So you’ve been handed a new design brief and your first port of call are the CSS Galleries. The temptation for many web designers is to open Photoshop, whack in your content and take it from there. This is approach however is flawed and is often taken because the designer is either lazy or thinks he is saving time by skipping the ‘brainstorming away from screen’ step.

The bottom line is in the short term the designer in question may be saving time but this is still to the detriment of the finished website. Design isn’t an exact science; essentially it takes you on a journey, so to pigeonhole your design time into a small box is to produce a product of lower quality.

In my previous article I talked about traits of the pioneering designer; namely that he found his inspiration away from the computer screen.  Well in this article I want to look more specifically at what influences and techniques we can use to keep our ideas fresh, memorable and unique.

Exhibitions:
I try to attend an art exhibition every few months and most recently visited an exhibition by the originator of manga art: kuniyoshi. I think it is vital for any designer to look at artistic movements which interest them. I would recommend looking at Pointillism, surrealism, graffiti and the Bauhaus.

Sketchbooks are a must:
Keeping scraps of ideas, making doodles and writing down quotations are all vital in the armoury of a good designer.

Printed Media:  Books / Magazines / Comics etc:
Having a library of design books, a collection of posters or an old 1930’s Beano comic. The older samples of this are probably the best resource for a web designer as much of it harks back to the ‘forgotten standard of design’.

Take Pictures:
Have you got a camera phone? Since I’ve had the new i-phone I’ve started taking lots more pictures and videos of interesting things just because it is so much easier to download.

Learn from the GREATS..
Take inspiration from the greats in a selection of fields eg. Neville Brody in graphic design; buy a book.

Nature and your surroundings…
Whether you believe in an intelligent designer or not, the jaw dropping aesthetics of some of this planets creatures are undeniable. The environment in which they dwell is also a place worth taking inspiration from!  If you are on a trip abroad this year be inspired by your surroundings look at the architecture, clothing and currency: much of design is heavily influenced by the unique styles of cultures.

The list of sources for offline inspiration is endless so before you begin your next brief take a step away from the screen…

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