Do you find that as you’ve developed and refined your skills you experience creative block less than you used to?
Yes, most definitely. Experience helps to find the right balance and avoid burning out as we find that creative blocks appear once a designer loses the balance between work and rest, and stops understanding the project’s purpose and meaning. Trained skills and experience help to distribute time and efforts evenly to achieve the best result.
Has your team ever experienced a situation where you’ve had to cancel a project due to designers struggling with creative block, if so how you do resolve this?
Yes, we’ve definitely had cases when due to different circumstances like unexpected twists from a marketing team, etc a designer had a creative block having hard times understanding what else could be done/created on a project. We’ve actually tried lots of different ways to get rid of a creative block, but what we think always works best is moving the designer away from the project for some time and have a new person work on it temporarily or permanently. This method ensures that our clients are always satisfied, deadlines are met and also there is no forcing on designers.
When you’re under pressure to meet a client deadline and you absolutely must meet it, how do you stay creative and not let the pressure get to you?
Time and quality have always been and remain the most important aspects in the role of a designer. We're always in tight coordination of work with the client to achieve the best results possible. To preserve a creative approach, it is necessary to be guided not always by creative impulses, you should have a vision of the completed project and a developed systematic approach to completing the task well.
So you’ve refined your approach and processes over time, can you offer any advice for designers starting out on how to go about this?
- Try to leave the project away for some time (if possible)
- Come back to it and try to start from a new fresh start - generate new ideas, look from a different angle.
- If it is not possible to leave the project aside for a while - try to get some help from a designer from your team or your friend.
What would be your top 3 tips for designers looking to beat the beast that is.. creative block!
Stop in time, analyze the work and find another way to accomplish this decision, there are many different creative approaches possible.
Switch from mental activity to physical, alternate activity.
Change the environment and travel, recharge with new impressions, emotions and be inspired, beauty is everywhere and in everything.”
Outcrowd are a web & app development agency based in Ukraine. They craft beautiful digital products and illustrations that work seamlessly for their clients and they have blown up across the design community in the last few years.
Cover artwork by Outcrowd