Ask the Design Smiths | Staying Inspired

Lyss Aviles:

“Here’s how I stay inspired:

1. Sketch, Sketch, Sketch! Whether it’s on a napkin, a receipt, or a small journal, I do some doodling or some quick typography. One of my popular art series was born out of doing this. Surprisingly a lot of people will want to purchase the sketches too! Yay for a coffee fund!

2. Surround yourself with creatives. My instagram, twitter, and facebook feed is flooded with tattoo artists, traditional artists, graphic designers, and photographers with quality work. Seeing their stuff drives me to experiment more and perfect my craft.

3. When it comes to design inspiration, I can easily spend hours on Dribbble being inspired. I’ll type random things in the search box and see what designers around the world are doing. It’s wild to see everyone’s imagination and creativity!

4. Do your work in a creative environment. I’ve found that with working at home I’m not that productive. However, when I visit my local coffee shop, or in my case, our creative co-work studio, I’m 10x more productive and inspired to get work done!

Lyss is a Showit Design Smith with Alyssa Marie Aviles

Jason Toevs:

“The key to my inspiration is balancing my passions. Some days it just feels good to sweat and get some dirt under my nails on the farm or in the garden. I am surprised the little things in nature that lend themselves to webdesign at the end of the day.”

Jason is a Showit Design Partner with 2Blokes Design

Meg Long:

“It’s helpful to expose myself to lots of different art forms, rather than just staring at websites and blogs all day. I find a lot of inspiration in old movies, artsy magazines, book design, galleries, or just walking around downtown LA. I think variety is essential for a healthy inspiration ‘diet!'”

Meg is a Showit Design Partner with Meg Long Creative

Thanks for chiming in, Design Smiths! I would say I am the queen of screenshots. My entire desktop is full of them most days, and I have a folder that I keep for “Inspiration.” It doesn’t necessarily have to do with a particular project, but if I am feeling like I need a little boost, I will go and browse in there for an instant inspiration pick-me-up!

Ask the Design Smiths will be a recurring featurette where we get input from Showit designers on being a designer, starting out in the design business, working with clients, and client management. If you have any questions you would like us to ask the designers, please let us know via email at rachael@earlandlayne.com.