2 Comments Written by Andrew Bonar on March 29, 2009 – 2:58 pm

Web Designers, like any other creative individuals will find there comes a point in time in their life where they will suffer from creative block or writers block. There are a variety of things you can do to become free of the dreaded ‘block’ and on your way once again to being creative.

Step Away from the Clutter

Clear your workspace, the desk, the walls around you, the floor. All too often creative minds gather clutter around themselves, in our never ending search for inspiration we gather bits of paper, magazines, trinkets and then when it comes to web designers we accrue modems and printers, scanners, tablets and gadgets like there is no tomorrow. I always find a good clear-out of the space around me helps the idea’s flow more freely.

Step Away from the Screen

Try working through your project with good old fashioned ink and paper. Write down your idea’s, have a brainstorming session, work through your site map and schematic. All sorts of ideas can be explored on paper and it takes less time than actually creating those pieces on the computer. If you think an idea is bad you simply crumple a piece of paper.

Some tips that I find help me when brainstorming and working on paper include following step 1 and clearing the clutter, then work on as large a piece of paper as you can reasonably work with and work with a big bold color pen, ideally 2 or 3 colors to help you map out various idea’s.

Step Away from the Office

When you are really stuck try simply walking away, literally. The idea here is to get your mind off the project completely. Thereby enabling your subconscious to work through the problems completely unobstructed. A walk in the park I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to sleep and woken up in the morning with the ideal solution completely formed in my head.
Give your brain a rest from the work of idea generation and organization. Think about something else, take a walk, watch your favorite TV show, get away from the site. When you come back, chances are you’ll have some new ideas for more notes, and the organizational structure might change.

Step Away from the Clock

Try working at different times. If you find that your more creative later in the evening try and arrange your day so that you start much later, getting things out of the way that you may usually done in the evening. Vary your eating patters, if you usually try and work on a full stomach try working before lunch, metaphorically speaking, being ‘hungry’ certainly helps me become motivated to work. For some a literal reminder is also helpful, as crazy as it may sound, these little things, like changing your work times and eating habits can make a huge difference.

Step Away from the Project

If you are really truly stuck and can’t move forward then it makes no sense to blindly continue looking for inspiration in a project you are not ready for so try switching to another project. There are always other things that can get you into the work frame of mind, following up small administrative tasks you have been putting off, updating your own website and getting back to client requests or even tidying your email. Something, anything as long as it is productive.

Step Away from the Norm

Try taking your work somewhere else. Take your laptop somewhere else. Try working at your local library, a cafe or if the weather is good maybe an outdoor location. Somewhere that allows you to concentrate whilst providing enough distraction to allow your creative juices to flow.

Well I hope these simple idea’s do not seem too radical and that if you find yourself suffering with the dreaded web designers block that they might help.

I would love to know what helps your creative blocks, feel free to leave your comments.