that’s what actually kicked off the “uninspiration” in the first place. Needless to say I haven’t surfed as much over the holidays. ;)
Jan 2, 08 | 4:10 pm