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Unlock Your Creativity: Design Beautiful Posters Online for Free

Are you looking to unleash your creativity and design stunning posters without breaking the bank? Look no further. In this digital age, there are numerous online tools available that allow you to create eye-catching poster designs right from the comfort of your own home. Best of all, many of these tools are completely free to use. In this article, we will explore how you can create poster designs online for free and unlock your inner artist.

The Power of Online Design Tools

Gone are the days when designing a poster required expensive software or professional design skills. Thanks to advancements in technology, you can now access a wide array of online design tools that simplify the design process and make it accessible to everyone. These tools provide an intuitive interface, pre-designed templates, and a vast library of resources such as fonts, images, and graphics.

Finding the Right Online Design Tool

With so many options available online, it can be overwhelming to choose the right design tool for your needs. To make your decision easier, consider factors such as ease of use, available features, customization options, and community support. Some popular online design tools include Canva, Adobe Spark Post, PosterMyWall, and Crello. These platforms offer both free and premium plans with varying levels of functionality.

Once you have identified the tool that suits your requirements best, simply sign up for an account or log in if you already have one. Most platforms offer seamless integration with social media accounts or cloud storage services like Google Drive or Dropbox.

Designing Your Poster

Now comes the fun part – designing your poster. Whether you have a specific concept in mind or need inspiration from templates provided by the platform itself; most online design tools offer a plethora of options to get started. You can select from various sizes such as standard letter size (8.5 x 11 inches), A4 size, or custom dimensions.

Next, choose a visually appealing background that complements your poster’s purpose and message. Many platforms provide a wide range of professionally designed backgrounds, or you can upload your own image for a more personalized touch. Experiment with different colors, patterns, and textures to create an engaging visual experience.

Once you have selected a background, it’s time to add text and graphics. Online design tools offer an extensive collection of fonts that can be customized to match your brand or personal style. Play around with different font sizes, styles, and colors to make your text stand out.

To enhance the visual appeal of your poster further, consider incorporating graphics such as icons, illustrations, or shapes. These elements can help convey your message effectively and grab the viewer’s attention. Most online design tools provide a library of pre-designed graphics that you can easily drag and drop onto your poster canvas.

Finalizing Your Design

After you have added all the necessary elements to your poster design, take some time to review and fine-tune it. Check for any spelling errors or inconsistencies in font choices. Ensure that the overall layout is balanced and visually appealing.

Once you are satisfied with your design, save it in a suitable format such as JPEG or PNG. This will allow you to easily share it on social media platforms or print it for physical distribution.

Designing beautiful posters no longer requires expensive software or professional skills – thanks to the power of online design tools. With just a few clicks, you can now create eye-catching posters that captivate audiences and convey meaningful messages. So why wait? Unlock your creativity today by exploring the world of free online poster design tools.

This text was generated using a large language model, and select text has been reviewed and moderated for purposes such as readability.

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What Does a Creative Designer Do?

Discover what a creative designer does and the different career paths in this field, from a graphic designer for a marketing company to a freelance t-shirt designer.

A creative designer produces artwork and design concepts that can take on many different forms. For example, you might create visuals, brainstorm concepts, work with team members to develop concepts, and ensure that the final product is aligned with the company or client standards.

Many creative designers work in the marketing and advertising industry and often create brand assets, such as:

Printed brochures

Online banners

Social media ads

Product packaging

Brand identity assets

In these roles, you would often collaborate with colleagues, clients, or a marketing team to generate artistic elements used to promote a brand and attract customers’ attention. 

The role of a creative designer

As a creative designer you’ll typically be producing art to promote a company or specific services and products. A ‘creative designer’ is an umbrella term that multiple creative professions across a variety of industries fall under, including fashion designers, photographers, artists, and graphic designers.

In this role, you can expect to help create a brand identity and enhance profitability for your employers. You’ll typically work in a team setting and be tasked with generating ideas and artistic concepts. For instance, a creative designer might collaborate with an online education platform to create promotional materials. In an attempt to draw more parents to the platform, the creative designer might create a printed postcard, matching social ads, or layout a digital newsletter. 

