I try to learn something new everyday. With the internet and a seemingly endless supply of tutorials out there to teach anything about Photoshop, Illustrator and CSS that you’d every want to know, it’s not hard to fill every corner of your mind with new information. The internet is undoubtedly a great resource for learning new things about graphic and web design, but for me, learning from others in the field is much more powerful than any tutorial I’ve ever completed.

It wasn’t easy for me to head back to the cube, but when I made the decision to do so, I promised myself I would make the most of it and try to learn as much as possible from the team of designers I’d be working with. Luckily, my fellow designers and developers I work with feel the same. We’ve started holding “classes” dealing with HTML/CSS (taught by our developer) and Photoshop (taught by me and two other graphic designers).  So far our adventure has been fruitful and I feel like we’re all building a better foundation of knowledge regarding our topics of interest. Our first class was taught by our developer, dealing with IDs, classes and the general set up of an HTML and CSS document, in turn we taught him about the lovely Photoshop pen tool. The pen tool can be a bear to master for a newbie, so we felt this was a good place to start since it’s one of the harder PS tools to grasp. Another topic we tackled was freelancing and dealing with difficult clients. We’ve all done some level of freelance work, whether it be designing for friends and family or big clients, and we would all like to continue learning from each others experiences and using each other as a resource in this endeavor.

Conclusion

Never stop learning. Never. The day you’ve decided you’ve done it all, quit, leave your graphic design career in the dust. and move on to something else. Deeming yourself an expert in this industry is the day the industry will pass you by. Graphic and web design is always changing and keeping your skills and knowledge in tip top shape is incredibly important, so learn where you can. The internet offers an infinite (and overwhelming) number of resources for designers and developers to learn, but always take the opportunity to learn from your peers and superiors. In my experience, those working and thriving in the design field offer the most valuable knowledge and expertise.

Being a freelance graphic designer affords you the opportunity to only work with the best clients, on the best projects and for the best money out there. That’s the idea anyway, but if you’re just starting out, chances are you’re going to take on some less than glamorous projects to make ends meet and to make yourself more well known as a freelance graphic designer.  Sure, designing a website for a local mold removal company might seem like a less than special task, but with the right mind set and inspiration, it’s possible.

Here are 5 tips to staying creatively inspired:

1. Take a break
Seems a little counter productive but getting up and away from the computer can sometimes lead to the most inspired designs. If you’re feeling frustrated with a project, get up and take a break. Do the dishes, take the dog for a short walk, play the guitar (this is a personal favorite). Taking a breather and revisiting a project a few minutes later makes all the difference in the world and helps give a fresh take on the the task at hand even if you’re only away for 10 minutes.

2. Get Outside
It’s cold a dreary here right now, but one snowy day I decided to get out and take a few photos of the snow covered trees and out buildings in my backyard. It felt great to take advantage of what some would say is “crappy weather” and use it as a source of inspiration. If you’re feeling creatively stifled, take a walk, sit on your porch with a cup of coffee and draw in inspiration from nature.

3. Read Design Blogs
Draw inspiration from others by reading/subscribing to graphic design blogs. Actively read and comment on design blogs. Any serious blog has an RSS Feed, so there’s really no reason not to be up on what’s happening in the graphic design community. Seeing what other designers are up to can open up new doors to your creativity.

Here are a few blogs I love:

Cmd Shift Design
The Design O’Blog
Grace Smith
Spoon Graphics Blog
CSS-Tricks
Smashing Magazine

4. The Oatmeal

I recently came across this site and spent a good hour LOLing at just about everything on this site. Humor aside, The Oatmeal is very well designed and will spark your creativity whether your an illustrator or a web designer, all while giving you a good laugh.

5. Sketch Sketch Sketch

This really goes without saying but I’ve met some designers that rarely open a sketchbook so it’s worth bringing up. You should always sketch out ideas before starting a project but sketching as a leisure activity can put down ideas that you can use in the future. It’s also fun and can generate ideas for the projects you have coming up. So, grab that Moleskine and get sketching!

Speaking of Moleskines, this site showcases amazing Moleskine art that will get those creative juices flowing.

In Conclusion:

Inspiration really is everywhere. The tips above are what works for me and is a great start to getting the creative juices flowing and will reopen your creative mind.