Idea-ology The Designer's Journey: Turning Ideas into Inspired Designs By Stanley Hainsworth

This is truly my motto!

I find inspiration and ideas from things that no one would see but me, or at least if they did it would probably be something completely different than the idea I came up with.

Click on this page brought to you by graphic artist Marian Bantjes who, as she states, "gets inspired at breakfast."

This is a page from the brain-candy filled book:

Idea-ology
The Designer's Journey: Turning Ideas into Inspired Designs

By
Stanley Hainsworth

Great design is something that makes you pause and think. That's because there is a pure concept behind that design. Without a strong concept, design is merely an arrangement of elements within the parameters of a given format, resulting in design that is purely decorative. Void of the inspiration that makes design transcendent, the audience is left disengaged and intellectually/emotionally indifferent.

Stanley Hainsworth, a designer who is known for design built on strong concepts, takes readers on an unprecedented visual journey through the minds of today's best design thinkers via interviews and project case studies, exploring and revealing the sources of the concepts behind the projects. This book is a visual and informational feast.

Stanley Hainsworth is the principal and creative director of Tether, a multidisciplinary design firm in Seattle. He is the former VP creative director of Starbucks where he oversaw all creative aspects of the Starbucks Coffee Company and associated brands including Hear Music, Tazo Tea, and Ethos Water. Stanley is a national board member of AIGA and a featured speaker on creativity and design worldwide.

Today's Question:

What's the strangest place or thing you got an idea from?

Leave your answer in the comments and you are entered to win a free book!

Comments

[Melanie K.]

I made a digital brush/stamp based off a sun dress. I still love that design!

[Janel]

I designed a necklace based on cavatappi pasta. I also love watching stock car races to find unusual color combinations.

[wendy m.]

I was inspired by a pair of shorts I once had - I carved some stamps based on the tribal masks printed on the fabric. And sometimes a printed ad in a magazine will give me ideas for a card layout (color blocking, etc.) even if the ad has absolutely nothing to do with crafting.

[Katina]

I looked at a rusted gutter screen and saw a Marie Antoinette skirt, and then I used it to make an art doll.

[Suella]

I saw inspiration in the curves and shine of recently voided sheep muck. Such things are usually looked at in passing to check on the health of the sheep. This time the glossy, 3 dimensional, curvilinear shapes and color caught my eye.

Polyester clay, or resin and felt anyone?

[Joan Bravo]

My strangest inspiration came from dusting under the bed. I found some large dust bunnies and used them by pressing them onto the card serface that I sprayed with adhesive. Joan B

[f lynn rush]

i find feathers on the ground and attach them to cards or other art. of course, the theme would be about birds. when i was much, much younger - about 40 years ago - i found a small blue jay feather, and i still have it. if i come across another one, i MIGHT use that one. i must find someone that can inheirit it and enjoy it.

[Ellen Lai]

Not really strange places, but from everywhere, from tile patterns, dress prints, I have drawn inspiration to design my tatting patterns.

[Nancy Wu]

I get graphic ideas from nature and even while cooking. As things change and evolve, it reminds me that there are many perspectives or points of view towards a visual solution.