Creativity

I've been creatively inclined since I was a little girl.  My mom says she has no idea where I get it from.  Though many believe it's something your born with, I believe that creativity is what you make it.  

In my own little design journey for The Charming, I wanted to make sure everything was cohesive and would flow very well.  That was very important to me.  I originally started this blog as oh-so-charming.blogspot.com and had a photography business on the side.  At the end of 2011 when I was re-examining my life, I decided I didn't want to be so limited, so Charming Life Studio was born.  

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Getting Inspired & Creative

Yes, there is Pinterest.  And we may all agree that it is awesome.  But if you really want to get inspired and work on your creativity, go outside Pinterest.  I even just picked up a copy of Bloomberg Business Week because they have a design issue.  Talk about inspiration.  Though this was talking about more than just graphic design, it's always nice to peak inside the world of other creative types.  Here are some excerpts from that issue: redesigning the clothes iron, Ikea's food packaging, how graphics can save lives.

There are many places to get inspired and many ways to work on your creativity.

Here are some ideas:

• Spend five minutes every day just with a utensil of your choice and paper and draw.  Put on some favorite music to set the mood.
• Pick up a copy of a favorite magazine and look at the elements involved: layouts, advertisings, colors, the outfits on the models, the typography, etc.  If you really want to go all in, pick up a design-oriented magazine.
• Go to Bloglovin' and discover new blogs.  You can use the category feature and even just look under design or general and just see what elements you love from the new blogs you discover.
• Pick up a camera and take a walk.
• Buy one medium that you haven't used before (eg charcoal, watercolor, oil pastels, acryllic, etc) and bring the appropriate paper and new medium to the park on a nice day and just experiment.
• Start a journal.
• Learn about color theory.
• Mix and match mediums: I love pen and ink with watercolor.
• Play with shapes and colors on your computer.
• Stroll through a gallery.
• Photograph textures in black and white.

Some fun design books:

• Creative Workshop
• Color Design Workbook
• Graphic Design, Referenced
• Layout Workbook
• 100 Ideas That Changed Graphic Design
• Elegantissima