One of the most frustrating things for a designer to deal with is the unrealistic expectations that can be set upon them by both internal and external sources. Clients, account managers, and our peers can put a lot of pressure upon us to find the solution to the design the problem at in ever shrinking amounts of time. When faced with a time crunch or high set expectations, sometimes the only solution we can think of is searching for that mystical “spark” of inspiration. Eventually what we must come to terms with, is that the idea of inspiration most designers seek is really not a sustainable way of working and buckling down and getting something done is far more successful approach.
Stop Beating Yourself Up
In these situations where we are struggling to find that solution that perfectly meets the objectives of the brief, that flash of inspiration seems like the only saving grace we have however the truth is 99% of the time it will never come, and I’m not the only one who feels this way. The truth is that the only thing that is going to help you out is more hard work. Instead of beating ourselves up looking for that miraculous moment of inspiration we should just come to terms with this. This also means that searching through “inspiration” posts and design galleries is not going to help. These post may be fun to look at, which there is nothing wrong with – I even enjoy putting them together – but it is going to take more work to actually achieve something.
The hard part is that sometimes this means that we are going to fail, we are going to create something that we are not 100% happy with. As Eric Karjaluoto explains in this article “Concerning Design Superstars,” anyone who tells you otherwise is either seriously delusional or an ego maniac. It took me a long time to realize this and accept it, but in the end I realized that it is completely ludicrous to think that your work is going to be absolutely spectacular every time. Instead it is far more likely that you are going to make plenty of mistakes in the course of your career, but drawing upon these mistakes is what it takes to progress as a designer.
The harder thing to realize is that doing less than stellar work from time to time does not make you a bad designer. Clients will compromise projects, time will run out, and budgets will dry up leaving you with a solution that most likely works and is acceptable by the client but doesn’t achieve your internal goals. This is going to happen, but what is important is that you pushed yourself along the way and learned something in the process.
Some Alternatives to Inspiration
Continually pushing to find that bit of inspiration that will make the project is not sustainable, and will most certainly lead to burnout. Instead, I have devised the following list of tips that have helped me get past creative block without frantically searching for that spark of inspiration.
- Get out of the office for a while – As time continues to go on, and your deadline gets closer stress can really start to pile on making it even harder to think clearly and fueling your need for an instantaneous solution. If I can’t figure out a solution often times I try to reset my thought process by doing something completely unrelated for a while.
- Give yourself more time – Inspiration is a very compelling idea because it comes quickly. The truth is that if you aren’t able to find an optimal solution to a design problem, then you either need more information to frame the problem or more time to fully grasp it. Sometimes just knowing that a deadline is a bit in the future can help you free your mind.
- Start over – for me this means going back to the sketching process and starting all over again with a completely new approach. I make sure to clear my mind (sometimes letting a couple of hours pass if possible) and start on a completely fresh page to try and deviate as far as I can from my previous attempts.
- Ask others for perspective – If you have access to other designers they can often be of great help when you find yourself in a tough spot. The outside perspective of another designer and their thought process can often help you develop ideas that you can build from.
These ideas might not be new, but they have helped me avoid the desperate search through visual “inspiration” sites at the last minute of a deadline. If you have any tips or tricks that help you without searching for that spark of inspiration please share them in the comments below.
