Seeking Great Ideas

Was The Thinker thinking about the effects of free trade or wondering how to enrich his next project with amazing storytelling and killer graphics? Finding inspiration for our creations can be difficult at times; most of us have good days and bad ones. So how is it that some always seem to have a concept coming from somewhere, as if they have a personal muse? This article focuses on the places where you can discover yours.

Will the hero get the girl and defeat his nemesis? Who knows? If you're like most people, when a series of commercials interrupts your TV show, it seems like an opportune moment to visit the kitchen or the bathroom. If you have a digital video recorder (DVR), you'll probably be hitting the skip button. If you're in search of a great idea, you'll want to re-examine this habit.

TV commercials are an excellent source of inspiration, especially the ones during prime time. Commercials have to grab the viewer's attention and tell a clear and concise story, while trying to get them to do something. Does that sound like your latest project? The wonderful thing about TV spots is that all of this will usually occur in 30 seconds. With spots being so short, you can get through a ton of them in no time. There is so much information crammed into such a short time frame, you can find inspiration in minutes. If you need to get to or through spots fast, a DVR can be extremely helpful (see sidebar). Try recording a night of television and skipping the shows instead of the commercials.

Regardless of whether you work on commercials or not, there's something for you buried in these short stories. With television's vast amount of advertising, you should be able to find great ideas for any project.

Even if you don't do print (and never will, because you're a die-hard video guru), this is still worth a look. You'll find great text layout and composition ideas in magazines, mailers, pamphlets and billboards. As a matter of fact, there are magazines and books dedicated just to showing off examples of amazing print work. Be sure not to write this medium off; my best text layout ideas have always come from print sources.

The next time you find yourself waiting to get your hair cut, be sure to do more than just read the magazines; take time to study how the magazine is laid out. Plus, it's easy to rip out an ad or take a pamphlet home to store it away for later use. Learn from the masters of that medium, and apply the concepts you like into your own craft.

Remember that print goes far beyond magazines, posters and brochures. Print is everywhere, including your local grocery store. Someone once asked me if an idea for a title layout came from a can of soup, which it didn't, but it did make me think about finding ideas. No matter where you are, you should always be looking for inspiration, even if it's while completing a honey-do list.

It seems like you can find everything on the web these days - how about inspiration? Just like print, the web has lots of layout ideas. As a bonus, some of the layouts will include animated graphics. Next time you land on a Flash page with an intro, don't skip it. See what creative blends of graphics await you.

As the web grows bigger by the day, it can become frustrating to sift through it to find only an occasional design gem. Check out Videomaker.com's video section. Amongst the vast array of content, you will find many contest-winning videos. There's a reason why these videos rose to the top; figure out why by carefully watching their content. Who knew sharpening your skills and getting ideas could be so much fun?