As a creative designer, you must be able to take direction, turn concepts into visuals, communicate with clients, and implement feedback to create a final product. At times, you may brainstorm and implement your own unique ideas. In other instances, you’ll be responsible for building upon others’ ideas. 

Is a graphic designer the same as a creative designer? 

A graphic designer is a type of creative designer, but it's just one job that falls under this category. While graphic designer and creative designer are sometimes used interchangeably, they aren’t the same. 

Creative designer is a broad term that describes designers who work with a variety of different mediums in several different industries, including but not limited to graphic design. As a graphic designer, you are responsible for creating physical or digital visuals to communicate a specific idea. In a creative designer role, you won’t just be tasked with just creating visuals, but often also the ideas, concepts, and innovations of it.    

What are the duties and responsibilities of a creative designer?

A creative designer spends a lot of time generating artistic concepts, but there are additional responsibilities that coincide with this job. You’ll work directly with clients, create visual assets, and often collaborate with other creatives to finish a project. 

More specifically, the daily duties of a creative designer include: 

Interacting with clients to understand their campaign, goals, and desired deliverables

Generating design quotes 

Turning a client’s ideas into a comprehensive creative brief

Thinking creatively to generate visuals that connect with an audience

Conducting market research

Working with different mediums and identifying the best option for each project

Using computer-aided design (CAD) and software like InDesign to generate visuals

Working on layouts and the overall presentation of a campaign

Coordinating with other creatives like artists or photographers for necessary elements

Presenting drafts to the client and making requested updates to the design

Providing files to necessary vendors like a printer or web designer

What skills do you need to become a creative designer?

There are several technical and workplace skills that you may need to develop for a successful career as a creative designer. Technical skills are skills that are teachable and quantifiable, such as understanding design principles and layout. Meanwhile, workplace skills are innate and learned from experience, such as strong communication and project management skills. 

Requirements vary among employers and industries. In general, if you want to become a creative designer, the following technical and workplace skills are helpful: 

Technical skills

Design principles: As a creative designer, you’ll need to know how to bring elements together, like color, imagery, and text, to convey a message. 

Ideation: You’ll generate and develop new ideas that align with the client’s needs.

Branding : You need to understand key components that make a brand and how they work together to communicate with an intended audience.

Designing for different media: You should be familiar with techniques and materials for designing digital and print media.

UX : You’ll likely need base knowledge behind a “user experience” that impacts a visitor’s time spent on a website.  

Design software: Many creative designers use Adobe Creative Cloud, which includes Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. 

Read more: What Are Technical Skills?

Workplace skills

Creativity: As a designer, you may need strong creative skills and a desire to produce attention-grabbing, effective visuals with regularity.

Communication: From client meetings to coordinating photoshoots, a creative designer may have to communicate with a variety of different people. Additionally, you must be able to use designs to convey the intended message. 

Project management : You will likely be working on multiple projects at one time, so you’ll need to manage each one accordingly. Some companies use project management software too, like Monday.com or Asana. 

Problem-solving: You may need to troubleshoot challenges. When a client isn’t pleased with a design or a photographer misses a deadline to provide assets, you’ll need to manage these issues and find quick solutions.

Read more: Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills: What’s the Difference?

Where do creative designers work?

Creative designers can work in a variety of different industries. Some are self-employed and provide freelance creative design services, others work directly for an organization or agency.

Many businesses, no matter their location or product, needs creative design. Whether the creative designer is responsible for working on the company’s brand or directly on a product, this career has many different paths. Some common industries you may work in as a creative designer include:

Design service agencies

Consulting services

Advertising

Cosmetics companies

Motion pictures and videos 

Public relations

Print marketing 

Colleges and universities

Examples of creative roles

When you search for a position as a creative designer, you’ll likely find a variety of job titles since it’s a broad term. Job titles are more specific, each requiring a slightly different skill set. Examples of job titles that fall under creative designer include: 

Graphic designer

A graphic designer is a visual communicator that turns an idea into a visual concept. A graphic designer might create artwork for ads, design and layout a magazine, craft a direct mail campaign, or produce digital pieces for websites. 

