5 quick tips on conquering the blank canvas
The blank canvas can be crippling no matter what you’re creating! Overcoming it is one of the most important skills that you can gain as a creative. Here are 5 quick tips to get over the burden of starting something new! ✋🏾
Tip 1 — Get inspired
As creatives, we are super lucky! We can fire up Dribbble, Behance or Pinterest and peruse for inspiration endlessly to our heart's content. This certainly works but I’ve found that sometimes I need a little bit more motivation.
I like to expose myself to things that inspire me. The key is that it doesn’t even have to be in the same medium. That means you don’t have to be watching other designers… design!
Watching other creators, create in their element, doing what they do best, is extremely inspirational! I always feel like I learn so much from watching others do the things they do. No matter what I’m watching, I always discover a fundamental lesson that I can take with me. Recently I’ve been watching a lot of DJs and Music Producers. 😎
You could watch anything! DIY Channels, Cooking Channels, Digital Artists or Sculptors, whatever fascinates you!
Tip 2 — Start small. No, smaller.
When I start a new project I like to see the whole picture and approach from 30000ft. This can be daunting if the project is large. All of a sudden you can see all the moving parts and the overall scope of the project. Where do you even start?😅
The trick, I’ve found, is to do the exact opposite! Zoom in. I like to zoom all the way in and start designing the tiniest of details. This can be a simple date picker, or a text input box or form or even a button. Then I move to the next tiny element, and the next, and the next, and soon I’m going full speed.
The idea is to start simple. From there you can start playing with colors, styles, shadows, typography and these can form the basis of larger design components that you will inevitably create later!
Tip 3 — Fix your environment
This isn’t just your desk! Having a nice clean working area that is conducive of good work goes a long way, don’t get me wrong! BUT, you know what’s also important? Timing.
One thing that I’ve realized with starting creative work is that inspiration can hit, literally at any time! You don’t even have to be ready! I do a lot of design work in my head while walking somewhere or laying in bed late at night! It helps to always be ready to quickly jot something down so you can pick it up later and flesh it out!
When I run workshops I have a ‘Parking Lot’ poster where people can put down thoughts and ideas that they have. It’s a great way to get ideas out of your mind to free up space so you don't have to keep on ruminating on it.
I apply the same thing to my life, whether it’s a stack of post-its and a sharpie on my desk or a notepad and a pen next to my bed, or a Siri Shortcut that dumps unstructured ideas into a notes app, I have a place where I can quickly throw down thoughts and ideas, so when I come to my blank canvas, I already have some ideas to try out.
Tip 4 — Give yourself like… no time.
Deadlines suck. But they’re also awesome. I do some of my best work with ridiculous deadlines.⏱ I’ve heard other designers say this as well, so I know it’s not just me.
You can leverage this by giving yourself a deadline. It can be an hour, or 4 hours. You just have to stick to it! The sense of urgency will force you to just start, even if you don’t know what you’re doing yet. You can iterate on it later, but in the moment, you just have to complete it before that alarm goes off.
Tip 5 — Just start. It sucks? That’s okay.
I like to just begin. Even when I’m not particularly feeling it. There have been several times I just started with an aimless and pointless doodle and it turned into something I was actually proud of.
Sometimes the act of just creating is meditative. Creating inspires more creativity. When you’re creating, even if it’s crap, you’re still creating. That means you’re learning and you’re focused. So just put pen to paper and start. Creativity will follow.
I always keep in mind this fantastic quote by Maya Angelou. She’s talking about writing but it applies fantastically to design work.
“What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks ‘the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat.’ And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m serious and says, ‘Okay. Okay. I’ll come.” — Maya Angelou
Thanks for reading! Go ahead and Follow me! I’m a Product Designer and I write about workflow and new ideas in design! I also have a YouTube Channel where the video version of this article exists as well. Go ahead and check it out!
See you on the next one!
M
