How I Stay Creatively Inspired as a Freelance Print Designer (And The Tools That Help Me Do It)

When a brand hires a freelance print designer, like me, they're not just paying for my skills in painting, creating repeats, layout or colour matching, they're investing in creative thinking. Understanding a creative brief, sourcing original ideas, interpreting trends and turning them into well-crafted textile prints.

In my studio: the beginnings of mood boarding a new print collection concept

But how do designers stay creatively inspired, especially between big projects? In this post, I’m sharing how I stay inspired, what tools and resources keep my creativity sharp, and if you're a fellow designer/creative, how you can apply these methods in your own creative life.

Behind the Scenes: How Designers Stay Inspired

"Inspiration Everywhere" Posts

I've been covering inspiration in my "Inspiration Everywhere" series here on my blog for a couple of years now. Sharing the ways that I, as a freelance print designer, source inspiration, anywhere and everywhere. I recently shared a quote on my instagram from @wearespiritualbeings, I will admit I'm not usually one for sharing quotes, but sometimes one just really resonates;

"If you love one, you usually love them all. Interior design, fashion, art, architecture. Obsessed with it all. The way light transforms a space. The way fabric carries movement. How color sets a mood before words even arrive. A well placed object. A clean line. A sudden curve. It is all storytelling through form, texture, silence and shape. Beauty lives in details. And those who notice, feel it everywhere."

This is how I feel about "Inspiration Everywhere" and why I started blogging about it. Feeling it all. Going on a walk and photographing that one great flower or one of natures colour palettes created through the changing colours of the leaves on a tree. A mark on old brickwork that looks like it has potential to be a fab stripe pattern or markings on a shell found by your 4 year old neice at the beach, that could inspire a whole collection of geometric prints (for example...).

The creative eye is always at work.

Here's my top 5 ways I stay creativley inspired:

1. I Consistently Collect Visual Inspiration

Colour palettes at the local market, Spanish flowers, Seaside shell, Colours of the forest leaves

Inspiration is everywhere, in nature, on packaging, in bookshops, on gallery walls, or even the typography on a train ticket. I make a habit of capturing visuals that spark something: textures, colour palettes, clever use of space. These become part of a growing library I draw from when working on client briefs, helping me generate fresh ideas fast. My "flower bank" for example, is a folder on my computer, that I update regularly with photos of flowers that have caught my eye on walks. I now have hundreds of photos, that I quite literally draw from when creating new prints.

2. I Keep a Visual Journal to Explore New Ideas

From rough ideas to sketched out concepts: pages from the visual journal

Not every idea is born perfect. A visual journal gives me a place to test, play and refine without pressure. I like to keep a portable sketchbook in my bag, I tend to use a hardback sketchbook like this one, it's full of scribbles and new ideas that come to mind whilst on the go. At home in my studio I like to work on something larger, my favourite sketchbook is the Daler Rowney Mixed Media Spiral, the best paper for a creative brain dump in any medium. Talking of mediums sketches can really be in any form, I'm a huge fan of fine liner for smaller sketches and a soft pencil when working in a larger format. Sometimes what starts as a five-minute doodle turns into a concept for a client’s print or illustration. Concepts can then make their way out of a journal and into painted or digital creations. Even if an idea doesn't make it out of the journal, and its purely a scribble exercise it’s this kind of regular creative “fitness” that helps me show up with fresh, confident ideas to a new project.

3. I Visit Exhibitions, Galleries and Print Fairs

Cézanne's Studio - Aix-en-Provence, "Paris Prints" Textiles Show - Paris, "Flowers" Exhibtion - Saatchi Gallery

Design is a living, evolving industry, so I make sure I make time to attend exhibitions, design festivals, and print fairs. I'll visit shows locally, in London and across the UK, or even venture further afeild to Paris and other European cities, to stay as connected to current trends and techniques as I can. This helps me bring you up-to-date, culturally relevant design. It also helps me recommend the right materials, printer or supplier for projects.

4. I Experiment with New Techniques Behind the Scenes

In my studio: Reference book research, Ink sketches, Masking fluid experiments

When I’m not working towards a deadline, I love to explore creative processes and even take some time to hone my own processes. Creating artwork with mediums I've not reached for in a while, like my handy Windsor & Newton inks and masking fluid or forgotten colours from my favourite Holbein Gouache set (all pictured above). Refining how I think about painting style, texture and composition, are often exactly what helps me give a project that unique, crafted edge.

Collecting reference books on painting and printing techniques, not only for inspiration but always great to have, to refer back to when working with clients.

5. I Build in Space for Creative Thinking

You don’t always have to be creating, sometimes the best ideas come from mental space. This intentional “downtime” fuels fresh concepts later. If not on a long walk in the countryside, I often look to books either about building a creative business (nice to direct my attention to the business side of things, rather than the creating somtimes). I really love a workbook style book like Mind Your Business. Or books about creativity and productivity, I absolutely love Big Magic, would read this book again and again when feeling a little creatively drained.

If you'd like to chat all things design & print, get in touch: harrietruscoe@gmail.com

Follow:

@harrietruscoe for more inspiration and day-to-day freelance life

@the.print.boutique for ready-to-purchase textile prints and studio work

Some links in this post are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only share tools and resources I genuinely use in my work.