Multimedia designer

As a multimedia designer you will use art, sound, and design to create animations or videos. In this role, you’ll typically be less focused on static pieces and more focused on concepts with moving parts. Multimedia designers often work in TV, film, set design, or animation.

Web designer

In this role, you’ll focus on the website visitor’s experience. As a web designer, you’ll create the layout and visuals that impact a user’s experience. Web designers could work for a company or work as a freelancer, creating sites for multiple companies. 

T-shirt designer

As a t-shirt designer, you will create specific ideas for shirts. Everything from brand logos and inspirational quotes to images and vintage graphics become wearable art. T-shirt designers might work for a clothing company or offer their skills to companies as a freelancer.

Creative artworker

In this role, you’ll be a go-between between creatives and clients. Common tasks you can expect include finalizing designs and putting them on the final product. As a creative artworker, you might take a design from a graphic designer and fit it to a specific product package, for example. To do so, you may need to tweak the design to fit and to create a polished finished product. 

Brand designer 

In this role, you'll contribute to creating the visuals associated with a brand, that help build brand identity and help consumers recognize and remember the brand more readily. As a brand designer, you’ll likely work on or create anything that falls under the brand’s aesthetics, including the logo, brand colors, typography, wall decor, and letterhead. 

What education level is required to become a creative designer?

For most entry-level design jobs, you may need a bachelor’s degree in a design-related field like graphic design, visual design, or multimedia design, although it isn’t required. Having a degree not only helps you build foundational design skills, but it also gives you an opportunity to start a portfolio to show potential employers. 

Read more: What Is a Bachelor’s Degree? Requirements, Costs, and More

What do you need to study to work as a creative designer?

To become a creative designer, consider choosing a bachelor’s degree that’s specific to the type of designer that you’d like to be. Areas of study could include graphic design, multimedia design, or website design. Ideally, the program will include coursework in visual design, studio art, computerized design, typography, and commercial graphics production. Having a background in design theory and principles, marketing, art history, and fine arts can also help you become well-rounded and prepared for your future industry.

You can also go into this field with a degree in marketing, advertising, or public relations. Since many graphic designers work in these industries, employers see the value of these skills combined with artistry. If you have a degree in a different field, completing a training program in design can help you hone the necessary skills.

How much do creative designers earn?

A creative designer’s salary depends on a variety of factors, including the industry you work in and your geographic area. For example, some of the highest-paid creative designers work in New York and New Jersey. The salaries for creative designers vary for example: 

Graphic designer: $50,710 [ 1 ]

Digital designers and web developers: $77,200 [ 2 ]

Special effects artists and designers: $78,790 [ 3 ]

Is there good career progression for creative designers?

A creative designer usually starts in an entry-level position such as an assistant designer. After gaining experience, you may move up to a mid-level one, followed by a senior-level role such as senior designer before becoming a creative director. As a creative director, you oversee a small team of artists, designers, and other creatives within a company. The director level is usually the highest rank available for creative designers. 

Designers may also opt to freelance. A designer might work for a company for a few years to build a portfolio and then start their own design business. For salaried designers, freelancers tend to migrate towards a specialty, like print design, graphic design, or website design.

Start building job-ready design skills to start your career as a creative designer. Consider taking online courses on Coursera like Graphic Design Specialization from the California Institute of the Arts or Modern and Contemporary Art and Design Specialization from The Museum of Modern Art. These classes can provide a window into the industry and allow you to figure out if this is a career path for you.

Related articles

UX Design vs. Graphic Design: Choosing the Right Career Path

What Does a Graphic Designer Do? (and How Do I Become One?)

Figma vs. Sketch vs. Adobe XD: Which Design Tool Is Better?

