Inspiration.
Every creative thinker has their way of getting inspired.
Some of us take “long walks by the beach,” others might say that a genius idea came to them in the middle of a conversation with a toddler.
That’s the thing with ideas; you never know where, when or how they’d hit.
Working in a dynamic environment where things need to be done at the speed of light and clients tend to sound like Cinderella’s step mom (props to Cinderella, by the way, for dealing with all that), you don’t have the luxury of going to your happy place when you need creative juice.
How then do we summon creative ideas when clients are screaming down on us like marine drill sergeants? The trick is to keep your creative gears running so that inspiration finds you at work. I have found the following ideas to be helpful:
In a dynamic environment where things are done at the speed of light you don’t have the luxury of going to your happy place when you need creative juice.
1. Break down large chunks into smaller, easier-to-swallow morsels.
Even rephrasing words in a brief to simpler words goes a long way to speeding up your creative process.
2. Start with the basics.
While designing, I find that getting my layouts in order and having all the key messages on my artboard before adding all the extra dazzle saves time. If you’re burning up your project runway, you know the most important details are already taken care of.
3. Delegate / ask for help.
Lots of creative people see their ideas as their baby that they and they alone should conceive, birth and send to the world.
But as they say (and pardon my continued use of this analogy) “it takes a village to raise a child.” You may not be lucky enough to have a large team of people working with you but even bouncing your ideas off the money guys at your finance department can help put things in perspective and get things done quickly.
Of course, with experience comes proficiency so embrace your mistakes and learn from them. If you get negative feedback on your work, pick out what you could have done better and try again.
Have more ideas on how to balance creativity with productivity? Let’s talk in the comments.
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This article was written by Bukky Alade. Bukky is a creative designer at Wild Fusion creating new worlds with graphics design, UI/UX and animation. When she isn’t creating new worlds on an iMac, she is exploring other worlds through books, movies and sometimes just by going outside.
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Feature image by Jarrod Reed on Unsplash. Adaptation by Gbenga Onalaja.
