People working in the creative industries experience different ups and downs during their projects. Graphic designers belong to this group of workers and they often face creative challenges and blocks during their work. In some cases, they complete their tasks before the agreed deadline and deliver a perfect creative solution.
In other situations, graphic designers fall into despair because they’re not able to pierce through a creative block. As reported by the 99.u.adobe website, there are seven most common types of creative blocks. The following tips are general ideas on how to overcome and avoid such work crises.
Key Takeaways: Overcoming Creative Challenges as a Graphic Designer
No matter if you only have an online portfolio or a full-scale website, it’s recommended to keep updating this hub of your creative work. If you do that regularly, you’ll constantly go through your previous works. As a result, you might draw inspiration for your new projects. What’s more, adding new materials and skills to your website and blog will improve the online potential of your personal brand. The more visible you are, the better your chances are of landing the project that will suit your creative potentials.
As opposed to that, leaving a website outdated, without adding new works and materials, will look as if you don’t care about your job. This will lead to fewer job opportunities and weaker inspiration.
You can come across a creative challenge even if you work on a professionally inspiring graphic project. This usually happens when designers have dealt with a lot of projects within a short period of time. Sometimes we don’t know in advance that we’re going to come across a brick wall, creativity-wise, because everything seems all right at the beginning of the process. However, finishing several things at the same time can squeeze the positive energy out of designers.
In such a situation, an interdisciplinary approach can help you get back on the positive track. As a current master's program in visual design and communication teaches us, the modern design comprises various branches, from photography and typography to composition and commercial communication. So, when you feel a lack of inspiration in, say, logo design, try to find it by looking at photos, reading design newsletters, or going through your old completed projects.
In the previous article, we’ve mentioned that it is necessary to accept projects that will inspire you. Graphic design is a specific field, perhaps most similar to applied arts. If a painter doesn’t feel inspiration or passion, he or she won’t create a painting. This creative process is similar to that of a graphic designer. If you accept a project in the field of design you’re not proficient in, you’ll probably finish in a creative dead end. Since most graphic designers set certain deadlines, their lack of creativity usually leads to postponements and problems with clients.
What you can do to prevent all this is to accept only projects that are close to your skills and creative thinking. While everybody sometimes accepts projects only for monetary reasons, this shouldn’t be a regular habit. But if you mostly work on projects that are interesting and inspiring to you, you’ll come across fewer creative challenges.
Graphic designers, copywriters, painters, and other creative artists often wait until the moment of their utter creativity to share their work with clients and audiences. In some cases, this is the best thing to do. The Mona Lisa in the Louvre is probably the version that Da Vinci was proudest of. However, when you’re working for a client who needs a logo or a branding campaign, the tagline that ‘The customer is always right’ should come before your utmost creative solution.
In other words, you should care about your client’s needs, rather than your own creative process. This is often one of the main reasons why graphic designers suffer from creative blocks – clients don’t want to accept their solution but insist on something more practical. Therefore, communicate directly with your client from day one to avoid creative problems and financial misunderstandings.
Every creative process consists of several stages, from brainstorming and defining drafts with clients to the work itself and the final product. If a graphic designer feels stuck in any of these phases, they will need to overcome this creative challenge. This can be achieved more easily through constant communication with clients and applied creative work. In other words, if you accept projects that are close to you and follow the client’s instructions, you’ll reduce the risk of running into a creative wall. Together with constant updates of your online channels and an interdisciplinary approach to graphic design, you are likely to experience such difficulties much less frequently.
Author’s bio: Jennifer Hahn Masterson is the Lead Content Strategist at Spread the Word Solutions, holding an MA degree in business communication. She is always doing her best to help her clients find their place in the ever so competitive business arena, insisting on long-term sustainability rather than on some questionable get-rich-fast scheme. You can check her out on LinkedIn
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