Creative Block? Here are some tips to help get over a block by Pixel77

Lost Inspiration. Offering Reward.

By Adriana In Resources On April 8, 2011· 10 Comments

Whether you’re a graphic designer, a web designer, a blogger or another job that implies being creative, you have to admit that sometimes in your career you found yourself in a situation when you didn’t know what to do. That is commonly known as a “creative block”.

Source: sxc.hu

I admit that I had a couple of creative blocks. I noticed that most of them had something to do with my state of mind in that moment. I learned that it’s important to let all your personal problems at the door when you go to your office in the morning. And if you are a freelancer and you’re working from home, you need to find the power to detach from all the stuff that’s troubling you that day.

When I’m struggling with a block, I most often turn to my wonderful colleagues and we have a brainstorming session. Together, we always come up with some interesting ideas. It’s all about the power of being a part of a team.

A couple of days ago, I was chatting with my fellow colleagues and we approached this subject. I wanted to know if they were ever in the situation of having a “creative block”. First they laughed, saying that they never have blocks, but after I gave them a raised eyebrow, things got serious. They admitted that it happens, but they always overcome it.

Obviously, I was curious to know how they handled those situations. Here’s what they said:

• if you find yourself blocked on a project and you can’t seem to find inspiration anywhere, just start working for a few hours on something else. In a couple of hours you can pick up from where you left it and give it another try.
• it’s alright to look for inspiration, as long as you don’t copy. There are a couple of great inspiration galleries out there and it always helps to see how others do it.

Source: sxc.hu

• it’s very important to know what you want to do. Just take a few minutes and think in perspective. An illustration, for example, always turns out better if you think of its’ concept in advance.

Source: sxc.hu

• if the block is seriously killing your work and you can’t get rid of it for a long period of time (if it lasts for more than a couple of days, a week or even more), just take a couple of days off and do something you like. Sometimes, if you work for weeks or months without any breaks, the stress and fatigue accumulates and it affects your working process.
• call in all your coworkers or friends for a brainstorming session. Even if they are not working in the same field as you, they might come up with some great ideas. You can pick an idea from each person and outline an idea of your own.

Source: sxc.hu

• music can help. Put your headphones on and play your favorite music, this might get you in the right mood to create.
• to help prevent creative blocks,  plan ahead. Planning is very important, you should put down on paper, at the beginning of each month, what you have to do. Mention numbers and deadlines. For example: I must do 200 vector illustrations by the end of 15th.

YOUR TURN NOW

I know that there are A LOT of ideas on how to overcome creative blocks on the Internet, but I’m curious:

How do YOU overcome creative blocks?