What is a creative block and how do pros overcome them? 7 Pro Graphic Designing Tips.

Knowing how to obtain ideas and turning them into design is the first step to becoming a creative designer. But it isn't as easy as it seems.

Most of the time we look at well-polished designs in the portfolios of pro designers, but what we don’t see is the early messy and frustrating stages that they all go through in creating that masterpiece. Every amazing design usually grows from rough, unconvincing, and ugly sketches.

Most people connect designing with art. But we couldn’t be more wrong. If we surf through a designer’s sketchbook, then we will clearly see why that’s the case. As a designer, you are not supposed to create beautiful and flawless art. Rather, you are to generate catchy ideas in an instant from a decent sketch.

That is when we struggle the most. And that is what we call Creative Block. It is when our brain suddenly short-circuits and runs out of ideas.

But fear not. I have compiled a list of techniques that most designers use to break free of it.

Understand your job

As a designer, you are a problem solver for your client. Your primary focus should be on understanding who you are working for and what is the nature of the given task. To make this easy, usually you are provided with a “brief” about the project or you could make up one yourself. In which case, you would first read the statement of the problem to be solved (for instance, advertisement for volunteering that attracts wide audience). You would then pinpoint key facts such as the demographic requirements (e.g. volunteering that targets city residents aged 18–30). Look at how the paper requirement would fit for the delievery of ads (either A4 or Letter Size, landscape or portrait, etc.)

When you refer to the “brief”, you start getting a clearer picture of the background of your task and will find a lead to carry on with your work.

Sketch on a Paper

You might be a tech-savy guy who has mastered every professional graphic designing softwares out there. But as any other graphic designer, you must start from the basic to get the idea of what you want to design. And the best way to do it is by sketching a rough art on a paper. Our free-flowing hands are our god-gifted tool. Computers and software are only for executing an idea, and not for coming up with one.

So, brainstorm a couple of ideas, pour them on a paper as a sketch, and only then take it to the computers.

Breaking Your Task Into Wordings

Did you know that word association could help take any dull ideas to somewhat more interesting? To do this, jot down those keywords from the “brief” of your task and search for its synonym. For example, with the volunteers, we can think of helpers, participators, service or enthusiasts. Find out more of such words or words that associate with your idea, and draw each of those words with just a few strokes of your pen. Ideally, try to draw each word as many times as you can in unique ways.

Write a Paragraph

Sometimes ideas won’t pop up in the mind. You will find yourself stuck with a blank piece of paper, a half-chewn pencil, and a frustrated look. So, instead of throwing a tantrum, take out whatever is in your mind and pour them into the paper. Write a few paragraphs explaining your current understanding of the problem and how it could be solved.

Communicate with People

If trying to come up with a good idea alone didn't work, then it’s best to talk to other people to get a different idea to solve your issue. This is because others are likely to have different intutions about solving the problem. If you have an idea but arent sure if it’s good enough, try to get other people’s feedback early and often. Hear their ideas and critiques, note and act on it to better your idea.

Never Discard Bad Ideas

During the ideation process, the most common instinct when trying to come up with ideas is to filter out the bad ones that you think are not good before you’ve even drawn them. While it may be true that the idea isn't good, but it’s still important to bring it out. Because there’s a chance that the idea is not as bad as you thought. Infact, that bad idea might even lead you to a good one.

Switch Your Constraints

Every designer has his/her own unique way of designing ideas. But in creativity, there’s always a need of change. All of your ideas are going to be visually similar if you're always using the same pen and paper. You could try using a thicker or thinner pen, pencil, brush, and different colours, make a collage, use a whiteboard, draw upside down. Just get wacky if you need to. Each time you change your constraints, you will surely end up getting a different, unpredicted and unique results.

These were the 7 tricks that has hopefully helped you unearth how pro designers get their ideas, and how you can develop your own, too.