Nine Awesome Creatives On What Inspires Their Work
I recently caught up with some of my favourite creatives and friends from around the web and asked them the question - what inspires your work and your creative pursuits? The intentions and inspiration behind creative work is something that will always fascinate me. What drives us to create, to pursue creative endeavours, and share pieces of ourselves with the world defines so much of the work we create and I'm so excited to be sharing some of these insights with you today.
Lauren Hooker, Designer & Blogger behind Elle & Company
Pinterest used to be my greatest source of inspiration for design work, but the more I viewed the creativity of others, the less creative I became. The longer I'm in this industry, the more I trust my design eye and embrace my colorful, feminine aesthetic. I now draw inspiration from my design clients by getting to know them and their businesses, and from hours of drawing and experimenting in Adobe Illustrator.
For the blog, I find that the more I write and publish posts, the more ideas I come up with. I'm inspired by what I've learned from my own blogging experience and my passion for sharing tips and insight with others.
Meredith C. Bullock, Visual Artist & Creative Coach
My desire to express myself and to somehow capture and render the emotions and beauty I experience is what inspires me to create.
Rae Tashman, Freelance Photographer & Interaction Designer
Inspiration as a interaction designer is relatively straight forward. In product design our inspiration is our user base and our thirst for solving problems. As a photographer, when assignments are given to me, I already set out knowing my subject, but trying to capture my subject and my scene with integrity and honesty is what inspires me and where the creative freedom lies. But in a more general sense, I am inspired by the way light falls (especially at sunset), words (from books or songs) that penetrate to the core, the complexity of inter-personal relationships, the raw unedited parts of life, and quiet unassuming moments.
Jessica Levitz, Designer behind the studio June Letters
Most of my inspiration comes about through my experiences - whether it is traveling through a foreign country, or taking a stroll through my San Francisco neighborhood. I see things and feel things that inevitably show up in my work. I am inspired by the handmade, especially the uniqueness and imperfections of individual style. I am also inspired by feminist teachings, that I am a strong woman that is perfectly capable of carving out a place for myself in this male-glorified world of design, and doing so, without pushing other women down.
Amber Burns, Blogger behind Ember & March
My creative pursuits are ultimately inspired by a strong desire to make things that are useful. I create so that the products of my work can inspire and help others to reach their goals, take bold risks and do something inspiring. I know that everyone has the potential to do great things, make awesome work and have incredible lives. If I can create something that helps another person do any of the above, I'm a happier person. Doing work with this thought in mind keeps me creating and inspired even when my motivation is low.
Jen Rich, Freelance Food Photographer
It's a cliché but inspiration for my photographic work really can come from anywhere. Often ideas for shoots will come to me as I'm cooking, but I take huge inspiration from cookbooks and other bloggers and it can sometimes be something as simple as a colour or a particular ingredient that I really want to focus on. The main driving force behind my desire to create new work is knowing how lucky I am to be doing a job that I love, and that if I work hard enough, and push myself to be the best I can be, I might just be able to do it forever.
Alex Kontis, Composer, Sound Designer & Creator of Sonics
The promise of exploration and the potential to keep learning is what fuels any creativite pursuit. With composition and sound design it's usually the collaborative process and the sharing of ideas and a vision of work that sparks my own creativity, and so when working in service of a film there's other people's work involved that pushes you to keep up with that standard set.
Rebecca Warriner, Photographer & Editor of A Little Opulent Magazine
I take a lot of inspiration from just day to day life, I like thinking of concepts around what I do and see everyday and what I’ve learnt from them. I also take a lot of inspiration from historic artists, with my photography work in particular I always like to look at the work of people who changed the way the industry is led today. For creative pursuits I like to take something that I’m really passionate about and think about how I could put my own spin on it.
& me, Writer, Blog Coach, & Editor of A Little Opulent Magazine
My creative pursuits are inspired by my experiences and my desire to create and connect with the world around me. I’m driven by the hopes of not only building a life of creative freedom for myself, but also in the hope of inspiring and encouraging fellow creatives along the way.
I’m inspired by anything and everything, from the written word, cinema, connecting with other creatives, new experiences, and everything else in between. Specifically in terms of my work as a writer, editor, and blog coach, I’m inspired by the wonder of the world wide web and how it can be used as a platform to create, connect, and share without boundaries. Solving problems, creative challenges, and new endeavours and pursuits tends to be what gets my creativity flowing the most.
What about you? I'd love to know - what inspires your work and your creative pursuits?
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