poster design series

My bread and butter usually comes from pretty basic, utilitarian projects, but every once in a while I'll get a chance to work on something that's artistic, truly a form of visual expression. And because I'm still working my way up toward the goal of being able to hand-pick my projects, my regular source of inspiration comes from other designers' work. Specifically, posters and book covers.

There's something so pure about the limitations of posters and book covers: all of the meaning, the message and the beauty have to fit into one panel of space. Simplicity is a forced rule. And as a result, the good ones are really, really good.

I came across a beautiful series of posters done by Simon Page, a self-taught graphic designer from the UK with an emphasis on typographic art, illustration and geometric design. His recently published posters are featured on David Airey's blog. Great stuff.

the freeze-out

I've finally come up with it: the answer to unlocking that hidden ocean of creativity that's been in hibernation all this time.

1. Make sure the place is relatively clean, so you don't have that stress getting in the way.
2. Get up, make some fresh coffee, turn off the heat, and open up all the windows. Preferably on a cold, rainy, windy day (and if you're in need of those, I suggest moving to London).
3. Stand in front of an open window for a while, staring off and doing nothing.
4. Then go back to your desk, crank up the Radiohead, and let loose, baby.

Works like a charm. Of course, there's a limit to the amount that can be accomplished when the fingers start becoming numb and unable to type, but that's one of the few downsides to the method. Usually the freeze-out works best when there's a space heater available to put under the desk. Now THAT is a thing of beauty right there. Not the most environmental or fiscally conscious, but MAN it's a good kick in the a** to get the flow going.

vintage colors

I'm having to take it slow today because my 2-year-old son is home sick, so I'm taking this opportunity to indulge in one of my favorite time-spenders: building up my collection of design goodies. You know what I'm referring to: Photoshop brushes and patterns, vector illustration elements, fonts, etc. – and there are mountains of freebies out there in the virtual world. It's just a matter of sorting through the masses to find the real, high-quality ones (which is why I can't justify the time normally).

One of the areas of design I've always found difficulty with is that of color. There are loads of resources that offer view on color theory, samples of two- and three-color combinations and so on, but when it comes down to it, choosing a color palette at the beginning of each project takes time and effort. And the importance of color is not to be underestimated.

So as I sat here this morning with my son on my lap watching a Christmas show on the second monitor, I've been leisurely browsing away, building up my happy collection one piece at a time. Which brings me to the point of this post: today I came across a page of vintage advertisements (which is always fun), and I realized that many of these samples have such great colors. And frankly I would have never thought of these color combinations myself.

After all, that's what inspiration is: looking at something and realizing you never would have come up with that on your own. And it's such a beautiful thing.

creative pause

I've just finished reading an article about different ways creative people find inspiration, a chance to block everything else out and focus on a specific problem or idea. From reading the comments, it seems most people find this in the shower (which is what the post was based on). But for me, my time in the shower provides a necessary respite from daily life and the creative problem-solving that runs in the back of my mind all day. And night, for that matter. But in the shower, it's probably one of the few times I can force myself to relax, breathe in the steam, clear my head. And not have to think about anything.

Even when I'm doing other things outside of my work hours, it seems I'll always have a "program" running in the back of my mind, wheels turning to work on whatever it is I'm designing during the day, to find more and better solutions. Honestly, I don't know what other designers do, but especially when I have the clock running on a project, I want to make the most of my time by actually working on something concrete, rather than sitting and thinking... or maybe that's my problem. Sitting and thinking is such an important part of the creative process, especially at the very beginning of a project – even before the pencil and paper come out. I shouldn't discount its importance as part of the billable process.

But maybe I enjoy this multi-tasking; maybe my mind works best on the creativity part of things when it's not in the forefront with all the accompanying pressure. Hmm. Well, at any rate, that seems to be how I work best. Some of my favorite ideas have come during the night, or in that magical time right before I slip into sleep. That's when things slow down enough and the restrictions loosen up in the mind, giving way for creative freedom that's hard to justify during the day. And hey, maybe that's why I love sleep so much!