Graphic Design Jobs

Article sources

1. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “ Graphic Designers , https://www.bls.gov/ooh/arts-and-design/graphic-designers.htm#:~:text=%2449%2C600.” Accessed June 15, 2022. 

2. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “ Web Developers and Digital Designers , https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/web-developers.htm.” Accessed June 15, 2022. 

3. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “ Special Effects Artists and Animators , https://www.bls.gov/ooh/arts-and-design/multimedia-artists-and-animators.htm.” Accessed April 25, 2022. 

This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.

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What is Creativity?

Creativity is a process designers use to drive their abilities towards making artistic innovations (regarding aesthetics) and technical ones (about tackling design problems). Vital in ideation , creativity involves diversity and structure, splits into stages and types, is learnable and has a variety of methods to try.

See what creativity involves as a vital ingredient in design.  

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There’s More than Meets the Eye to Creativity

Generally, Creativity is often mislabeled as a phenomenon rather than a process, and classic misconceptions about it include:

Only imaginative individuals can produce good, unique and useful ideas.

The artistic, right-side brain governs creativity.

In user experience (UX) design , creativity is closely linked with innovation and—rather than be a natural-born talent—it involves a set of techniques and approaches anyone can learn. Because users’ problems are typically complex and intricately linked to the many contexts they find themselves in, the ideas designers strive for to solve these rarely “just happen”. Indeed, there’s a formula for creativity:

Creativity = Diversity + Structure

So, you can train your mind to be more creatively productive, leveraging techniques that expand in scale from simple methods up to the creativity-nurturing routine and environment you choose. Creative mindsets can seem anarchic and unruly, but there’s always a method to the madness involved somewhere (along with stages of creativity to grasp). Particularly, it’s important to learn how to tap into divergent thinking —to explore the horizon, including the wild, weird and downright wacky ideas—and then fine-tune your view of what might actually work using convergent thinking .  Overall, creative ideas must be novel (i.e., involving a level of novelty that goes beyond anything you knew before making discoveries) and useful (i.e., truly practical for you to develop and ultimately beneficial to your users).

© Teo Yu Siang and Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Types of Creativity

Discover how various types of creativity apply to design.

Creativity divides into two chief spheres that share certain areas:

Renowned cognitive scientist Margaret Boden has classified two additional types of creativity:  

From a process aspect, we can add a further pair of types of creativity, as defined by Alan Dix:

Tips for Getting Creative

To set out on a fresh pathway and journey towards truly unique and innovative ideas, you have a variety of options to explore (including learning how to overcome bias). It’s perfectly human to experience creative blocks, however, so here are some important things to consider:

Quantity breeds quality – “More is more” in terms of idea generation. Brainstorming , for example, frees you to thoroughly investigate every possible dimension where a great solution might exist, no matter how silly things may first appear.

Look within – Get in touch with your inner self by listing pain points, etc.; which pain points could you solve and how?

Look without – Make detailed observations of what’s going on around you (e.g., your office) and describe or sketch others and what they’re doing.

Break your habits/routine – Change something about your day-to-day life and examine any differences that arise from it. This can encourage the creative juices to flow.

Stop thinking – Just shut off and see if a distraction (e.g., a long walk) breaks the block.

Smother bad ideas – In the pursuit of sheer quantity over quality, sometimes you can bury yourself under an avalanche of thought relating to even just one bad idea. Try getting tough with it to see if it’s actually worth the effort. Maybe it is of questionable value. However, perhaps you can find good aspects or “secret staircases” within it that can take you up or down a level to reveal fresh insights.

Overall, allow yourself to fail – as creativity is an iterative (and enjoyably rewarding) learning process. Sooner or later, you’ll find yourself getting better at exploring your design space, finding intriguing hidden aspects of a problem, learning from mistakes along the way and, ultimately, tightening your grasp as you get a handle on what users really want from a product or service.

"Creativity is intelligence having fun." — Albert Einstein

Learn More about Creativity

Take our Creativity course .

