Design Inspiration - Getting Past the Wall

Sometimes when working on a project, ideas just seem to flow and let me tell you, those are beautiful days. I always research, sketch and play with different ideas of my own but those days, the feeling is very natural and smooth and I don’t even notice how long I’ve been working. But when the block hits, it hits hard and I struggle getting past it. Sort of a writers block but I guess I’d call it “creative block” where I’m just not happy with what I’ve sketched or built, nothing seems to look right and I can’t seem to get the image or idea I may have in my head on to the screen. For me, it’s like walking in to a wall, backing up and walking in to the same wall again. Over and over. Very frustrating. So, when that happens, I’ll have to force myself to step away from the current project and try to relax and open my mind with the help of google, searching great sites for design inspiration.

I have my own preferences of course; not a big fan of all flash sites though I’m trying to be more open to them. I definitely like “open” feeling sites – lots of white space, clean design and I’m always looking at color and arrangement.

Smashingmagazine.com and webdesignfromscratch.com both have great collections of favorite or best sites for 2009, these are some favorites of my own.

Really Wild Flowers - www.reallywildflowers.co.uk












Every time I’m frustrated or overwhelmed, this site instantly makes me feel better. The great use of white space and soft colors give a very clean, calm and organized overall feel along with being visually beautiful.


The Drunken Fish - www.drunkenfish.com/#home













So visually appealing, you defiantly get a feel for the atmosphere and appeal of the restaurant. I love how this site looks like an artists drawing, great use of flash as well.



The Curtis - www.thecurtis.com (Downtown Denver hotel)












I’m always looking at use of color on a web site and this is one of my favorites. For such a colorful site, it doesn’t look messy or Romper Room, everything flows smoothly and is very complementary.



Studio mikmik - http://www.studiomikmik.co.uk












Again, great use of white space and light colors to create a very neat, clean and appealing design. This one’s worth going directly to the site to view, petals are falling from the tree.


Wedding planning - www.1weddingsource.com












Great example of content management and placement. There’s a lot going on here –lots of color and a whole lot of content but everything looks light and balanced, not overwhelming at all and most importantly – navigation is clean and easy to find.


Sometimes overcoming the block just takes a little time away, maybe even calling it a day and coming back in fresh. There are lots of great ways to fuel your creativity; an afternoon with an art book, talking a walk outside, even shopping! Thankfully, the web has come through for me many times, browsing sites to help me break through that wall.

Good On Paper

Every month, I set goals for myself and write them all out trying to be as specific as possible with dates or at least a time frame attached. Maybe they are not always realistic but no one can say I’m slacking. Optimistic as they may be, I really feel they keep me on track and keep my thinking moving forward. The only downside is how I feel when I don’t meet them all. Like this month. I’ll admit I must have been really having a great day when I made my list for July; I was either feeling like wonder woman or mixed in some long term with my little monthly list. I don’t know if everything on paper would have been possible but it looked really good on paper. But I should know from all my years of making personal spending budgets and managing household bills, good on paper is a wonderful thing but you always have to leave some padding for “unexpected expenses” or at times, in my case, a really good sale. And although I only bought small items; that scarf and perfect pair of summer sandals, it all adds up.

Thinking about this blog actually is what triggered my train of though this way as I’m a little disappointed in myself for not keeping up with my weekly goal of writing and updating but I will say, within all my ambition and good intentions, I honestly did not leave room for “unexpected July expenses” or in this case, when life happens, things change or get really busy and you can either paddle like mad for land and end up exhausted and farther from the shore than when you started or accept it and drift as well as you can until you hit dry land. Believe me, I’ve done plenty of mad paddling – you should see these guns! But this month, I think I was more into floating. Maybe it was part of the July heat, that always seems to slow me down. Regardless, I can’t believe it’s almost goal setting time again, August is just around the corner. So I guess I better take care, try to be more patient and keep the list at a realistic amount. I never know when a good sale will catch me off guard.