3 Important Ways to Get Inspired for Your Future Projects

What does it mean for you to be inspired? Create masterpieces that you thought you were incapable of? Excite and breathe life into everyone around you? Be innovative, think out of the box, come up with extraordinary solutions? Or, maybe, everything mentioned at once? Indeed, inspiration is a very personal and elusive phenomenon that comes and helps us to stay afloat when we are ready to sink and moves us forward when we think we’re cornered and there’s no way out.

• 17 Graphic Designer Portfolio Examples for Inspiration

And this is especially true for artistic occupations like design & art where being inspired means being competitive and in-demand. But the tricky thing is, how to conquer your writer’s block and summon inspiration when you crave it so badly? Well, although inspiration is pretty intimate and, surprisingly, cannot be measured in the culture so obsessed with weighing success, knowledge, abilities, and talents, there are always 3 jokers up your sleeve – even though you might not know about it – that can boost your inspiration sky-high. Without further ado, let’s lay these strong cards face up on the table.

1. Take a Break, Relax, Analyze

According to Mental health statistics, about 3 in 4 respondents felt stressed, overwhelmed, and unable to cope with difficulties in the past year. No offense, but what makes you think you’re special in this regard? Stress causes a plethora of negative behavioral and psychological consequences, and it’s very hard to cure in people that overwork, no matter the struggle is physical or mental. Let’s take it real: most knowledge workers have only about 4 to 5 hours of productive time per day. That’s it, once you exceed these limits, your productivity falls off the cliff and you do less in more time.

Meditate & analyze. The study on meditation revealed that it is extremely effective in combating anxiety & keeping your body fit. There are dozens of ways to meditate explained on YouTube and other media. Just do your own research and apply the best to practice. On par with that, cut your social media presence to only hours you really need to finish the pressing assignments that would otherwise hinder your mini-vacation. Listen to your favorite music, watch your beloved movies, spend long evenings with your family and your significant other and in no time you will open yourself to inspiration flowing from literally everywhere.

2. Work on Your Inspiration

For better or worse, inspiration will never come unless you start working on it. It may be as simple as browsing through a Focused Collection of exquisite pictures, but it’s still the work to be done. Here are a few ideas:

1. Take a different perspective. As a designer, you must know how to make the viewer see the picture the way you want. But what if you fool around and take a different perspective? Not only will the viewer appreciate the new look of the ordinary image but you as an art maker will gain an exciting experience and maybe a tiny portion of inspiration!
2. High-speed photos. If you haven’t worked a lot with high-speed images, don’t hesitate to indulge in this refreshing pastime. It’s hard to believe that these are real shots! Just look at those queer shapes and colors – these images must belong to some alternative universe, huh?
3. A sneak peek into interior design & architecture. With the abundance of different architectural styles and approaches, it’s impossible to leave the best image stocks uninspired. Be it Postmodern, Art Deco, Steampunk, Art Nouveau, or some other style, make no mistake, inspiration is awaiting you there.

3. Unusual Things Usually Work Best

Extraordinary places you have never been to are just as exhilarating as unusual areas of design like packaging, craft, or board games design, except for the three latter are available instantly and from the comfort of your home. What we mean by these examples is that you should try to change the format, which may expand your horizons and open you to new things, experiences, and perceptions.

Take, for example, fashion: as a matter of fact, the lion’s share of designers have never visited fashion shows as most of them believe these show-offs are no good. But hey, these show-offs are the cradle of trends. These are the catwalks that give birth to trends as responses to the cultural values of people from all walks of life, not only ones of high society. Moreover, given the way fashion has changed the industry and the economy of the last decade, it’s at least worthwhile to come and see what awaits us down the road.

And if you have money and time to break away from the everyday hustle and bustle and embark on a thrilling voyage to unexplored places – don’t even hesitate to do it! Fantastic color patterns, the chirping of birds, the sound of sea waves – the world of nature is all-encompassing and by gazillion times bigger than our tiny inner worlds, and it will never cease to impress and refresh us. Traveling and contemplating is what life is all about, so whether you are a creative soul or a mathematician, you need that!

Parting Wishes

As a farewell before your long-awaited hunting for inspiration, I would tell you the following: do not limit yourself to accumulated knowledge and experience, savor little wonders happening around you, visit places you have never been to, talk to people you’ve been afraid to talk to, and finally, dissolve the shackles of superstitions & self-consciousness that stand between you and the relieving inspiration that you’ve been searching for. The greatness is already within you while inspiration is just a tool to bring it to the surface. Amen!

You are welcome to visit Depositphotos to get the inspiration and enjoy their huge stock photo collection.