Remember Valerie (Valerie Randomness), the artist behind my new blog header? Val was among the blogger friends I have personally invited to guest post on SCATTERBRAIN, and I'm glad that she was more than willing to do me a favor.
Val hails from The Netherlands, but is currently living in London to fulfill her dreams.
Today, Val will walk us through several ways of finding new inspiration without the aid of the Internet. If you're needing some encouragement, then may you learn a thing or two from Val's tips below. Be sure to click on each photo to view it in full! Happy Monday, guys!
If you’re in the creative sector like me, you’ll probably know this feeling all to well: You’re stuck finding a new idea and you feel uninspired. Whether it is for a new blog post, a graphic design, your room, an assignment for a client or school, finding new inspiration can be really hard, especially when you want to come up with something new and unique. They say inspiration can be found in the most unlikely places and I definitely agree with that. Even though the internet can definitely be a source of inspiration, I found out that I feel the most inspired and get my best ideas when I’m not looking at my phone or laptop. So here is a list of things that gave me new inspiration during my study Communication and Multimedia Design, but also for my hobbies photography, blogging, filming and drawing. Offline!
Go to a Place You Have Never Been Before
Wandering in Amsterdam
Otterlo (The Netherlands)
I really enjoy visiting new places, there is always something new to see and sometimes even things I didn’t even know existed!
When I go to new cities I like to visit some of their local shops you won’t see anywhere else, or just sit on a terrace with a drink and watch the people and life around me. But not just cities, I also like to go to more quiet places like forests or lakes. Sometimes you’ll find something completely new you didn’t think you would find. Like the place in Otterlo for example, it’s very close to my house in the Netherlands but I had no idea there was such beautiful nature so close to where I lived.View Some Art
Modern art museum Centre Pompidou in Paris
Palais Garnier in Paris
By art I mean all kinds of art: museums, expositions, theatre, movies, buildings, you name it. When I was in Paris in December, me and my sister viewed a lot of art. I then remembered how interesting and inspiring art is. It inspired me to do more with art myself and to not be afraid to be more daring or different. I think it’s really interesting and inspiring to see how artist portray their view on certain things through art. This gives you a new view on things, which can give you new inspiration!
Read
Notting Hill Bookshop
Harry Potter page to screen – the complete filmmaking journey
Reading a book is a good way to clear your mind relax and get new ideas. A thing I recently started doing is going to bookstores and just wander around and read some books I would normally never read. Reading something completely new often gives me a lot of new inspiration.
Go for a Walk
Earls Court in London
Walking in the snow in the Netherlands
It’s not really easy to get new ideas when you’re head is full. Going for a walk is a great way to clear your mind so you have space for new ideas! I love to walk with some music on, it just makes everything look so much more interesting. I also like to bring my camera with me and just take photos of all the random things that inspire me. Inspiration and ideas just seem to come along!
Draw
Experiment with different brushes and colours
Drawing random things in my sketch book
My teachers at school always told us that when we’re designing something, we should start by drawing on real paper instead of drawing in Photoshop or Illustrator, even if its for a website or graphic design. She says it stimulates your creativity more and you use different parts of your brain. On your computer, it’s really easy to undo something, but there isn’t an undo button if you draw on real paper so if you make a mistake, you have to be more creative to fix it. Most of the time I just draw something totally random, but it gives me ideas for new things I could make. I also like to experiment with paint and different colours (again with some music in the background). Sometimes I have no idea what I’m going to paint, but I’ll find out along the way.
Those are the things that give me new motivation and inspiration! I hope this was useful and you enjoyed reading my list. :)
All photos are by Valerie.
Where do you find new inspiration?
