After a very long time I underwent a bad creative block last week (must be years since I had the last one)... I had to design a print collateral for our SaaS product. After getting the content and understanding the target audience for it, I started to design some layout and I realized all the options I tried working on projected some primitive design skills I had. I was left totally blank was not sure if it was a temp thing or I lost my creative abilities. It just went on for 2 days, I would keep staring at the monitor, try working on some layouts and end up doing options that reminded me of some design which I did years back.
I told to myself print is not your strength anymore... c'mon give up, face it.
I also noticed that not much of reference for print related work is available over the web (some tips were available but not that good to overcome a creative block). Then I took a break and moved on to chat up with a colleague, and was talking about this weird block I was having and then he suggested that probably a trip to a creative bookstore might help. That sounded interesting and I was in no frame of mind to think of anyother way too. The block already gave me a sleepless night.
And Voila! it did help. I found this awesome book "What is Typography?" by David Jury. From the name I assumed it should be a book about the basics of typography, font usage etc. Of course it was related to that but from a broader perspective I realized that getting back to basics after a long time opens new doors of creativity and better understanding of things.
Back at work it really helped me get over the block I was undergoing. I was able to churn out some good design options. To substantiate my feeling, here's what my boss said"Looks interesting."
I think the best part of these kind of blocks are, they are hurdles that inspire us to jump higher. Suddenly I feel like working on more print collaterals.
This book is a must read I strongly recomend it. Will post a soft copy of the design once they are sent for print.
cheers
