Inspiration and where to find it?

Posted By  JC - Web Design Director23/11/17

Design inspiration

There is some days where inspiration seems to come from nowhere, an idea or a thought and all of a sudden you run away with a new project, sometimes a project that didn’t exist! These days are magical.

It’s rare though, lets be honest.   We’ve heard it too many times now “there’s no such thing as new design” – it’s all been done before.  We beg to differ, but we understand the sentiment.  Most design nowadays is based on something you’ve seen, or heard.  A design that you’ve seen elsewhere that you’ve adapted to fit your needs.

I’ll be the first to admit, I have a ‘style’.  I like flat designs, look at our site.  I like subtle colours and simple colour palettes.  If I was a photographer, I’d probably solely shoot in Black and White!  So where do I find inspiration from, when something  doesn’t fit my style?

I chat, mainly. I’ll speak to the team i’ll speak to the client, ill even speak to the wife.  I try to look for inspiration away from the internet.  Web Design has trends, and any “decent” site at the moment has probably followed a certain trend.  If you look over on Awwwards.com you’ll notice quite a lot of design similarities across a number of sites, I’m not saying thats a bad thing – but as a designer it’s too easy to get caught up in.  I enjoy days like today, when I’ve got client meetings booked in later in the day, try and get my day to day tasks done early and then jump on a train to a nearby city, walk around – meet friends and just observe.

If you look at our instagram feed from today, you’ll see a couple of snaps that I’ve taken, just mooching around. ( There would have been more, but flat battery and english weather intervened.)  Website Design inspiration can literally be found anywhere.

When it comes to ‘inspiration’ for development, it’s slightly different.  For me, we as a company develop to solve a problem.  Our inspiration is therefore the problem, which I understand can sound strange to read, but it’s true.  The more we work with out clients, the more we try and integrate ourselves with them, in any way possible – to find their problems and solve them with our tech solutions.

To answer my question. In a simplistic way, don’t look at the obvious channels for inspiration.  Look around. Take photos.  If you come to us with a photo of a landscape for a Law firm website, we can create a feel ( City scape – Serious.  Beach – Informal?) We can create a colour palette.  More importantly, we can get a feel for your tastes, you as a person.  You’d be surprised at what a photograph that a person likes, can say about them.

If you’ve got a project that you need designing, or a solution you need solving.  Give us a shout. info@codeandcreate.co.uk
FYI, for those following. We’ve got our keys to our new office, our move in date is first week fo January. Photos to come!