Becoming creative

Is there any way I can teach myself to design layouts and themes and what not even if I think of myself as not being creative? I honestly can't sit down and just sketch out a new layout or come up with a new logo from scratch but I see so many people out there who can. I feel stupid. I mean I definately want to learn and I definately do read tutorials. But obviously even reading a million tutorials will never make me "creative." So what's the secret to figuring it out? I mean it hasn't clicked yet and I don't think or I'm not sure it will.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

inspiration sites are popping up all the time now, so check them out

www.webcreme.com
www.cssremix.com
www.cssbloom.com
www.cssbeauty.com
www.cssimport.com
www.cssdrive.com
www.cssmania.com

theres heaps of them, they are all great inspiration.

 

The longer you design, the more creative you get.

 

Change of environment helps too.

I find myself sitting in my room, constantly stressing as I cannot think of a new design concept.

I then go and sit outside in the sun with pecil and paper.
I am then able to sketch 3-4 pretty decent ideas and then go back to my room and get them made in Photoshop.
This helps a lot for me.

Also, having music that you don't know the lyrics to.
Music helps you to relax, but if you don't know the lyrics, it stops you from getting distracted by singing along.

Inspiration websites such as the ones posted above are also great!

 

Don't overthink the process. When I was in design school we often sketched up to 50 thumbnails for just three mockups. So just keep going and going, keep it small and then pick the top three that has the most potential. If you worry about being "non-creative" then you're blocking the whole process. By the way I still use this technique today. I sketch about 20 - 30 little tiny layouts and then pick a few with the most potential and sketch them with more detail and then from there I create three detailed mockups for my clients to choose from. So for me creativity is definately not instant as some people may believe. It's definately a process. Anyone working in a design firm or the like can tell you that. If a designer always submit the first thing she comes up with (with only one option), she'll probably get fired!

 

Creativity is what you make it. There are so many different styles to be inspired from out there. CssZenGarden.com is a good source. Browsing through DeviantArt.com is an excellent source of new ideas an motivation.

After awhile you tend to develop you're own, completly unique style of design. I work with 3 other web developers/designers and we all work together on the same sites. I know which site or graphic on a site was made by who without having to ask because of the style. I use a lot of gradients, dropshadows, and rounded designs while another would create more print-ad style designed graphics on webpages.

Ive been in you're same mentality. I still feel that way sometimes. Sometimes I'll feel very uncreative and struggle. Then theres times I can't be stopped...

 

Grab screen shot of web pages you like most. Use them as samples and design differently. Play with colors. Save same template with different color themes and placements. Shut down your computer and sleep for few hours. Go back and Review your designs. You will find many faults in your own design. Correct them and once again review them after one or two days. You will find more faults, again correct them. Practice makes man perfect. When you are creating some thing assume that you are doing it for someone and assuring every details upto somone's satisfaction. This way you can progress upto some extent.

Before submitting for approval I always review my works after some gap of time. I myself realise many laps on my own works. Creativity can be achieved with lot of practice and devotion.

 

when you are feeling alone take an umbrela and walk maybe 2-3 hours in your town. look on advertising
look on walls,
trees , birds.
Girls
In this way you will be creative

 

Thanks Nocturnal for creating this thread and thanks to all designers who replied it because its the basic problem for a designer who is not having a art degree.
***Greate Thread ***** Greate Replies****

 

I truly want to say that this thread has prompted some great responses. I'm glad that I didn't see the normal, well if you can't think of anything, then you're in the wrong profession or you shouldn't be designing anyways! Nothing but a positive outlook on everything. That is the best attitude to have and I'm grateful that you all have helped chime in on this subject. I hope that this will inspire many others who come to read this thread that even though you may not be able to create something great today, tomorrow is another day and so is the next day and so on.

 

Being creative comes within. Creativity can come into anything that you do. If you lack it there then it is hard to build one. Alteast you will have to practice a lot.
To be creative it is all simple.. just start with basics.. learn the basics as best as you can. Yes it will be boring but trust me it will help in long time. Also desiging is a stuff that you can never master it... so learning is life long. It is just you improve everyday.
After 2 years in desinging I still learn something new everytime that I work and this makes it very intresting
best of luck

..:: peace ::..
Jeba

 

cooljeba said it all. Creativity is a just an over-rated term. Everyone can get creative and it isn't something that people are naturally gifted with. It's the passion for something and desire to do more that helps the creativity. You can't expect to get too creative if you do not find it interesting or you are doing it just for the sake of making bucks.

So keep practicing... Always keep designing and consequently, you'll get better. It takes a lot of patience, dedication and hard-work but it isn't as scary as it sounds. (at least not if you're passionate about it)

 

I agree. The more you do it, the better you get. You can't learn creativity - either you are or you aren't. BUT... luckily, you can cheat and pretend to be creative by doing designs over and over and over again until you have a good portfolio for yourself to pull out whenever a client asks for something. This is not really creativity but with a big enough portfolio, it's hard for the average client to tell the difference.

 

How would I do - 3 steps:

1 - I would start with the basics. There are a lot of very good books in the market, which gives you step-by-step guidance.

1.a - attention to use of colors
1.b - attention to the graphic details
1.c - attention to functionalities
[When you do the front end of a web site - the web design part - you have to think as a programmer. There are many recommended/allowed
and non-recommended/not allowed solutions.]

2 - I would select a template from www.templatemonster.com and I would make an identical one [of course, just for personal use,
to not violate any copyright law]. This step would help you in understanding the designing process of a web site.

2.a. - the Template Monster templates worth to be used as didactic materials as they sets a very high standard in the web design area
2.b - learing the "how to" will lead you to come to several conclusions
2.c - lerning the "how to" will lead you at that point where just looking at a web site you will be able to tell which part how it was designed

3 - I would start with my own design

3.1 - as the previous designers said: don't be afraid to start working on your ideas
3.2 - after a period, you'll be pleasant surprised by your creativity
3.3 - when you'll get positive feed-backs from others, you'll understand that your work has a certain value

Conclusions: study, work, and view all design works from an analitic position.

 

You'll get creative along the way, don't worry. And make constant reference to other website/graphics.

As for me, I never sketch, I think of the final image in my head, and just design it on the fly. But that's just me.