This Smashing Magazine piece insightfully explores another side to creativity .

See how designers leverage creativity in this example-rich article .

Here are some helpful tips .

Literature on Creativity

Here’s the entire UX literature on Creativity by the Interaction Design Foundation, collated in one place:

Learn more about Creativity

Take a deep dive into Creativity with our course Creativity: Methods to Design Better Products and Services .

The overall goal of this course is to help you design better products, services and experiences by helping you and your team develop innovative and useful solutions. You’ll learn a human-focused, creative design process.

We’re going to show you what creativity is as well as a wealth of ideation methods ―both for generating new ideas and for developing your ideas further. You’ll learn skills and step-by-step methods you can use throughout the entire creative process. We’ll supply you with lots of templates and guides so by the end of the course you’ll have lots of hands-on methods you can use for your and your team’s ideation sessions. You’re also going to learn how to plan and time-manage a creative process effectively.

Most of us need to be creative in our work regardless of if we design user interfaces, write content for a website, work out appropriate workflows for an organization or program new algorithms for system backend. However, we all get those times when the creative step, which we so desperately need, simply does not come. That can seem scary—but trust us when we say that anyone can learn how to be creative­ on demand . This course will teach you ways to break the impasse of the empty page. We'll teach you methods which will help you find novel and useful solutions to a particular problem, be it in interaction design, graphics, code or something completely different. It’s not a magic creativity machine, but when you learn to put yourself in this creative mental state, new and exciting things will happen.

In the “Build Your Portfolio: Ideation Project” , you’ll find a series of practical exercises which together form a complete ideation project so you can get your hands dirty right away. If you want to complete these optional exercises, you will get hands-on experience with the methods you learn and in the process you’ll create a case study for your portfolio which you can show your future employer or freelance customers.

Your instructor is Alan Dix . He’s a creativity expert, professor and co-author of the most popular and impactful textbook in the field of Human-Computer Interaction. Alan has worked with creativity for the last 30+ years, and he’ll teach you his favorite techniques as well as show you how to make room for creativity in your everyday work and life.

You earn a verifiable and industry-trusted Course Certificate once you’ve completed the course. You can highlight it on your resume , your LinkedIn profile or your website .

All open-source articles on Creativity

7 tips to improve your ux design practice.

• 3 years ago

The Basic Principles of Effectuation – How to Use What You Already Have to Become More Innovative

Ideation for Design - Preparing for the Design Race

10 Simple Ideas to Get Your Creative Juices Flowing

The IKEA effect and Convivial Tools – Leveraging our human need for creativity

• 4 years ago

Understand the Various Types of Creativity

• 2 years ago

What Does a Creative Designer Do?

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The Five Forces of Creativity and How They Influence The Design Process

Featured Image: iStock/Denyshutter

For many, creativity comes from instinct, but this is one skill you can develop and train yourself to pursue. You basically need to open your mind to be a step closer to being creative. No matter your industry, having a creative capacity helps with business management, brand invigoration, aesthetics and design of all marketing collateral like web design and social media.

What Is Creativity?

Creativity is a process of generating new and meaningful ideas. In Human Motivation, Robert E. Franken describes it as having the tendency to recognize and generate ideas, alternatives and possibilities to help solving problems. Thus, it is important to note that creativity is an integral part of business brand designing in today’s super competitive world.

Know that creativity has the power to help shape the direction of any particular business, whether it be strategic, technological, or artistic. Using creative ideas and concepts, professional designers not only guide their design processes, but also tell brand stories and express brand vision in novel and exciting ways.

The Five Forces of Creativity

There isn’t a set formula if you’re looking for one, but there are some drivers to turn the creativity nob. Let us explore these one by one.

1. Innovation And Originality

Creativity isn’t a one time task, but rather a process that works parallel with the design process. It requires one to bring novel ideas and concepts to the table. It is seen as a key element in innovation because it can spark new ideas and fresh perspectives.

