creative block

I like this post because this has been something I have been thinking about lately. I assist a graphic designer at an ad agency and she gives me some of the less creative jobs and I have been having a hard time making them work creatively (small home improvement ads with lots of copy, etc.). I too feel like they are all starting to look the same and I have been trying to find new solutions for designs like these. 

I took my first class in graphic design just a couple of years ago and I can relate to Emily because my technical skills are just starting to catch up with my ideas and creativity. I also could relate to the correlation of time/energy and creativity. Sometimes I have to finish an ad in a minimal amount of time at work and it sucks all of my creativity out of me because putting a time restraint on creativity is a buzz kill, but that's reality.

Some techniques I use to help get inspired are brainstorming by making lists/associations in a journal, looking for inspirational designs and ads (Communication Arts is a great source), surfing images on google images, and checking out stocklayouts.com

I found a site (ag design) that has some information on creative block that I thought was helpful. There are more links at the bottom of the site too. When there's this much written about inspiration and creative block it's reassuring that all designers experiences this.