I designed your website to Thrash metal
Or, 3 tips for finding your musical muse for that creative project
As a creative, I find listening to music helps me get into the zone and can really help inspire creativity. Of course, finding the right music for the project is key to the success of this process as listening to Rob Zombie when working on a new baby clothing eCommerce site doesn’t usually work out. Neither does listening to a playlist of pan flutes covering epic love songs when designing the interface for a zombie shooter game.
So how do you find the right music to help kickstart your creativity?
Just like the creative process itself, there isn’t just one way to do this either. I use a mixture of different techniques to pick the music I’m going to listen to for my design project. Also important to note that I don’t always use the same technique for the duration of the project. Sometimes I find mixing it up at different parts of the project works well as the focus is often different and therefore the kind of music that sets me off can be different too.
But to get started, here are three ways to find that musical muse.
1: Think about the persona
Consider the persona of either the target audience, or perhaps more applicable at times is the personification of the design work itself.
For example, if you’re doing branding for a new, hipster cafe in a trendy part of town, perhaps you’ll find some music that you think is cool before anybody else does.
Or perhaps you’re developing an interface for a new hi-tech product which has a rich user experience. Maybe you’ll listen to something a little more technical or industrial?
Perhaps it’s not so much the persona but the “mood” or creative direction that you already have in mind, and you can pick a mix of music styles that fit that feeling. The creative style might be minimalist, clean and simple. Maybe then some minimal house, or classical music might be on the cards.
2: Start with a genre you enjoy
Obviously, this whole experiment only works if you’re going to be able to connect with the music, so 9 times out of 10, it has to be music you like or would listen to normally. So if you have particular tastes, why not start with a style of music you already enjoy.
Alternate #2: Be open to new types of music
Personally I have found it more rewarding both musically and creatively to completely disregard the point above and actually open myself up to new genres, new artists and completely new listening experiences I wouldn’t necessarily pick. I have found some of my most creative moments have come from this musical experimentation not to mention some of my new favourite albums.
Whether you are looking for more of the same, or trying to find new and conducive sounds, I find Spotify a great tool for discovering music for my design process.
If you’ve found something you want to give a whirl, play it then “start radio”. This will start pulling other related tracks into a dynamic playlist that you can manipulate through the use of the thumb up/down buttons.
When I’ve had a particularly successful session, I save these playlists for later so that I can come back to them. Give it a try and if you find it works for you, I would recommend upgrading to the Premium account to remove the ads as you may find they can break your rhythm or mood.
3: Match the pace with your place in the creative process
I find that different steps of the creative process can call for a different pace in music.
When going through the ideation process, I like to listen to something a little more languid like ambient electronic music. This helps me stay on one train of thought for longer as I explore the possibilities before taking a new direction.
Examples:
Avril 14th — Aphex Twin (I love Aphex Twin, but be warned of the constantly changing mood)
Moan — Trentemöller
Sarajevo — Blackmill
We Own the Sky — M83
Once I’m in the rhythm of the project and I’ve found my creative direction, I often change the music I’m listening to for something more motivating and well paced. This helps me carry the design through the many iterations required to create a full set of interface layouts.
Examples
Electric Dream — Shapeshifter
Only — Nine Inch Nails
We Swarm — Glitch Mob
Hours — Tycho
How do you know you’ve got it right
For me, I know I’ve hit the right ambience because the ideas and creativity starts to flow and in the right direction. You hardly notice the music changing from song to song as you are sucked deep into the zone. I find myself staying put in my tools and not being distracted by other things like Twitter and emails.
You know you’ve really got it right when you come back for another session, crack open the playlist you were using last night and are quickly back into that zone and being creative again.
Things to watch out for
A couple of points to be careful of when experimenting…
Vocals can sometimes be distracting
Choose music with vocals carefully. I find that some lyrical music can be quite distracting, drawing me into the music and focusing me, more than encourgaing my mind to creatively wander and explore. This really does depend on what you’re listening to but overall, I find it harder to zone out with lyrics interfering with my thoughts.
Use variation with care
While you’re on a particular line of thought, try and keep the mood consistent. Nothing worse than being jarred out of the zone by a track that sticks out in your subconscious like a sore thumb. Whether it be a particularly abrasive track amongst your otherwise smooth tunes (beware the awesomeness and destructiveness of Aphex Twin… gah!) or a sudden drop in tempo when you’re really smashing through a list of tweaks or repetitive screens listening to some driving beats.
On the other hand, it is good to remember that serendipitous variation can be useful when trying to find that creative direction. Just be careful you don’t knock yourself out of a good thing.
In summary…
This article is not a recipe for an easy way to get into the creative zone or increase your creative output by 48.77%. It’s an experiment into seeing how your creative mind reacts to different inputs, sound being one of them. I hope that describing some of the ways in which I curate my audible input during my creative projects inspires you to experiment and see if you find it as helpful as I have.
In the spirit of experimentation and discovery, I’d be keen to hear how your process differs and what works / doesn’t work for you so send me a message on Twitter with any feedback.