In these years, we have seen some unique logo designs that have caught people’s eyes. Examples include logos of famous brands like Nike, FedEx, Apple, Starbucks, and McDonalds. They may seem simple to non-designers, but in the world of design, these brand marks have truly stood out.

In the process of logo design , or any process of design for that matter, creativity plays a major role in helping people come up with original and inventive concepts. Of course, not all ideas are worthy of executing but the practice of creating a creative culture is healthy for the creative team. This almost sounds like a riddle, I know.

How to be creatively innovative? Keep your mind open to learn new things , not just from books but from your surroundings as well.

Techniques to Boost Innovation, Originality and Creativity

• Brainstorming is a great way to get everyone’s creative juices flowing. A more structured version of this is Mind Mapping. It’s great to have one session that is all about thinking and generating related ideas.

• Use the Delphi Method that involves throwing questions at the panel of let’s say professional designers to get knowledgeable insights on a particular project.

• Use online moodboard tools to drop and record ideas and inspirations the team can keep for reference. You can try Pinterest, Milanote, Google Keep.

2. Imaginative Thinking

For creative people, imagination is one important skill to learn and cherish. With time, it can be improved and polished. Imagination is an exercise you need to keep doing in order to keep your thinking in shape.

Imaginative thinking is the ability to come up with new and creative ideas. It is an important skill for any profession, especially for creatives such as logo designers, web designers, graphic designers, illustrators, product designers.

There was a time when designers were awestruck by the potential of Gutenberg type, and who would have thought that there would be compact printers everyone could use in their homes. Previously there were limited fonts designers could work with and now they’re uncountable. As the industry evolves, so does the technology, and so do design practices and processes.

In the graphic design process, imagination owns the stage, really. You see, game designers have to be imaginative all the time. They need to think outside the box when designing characters, settings, and stories. It is impossible to make any type of design if a person or team lacks imaginative thinking.

How to be creatively imaginative? To be imaginative, you need to take inspiration. Not just from other designers, but from nature or even your dreams.

Resources to Speed Your Imaginative Thinking

• Listen to videos on TedTalks to widen the horizon of your thoughts. Be open to listening, learning, and adapting.

Explore: TED Talks On Designing For The Future Web

• Use apps that spark creative thinking. One tool like such is BrainSparker that prompts you with quotes, images, words that trigger your imagination.

• Play games that require you to build spaces, like try MineCraft . The reason for this is that these apps trigger your imagination and creativity because you aren’t only enjoying, but crafting as well.

Explore: Design And Animation In Modern Games

3. Communication And Connection

Time and again, we have experienced that having successful communication with our team, with our clients, and with our stakeholders has helped us grow. In fact, with good communication skills, one can build strong connections with co-workers and customers. The trick is to speak your ideas, perspectives, thoughts in a polite and structured way. The more we share, the more we learn and grow.

Without effective communication, the design process may suffer from delays and failures. Thus, if you are part of design processes, make sure to keep sharpening your conversational competency.

In the logo design process , if you notice, each step of the way you need to communicate and connect in some way or other. There is a constant exchange of oral and visual interaction between professional designers, brand managers, and visual marketing specialists.

How to communicate and connect? The more you read, and listen to inspiring speeches or podcasts, the more you will get an idea of how to communicate better. You can also create your own podcasts later and leverage them for marketing purposes. If you do so, make sure to remove background noise so that your audience will have an excellent experience with your brand.

Resources to Improve Communication and Connection

• Use apps like Ummo that help you remove you “uhhhs” and “umms” from your speech. These unnecessary sounds often break the chain of thought.

• Improve your soft skills with short videos training you to speak well. Know that your conversational style changes in every situation that requires communication.

• Read and practice countless tips teaching people to communicate and connect better. A few include:
• Learn to listen
• Have an open mind
• Think before you speak
• Avoid blabbering

When you have completed designing your logo using coupons for logo design apps , you can animate it by creating an intro video with the MakeWebVideo Logo Animation Maker .

