[KeriVit]

When i first started the job (Prepress/Design at a Printing Company) I'm in now, I had 80% design and 20% production. This was 9 years ago. When I became a manager, it was 60% design 40% management, etc. As technology has changed, we've gone with the flow and I do much research, decision-making and troubleshooting.

Now, the creative design jobs are few and far between. Now, don't say switch jobs, I'm already doing that and taking some classes for my masters come January.

But, here I sit staring at this logo I need to design and I can think of nothing but cliché images. This whole creativity issue has been dwindling for a while and now I feel like I'm doomed. Perhaps I may not even be able to compete in the upcoming courses I'm looking at.

How can I get that edge back? Anyone had similar blocks? What can I do to make that part of my brain work that way again?

[f1000]

Exploit an intern.

[siMac]

Smoke some weed.

[production_coordinator]

I was in a similar situation... At one point, I was 100% design 0% production. Now, I'm just the opposite.

My advice:
- Be cliché... and mutate your design with the input from others.
- Let others in on the process
- Visit some interesting design houses for ideas
- Look in the newspaper ad section
- Keep tinkering

It works for me.

[vtgts500kw]

the only professor i have time for at university told me a piece of info. that ill keep for rest of my career.

just do something completly stupid and your ideas will come. you dont need to be sensiible/logical/rationale with your ideas. your a designer, have some fun, let your imagination run wild.
(he didnt say it like that but thats the nuts and bolts)

be completley outrageous and outside the convention of a normal logo.

[JustAnOl'Broad]

Originally Posted by KeriVit

But, here I sit staring at this logo ........ This whole creativity issue has been dwindling for a while and now I feel like I'm doomed.

Grab the Wacom tablet and just play; let the ideas just roll out.
Oh and tunes are a must; iPod for total immersion.
Hammock helps too. I find a huge white board and markers
are good for idea sessions and scribbles - but sometimes
there's some great stuff as a result.

Today, after work treat yourself to something out of the ordinary.

I get blocked when I'm most stressed.
When I get all the crap out of my head -that I have no control over,
I feel alot better.

Good luck with the classes!

P~

[art_director]

KeriVit ::

What you're experiencing is just a part of the sport. Getting the edge back is a personal journey and no two people find success with the same remedy. Here are some suggestions:

- Relax. No, really relax. You won't come up with anything if you try to squeeze it out. To date the best work of my career was done with a writer who could never grasp this concept. We'd work for days on end and he'd completely freak out. I'd let him run his course then, when he wasn't suspecting, get him to kick back and forget about the project. That's when the magic happened.

- Walk away. Yep, that's right, forget about the whole darn thing. Go to a baseball game, a movie, read a book, go for a run, whatever. Just forget about the logo or whatever you're working on. While it may not be top-of-mind your subconcious will be busy at work.

- Open yourself up to inspiration. Most of the interns I've had all take the brief and run to their offices to crack open a copy of Communication Arts Advertising / Design Annual or the One Show. That's good because it lets you see how others have solved problems. That's bad because you just re-do what others before you have tried. Don't take your inspiration from other current ads / designs. Look to the obscure. Maybe there's an old building with paint coming off that gives you an idea for a type treatment. Perhaps something in nature makes you look at composition in a new light. Open your mind.

- Share your thinking. When you work in a vaccum you only have one view : your own. Show your thoughts to others. They may be right, they may be wrong but they definitely will help you see it in a new way.

- Random lists. Sit down with a pad of paper and write down words as they come to you. Doesn't matter if they have anything to do with your project. They're thought starters. Truth be told this has never worked for me. An old ad industry veteran told me she did this and it worked. Maybe it will help you.

- Turn off your computer. You've been around a while so this may not apply. Too often young people fire up Illustrator, Quark and Photoshop without even thinking about the problem. This is, in my view, the biggest mistake people make. The art of the thumbnail and a good concept has been replaced with fonts and technical BS. That's not where the journey begins, it's just a stretch of road; it's the nuts and bolts. If you start to concept a layout or design on the computer you've made mistake number one. Why? Because you're devoting too much of your early thinking on type selection, kerning, leading, color, etc. You need an idea first, not a bunch of mechanical boogers limited by a computer program.

I hope that this helps in some small way.

[eyevaan]

damn this is great advice from a_d

I had a block - well for a long time - letting go, permitting brash, unstable, incohesive ideas to pour out and then filtering from that is what it was all about and then it goes away with no forwarding address in the brain. I had to turn off the computer to get charged again but that is not what all people need to do - I did... I still do, I can't think of working any other way these days.

@f1000 - exploit an intern

[Randman]

AD had some good points.

Aside from work, try something outside that interests you. Photography or web design or something creative in a different way. It could get the juices flowing once again and if not, you have something else to think about when slaving away at the office.

[KeriVit]

Thanks for the advice, currently, I'm trying to walk away from the 2 projects I'm working on. Sometimes, the CSRs just don't understand why I am not actually working on something they have given me.

I think I definitely need to get out of here and out of my home for a while. Those are the only 2 places I have been for the last 3 weeks. I've only had Sundays off probably leading to my current frustration. Between staring at the computer here and at home, it has evolved from a tool to a hindrance.

So I will try some of the advice above and see how it goes.

Thanks.

[art_director]

Screw them, you're not busting rocks, you're creating something. Suits just don't get it. One of the many differences between right and left brained folk.

Also, in a pinch, see siMac's advice.

[JustAnOl'Broad]

Originally Posted by art_director

KeriVit ::
You need an idea first, not a bunch of mechanical boogers limited by a computer program.

I loved that part ^.
Try a sketch journal, or write; and let some stuff just pour out.
Can be very cathartic.

[KeriVit]

Originally Posted by art_director

Screw them, you're not busting rocks, you're creating something. Suits just don't get it. One of the many differences between right and left brained folk.

Also, in a pinch, see siMac's advice.

oh all kinds of good advice

[moonmonkey]

Buy a brand new sketch pad and a mechanical pencil and go and have a few pints of Guinness in a quiet pub.

Always does the trick for me.

[production_coordinator]

OTHER PERSONAL TRICKS:

Physically go to a different location to work. Perhaps a conference room on a laptop, a coffee shop, library, etc. Just break the normal routine.

When working with logos (something I personally find difficult) I create "grids" where I start with one idea, and keep changing it just a little until I get grids of 12 (4 x 4) very similar logos. I simply tweak the logo a little until I get something rather unique.

Go take a nap... seriously

[thedvguy]

you guys are awesome. when i read the problem i thought of what i would say, then i read your responses. perfect. i used to take a mini (15 - 20 minute) vacation on my backyard hammock. then i would do something really outrageous. then i would bounce ideas off of other designers.
it's just like writer's block. you have to write something for the rest to come. i started out many a day writing "i don't know what to write..." the rest would come out.
so, get away. do something else. do something outrageous. also, use a theme like circus or beach. it doesn't matter how totally unconnected it is to the subject. try somehow to relate it. you've got to design a car seat. how does that fit with circus? it doesn't but you have to make it fit. brainstorm and write down every stupid thing you can think of in 15 minutes (it's good to have a deadline) eventually you come up with elephant skin seats - or seats with music in the headrest...you get the idea.
another important point is charging for creative. people don't realize that what they are paying for is your creative juices. your brain power. you are thinking of their logo when you're in the shower, driving to work, laying in bed...you should get paid for that time. you don't just go to the cookie cutter and bang them out a $15 logo. it takes time and effort and a good eye. that takes alot of time to develop. remember that.