When you are trying to come up with a design for a website and your mind draws a blank, what do you do? Some people have said that looking at your surroundings will help, others say looking at websites. I have done both and personally, I have not had much success coming up with anything I really liked without copying someone else’s design. I could not come up with anything good for the longest time, until “POP!” I saw it in my head and I knew what to design. How do you come up with your ideas?

I rely on books and past events, Hi I am Echos and a newbie, nice to meet all, Echos

I like to work on websites that interest me for personal things, but if I'm doing a site for a client, I try to ask bunches of questions and see myself as a visitor.

...see myself as a visitor.

 

That's what I do. If someone asks me for input on their designs(since I have yet to design one for someone) I just think of me being the visitor, and what I would like to see there.

Visualization is good. Sometimes you have to think beyond what the client wants though. Sometimes they will miss something that is really essential to pull off good usability.

I like to think of what my most favorite thing to do, when I'm not on the computer. Or

 

I (do this one often) disable my internet connection and see what I do when I'm not on the internet.

I (do this one often) disable my internet connection and see what I do when I'm not on the internet.

 

Crikey that's not a bad idea, I do this one myself, I often look to fashion/design magazines to get some inspiration - i think things such as plants and wildlife are also great sources of inspiration. MTV are running some very trendy ad's at the moment which give me some great ideas.

 

I would definitely find it harder to design away from a computer - just because there's so much obtainable information on the web.

 

Though stepping out of that comfort zone and designing with just a paper and pen is a challenge, but when you pull it off it's a great satisfaction.

 

I keep scrapbooks of things I've cut out from magazines and newspapers - images of textures, furniture, room decor, fashion, typography, page layouts, music stuff - you name it, if I like the look of it, it goes in my scrap book - I've got about 5 of them now that I've done over the past 6 years. It's quite interesting to look back through them and see how my tastes have changed and also how design has changed too.

 

I love to look at Image Libraries aswell as you can type in the words of the mood you're trying to create in your design and get relevant imagery and looking at these often helps to inspire a design.

 

I also look at CSS galleries as they are so easy to browse and you can get a good sense of wht's in at the moment and so that prompts you to try something different so that the site you design stands out from the crowd. I love seeing how other people solve problems and try new things especially with navigational stuff.

 

I read a lot of designers blogs as well as that keeps me up to date with current coding trends and that definitely influences how I design.

 

If my mind is still blank after trying all the above - I go for a walk with the dog and pick up shells on the beach and stuff like that - fresh aire helps to clear the mind and helps you focus on the task ahead.

I keep scrapbooks of things I've cut out from magazines and newspapers - ....

 

Evie, you never cease to amaze me! You are a wonderful person and your mosts are really valuable. Great to see someone like you online. The web will be a better place soon... I am sure of that! Keep up the good work!

 

Now... where do I? Hard to say. While I do use some resources Evie has already mentioned, I am more of a dreamer... I get an inquiry and... OK, here is how it goes:

1. fist I check out industry related websites
   
2. then I read a few industry related blogs
   
3. then articles...
   
4. then I try to define what these sites, blogs and articles have in common
   
5. then I try to indetify what they lack
   
6. I make a list and...
   
7. I stop for a while, do my shopping, make a cake... post in forums... something non-related
   
8. I light up a cigar (smoking kills, don't start smoking!) and start thinking...
   
9. I create a layout based on Pamil's Visions
   

nice one!

 

thanks for the complements! Ever so kind

That's a good list there Pamil. That is very useful, even for graphic design which is what I'm tackling right now.

When I had to take the task of designing a quick little logo for my site I used a pen an paper to draw the name out and see how I could fit it together in the fashion I wanted. Then I went to my animation program and made the logo. I didn't do a great job but it was very close to what I had hoped. Meanwhile I pulled the logo down from the site and just put a regular jpg file up until I can spruce up the logo idea and make it more professional looking.

 

If I had to do this on a daily basis I would probably want to get one of those stylus pens to assist me, which I am currently considering buying as an accessory but not necessarily for this purpose.

I would agree with most of the ideas above, I take ages to get to the 'design' stage - I spend a while thinking around the subject, what does the visitor expect and also pulling inspiration from many different areas. Normally as soon as I see a brief I do have a 'gut' inkling about where to go though. Which can be good, or bad!

 

I normally find switching off for a bit is good too - like this morning I was thinking in the shower and 'ding' an idea hit me. Sadly I had to tell myself to finish getting washed (and dried) before I could put it on paper!

I find that history lessons give me inspiration - dont ask me why

 

But I agree that ads and everything listed in this topic does give some degree of inspiration

For me, I just look around websites and search for something that is challenging. The I would clone the entire layout from scratch and begin the modification process. However recently, I saw Eskymo's web-site and really loved the choice of color and decided to work on a old template I made but make it look different, something similar to hers but not a clone of it.

 

So basically look around the web, at other people's work, think of something you really like (like oh that persons cute, I'm gonna make a template themed that person or sports, etc.).

Nice to hear my site is inspirational! Thanks! I often do what Sazzad does especially when I feel my head is full of cotton wool, like now, as I've got a cold....I go onto CSS gallery sites and use the cloud tags to narrow down my search tp specific colours or styles or themes and my brain soon starts working.