4. Motivational Drive

Motivation sets the creative screws in motion. It helps one be more innovative and productive. And a motivated person is more likely to enjoy the design process as compared to someone who is being forced by some external factor.

According to Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory , the psychologist shares factors that motivate people to be high-yielding and creative. He shared that job enrichment is a continuous process that helps people, at work, stay motivated. Motivational factors, he elucidated in his study, are divided in two main categories: hygiene factors and motivational factors.

To remain creative in every design process that comes once a client comes with a project, team members need some sort of incentive to bring their best to the plate. While large enterprises can afford to provide most of the above-mentioned things, small businesses can try to assist their team of creatives in any way they can so that the journey of designing a product becomes easier and enjoyable.

How to stay self-motivated? While your boss may give you all the perks, you have to make sure you keep yourself motivated. Motivation requires a certain mindset, that is to move forward and grow so expand your knowledge and take inspiration.

Tips to Keep Your Team Motivated

• Develop a system of rewards that sets goals for team members during the design process. This will create competition and truly bring out their potential.

• Avoid an autocratic managerial approach and spread positive energy. Cultivate a culture of sharing, hearing, and acknowledging. This will give a sign to your team that they come forward with ideas without hesitation.

• Always give useful feedback. Instead of simply saying the idea is bad, use other words of rejection that are more polite and that don’t demotivate the person to try again.

5. Exploration And Inspiration

A huge credit to being creative (all the time) is to always explore for inspirations. Avoid being a sore who thinks they know it all because that will not get you anywhere.

Tips to help designers explore and be inspired:

• Check out the works of famous graphic designers and learn why their designs gained so much recognition over the years. Study what makes their style unique, and how you can use this knowledge to your advantage in making designs.

Designers to explore: Malika Favre , Ivan Chermayeff , Susan Kare , Walter Landor , Chip Kidd , Michael Bierut

But there are many many more to explore!

• Observe objects around you, in your home or outside. Keep a check of how they’re shaped and colored. How shadows and highlights work on them. Such exploration helps with illustrations and product designing.

Explore: Cultural Design: African Graphic Design In Branding

• Travel as much as you can to places and learn about different cultures. Know about the symbols they use, colors that describe them, or the landmarks they have.

• Read about popular symbols . Moreover, check out the logo design trends that focus on symbols , brand marks, and icons. You can also gain inspiration from alchemy symbols , or industry-based ones like construction symbols .

In the process of design, exploration and inspiration help us adapt to contemporary changes in conventional processes. For example, some famous brands use the five-day design process called, The Sprint .

How to start exploring? All you really need to start is the willingness to discover, investigate, and inspect. Don’t think too much, just start.

Resources for Exploration and inspiration

• Keep an eye on the designs made by other designers on websites like Dribbble , Awwwards , ZillionDesigns , Underconsideration , and Behance .

Explore: Eid Poster and Card Designs

Explore: Modern Wine Label Inspirations

Explore: Orange Web Designs 

• For color inspiration, check out platforms like Adobe Color , Brand Colors , Muzli Colors , and Canva .

Explore: Best Color Palette Generator Tools

Explore: Superb Sources Of Color Inspirations

Explore: Gradients In Web Design

• If you’re a logo designer, keep looking at logo ideas and inspirations and immerse yourself in that sphere. Look at trendy logos and also industry-based logos.

Creativity remains a lifelong process of exploration. It’s the act of imagining new possibilities for reality by connecting things in novel ways. Creativity is not something that happens to us, creativity is something that we practice every day. Creative individuals are able to come up with fresh ideas and an innovative perspective about the world around them, which leads to better problem solving.

Are you using any of these creative forces to drive your design process?

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About The Author

Aamina Suleman

A marketing design enthusiast, super passionate about the evolving scope of visual communication. With 3+ years of experience in content marketing, Aamina is driven by insights, inspirations, trends and creativity. She loves to travel, eat khowsuey, sip coffee, and watch mysteries.

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