I have been struggling with my creativity recently-so much is happening in my life and so much is changing that it’s hard to stay in an inspiring way of thinking. So I thought perhaps I could do a post on how to get inspiration and keep your creativity going even in the most stressful of times. When life gets in the way the fountain of creativity is there, just beneath the surface. You just have to know how to tap into it.
1. Ask people about your work.
Other people often have great ideas about how you can change
your work or adapt it. We all have different life experiences and it’s time to
draw on that. For instance you might ask you family or your friends: One of my
friends sometimes asks me about her makes and how to approach things
differently. She swears that she gets her inspiration from me! Ask for advice
from other crafters—you might find some sellers on Etsy or Folksy, you can even
use forums such as Craftster to get advice on your makes.
The best thing to do though is to talk to children. They often have crazy ideas that are not fraught with practicality and it can really help you to think (cliché phrase moment) out of the box. Remember how creative you were when you were a kid? I was full of ideas, so full it would’ve been impossible to write them all down. But all the ideas were incredibly convoluted, exceptionally brilliant and totally impractical!! I knew a young boy who once said to me “My head is so full of ideas, I don’t know which to try first!” As adults, I think it’s great to talk to children who are still so full of imagination without being bogged down in reality.
The best thing to do though is to talk to children. They often have crazy ideas that are not fraught with practicality and it can really help you to think (cliché phrase moment) out of the box. Remember how creative you were when you were a kid? I was full of ideas, so full it would’ve been impossible to write them all down. But all the ideas were incredibly convoluted, exceptionally brilliant and totally impractical!! I knew a young boy who once said to me “My head is so full of ideas, I don’t know which to try first!” As adults, I think it’s great to talk to children who are still so full of imagination without being bogged down in reality.
2. Word Association
This is a great way to start your mind up. Start with a
word, any word. It could relate to your product or it could be something like “bus”.
Now, write down another word, the first word that pops into your mind. Be
quick! Now write down the next one that comes into your brain! Don’t judge the
words, just keep going until you have fifteen, maybe even twenty or more words.
Stop and start again with a new word.
OK, it’s not an original idea but it helps to get your mind focused, to make your mind somewhat abstract and for it to think in a different way. You can do it with pictures too if you prefer drawing. Draw something, just a sketch-nothing artistic, then draw another of something different, and another and another. Sometimes I find this easier as I have a very visual mind but sometimes the words are a bit easier. Try it out for yourself and see if you can come up with some brilliant ideas.
OK, it’s not an original idea but it helps to get your mind focused, to make your mind somewhat abstract and for it to think in a different way. You can do it with pictures too if you prefer drawing. Draw something, just a sketch-nothing artistic, then draw another of something different, and another and another. Sometimes I find this easier as I have a very visual mind but sometimes the words are a bit easier. Try it out for yourself and see if you can come up with some brilliant ideas.
3. Brainstorming or Mind Mapping
This was always a fun way to revise for my psychology when I
was in high school! It’s great because you can shape it however you want. Start
with a subject, lets say “Bracelet”. Put that in the middle. Then work some
branches off it so “Occasional Wear” “Daily Wear” “Adult” “Kids” for example. So
off “Occasional Wear” we might but birthdays, prom jewellery, weddings etc. You
can then focus your attention on each one in turn. Just put down what is in
your head.
At this stage, do not throw any idea away. You need all the
ideas, lots and lots of them. Being critical about the impracticality of an
idea at this stage limits the amount of ideas you have to develop at later
stages which limits you creativity. Remember asking the kids in suggestion 1?
They aren’t equipped with the practicality critic. The idea of brainstorming is
to think like someone who doesn’t have that critic. So just go with it. Write
down some silly, big, intelligent, crazy, unique ideas. Develop them LATER!
4. Ask questions
So sometimes it is really difficult to develop an idea. You
know you want to, you know its right but you’re not sure where to go from
there. Well, ask questions about it. So perhaps you know that you want to make
jewellery but what style? ßThere
is a question!
You might also ask:
a)
What style(s) should I specialise in?
b)
When should my style be? (1920’s for example?)
c)
Who is my target demographic?
d)
How will I make my jewellery?
e)
What tools will I need?
f)
What colours should I use?
g)
Why would someone want to buy my jewellery over
others?
h)
What makes it unique?
i)
How will I market my product?
These are just a few questions you could ask--should ask!
This is my favourite way of developing ideas. It’s a nice way to try to
specialise a type of something that you want to do and it helps you focus on it
rather than bombard yourself with ideas. Write all the answers down and keep
refining them until you have something that is perfect and covers everything
you think you need.
5. Research
This is a skill I am relearning from my school and Uni days.
It was boring then going through pages and pages of terribly insightful but
insufferably boring facts….but now it’s awesome! I am looking through subjects
that I LOVE! So I look through jewellery articles, ways of making, styles and
trends. I print off about a billion pages of images, colour swatches and “in
looks”. Sometimes I watch various programmes on television about fashion just
to get an idea of style and colours.
Most of my jewellery seems to be a very retro look, so I
often look into that to see if there are any avenues that I have missed on
that. There are hundreds more still!! You can also USE your research and put it
on a mood board. Now mine is at the moment empty as I have stripped it, ready
to begin research into something slightly different (stay tuned!!) tomorrow. I
use a cork board, about A2 size. I can paint it, which I sometimes do, then I
pin pictures up, print offs, articles about fashion, about flowers, sometimes a
list of useful or inspiring books that I have read. Sometimes I find real
flowers, press them and put them on there too; sometimes its photos that I have
taken, or even postcards with inspiring views just keep my mind fresh; occasionally,
its colour combinations I like which can come from anywhere.
The truth is the world is your inspiration! But if you can
capture it and keep it in front of your work space it can give you a window
into the world and into your imagination.
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I hope this article has been informative and please, if you
have any ideas on creativity or how to create inspirational ideas, please do
share in the comments! Thank you!
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