If there's one thing I've discovered over the years, it's that inspiration can be found anywhere and everywhere! Another thing I've learned, though, is that I'm most (personally) inspired by things graphic-design related. Some of my favorite graphic design sources are:
1. Graphic Design Books
It first started with a book purchase I made years ago...The Best of Business Card Design 2. I pored over this book for years to come. It turns out that the publisher churns out all sorts of inspiring graphic design books. It also turns out, much to Jack's dismay, that I can't be satisfied by just browsing the books at my local Barnes & Noble...I have to buy them. But you know what? They are worth every penny as I turn to them over and over again for inspiration! My favorite title from them, however, is this one as it's inspired not only layouts but cards as well.
2. Advertisements & Product Packaging
I've lumped my next two sources together because I want to make this very important point: companies spend insane amounts of money to hire graphic designers & marketing professionals to create not only inspiring advertisements, but also attractive and appealing product packaging. And we sooo can take advantage of this! I also think it's important to point out that these products don't need to be high-end products at all. In fact, I recently did a page inspired by a box of Cheerios (yes, Cheerios). I can't share the page yet (as it's to be published in the near future) but I'll share the specific box that inspired me. See if it doesn't inspire you as well?
Here's yet another example of how I was inspired by some everyday graphic design. This oldie (but a favorite of mine) layout was totally inspired by soda cup from a fast-food chain of all things!
The cup simply listed bunch of "tasty" adjectives towards the top and at the bottom cleverly ended with: "Translation: Orange Chicken. A Panda Express original." I thought it was such a good ad that I copied the same idea for my layout describing my, then, four year old...it's hard to imagine he's doubled in age since! :)
3. Greeting Cards
My first love, before I became a full-fledged scrapbooker, was creating my own cards. And I have spent my fair share of time perusing the greeting card aisles...from inside a Hallmark store to my local Target. What I think I love most about cards is that for an item of such a small size, they provide an incredible about of inspiration.
I wrote an online article for Simple about this very topic last year. Sadly, I can't find the article online anymore so I can't link you to it. Thankfully I still have my scans saved so I can share a couple of examples with you.
This first card inspired me with it's playful stitching, so I just took that one element and let it inspire me to add some of my own decorative stitching on my layout.
This second card inspired me with it's entire design so I basically just translated the whole thing into a layout. Note: you can even use this second card to provide you with some button inspiration as well! ;)
So the next time you hit a scrapbooking roadblock, just take a trip to your local bookstore, greeting card store, grocery market or even fast-food joint...because, really, you never know where inspiration may strike!
