Here's looking at me kid

Inspired By: Vintage Sheet Music

Staying inspired can be pretty tricky for designers these days. Too often you see the same styles popping up from completely different artists and creative types. I get it, I really do. Trends in the design world are more permeable than you might think, and ya know... sometimes you just hit a wall and realize that there is really nothing new under the sun. And  So how do you stay inspired? I immerse myself in life, experiences, nature, and stay involved with other creative people. But when I need some visual inspiration? I head back to a hundred years ago.

It's really interesting to think about how designers back then had to actually cut and paste designs together, making engraving plates, letterpress blocks and the like.... it makes moderns feel awfully lazy! I stumbled upon these 1920s sheet music covers and was completely struck by the graphic colors, pattern, and design elements used. Definitely inspirational.

all images found at Valentino Vamp

Touch of Evil | A Video Gallerydirected by Alex Prager

You could call it art for the ADD afflicted, and that might explain why I found it so interesting. I couldn't stop rewatching these intriguingly sinister bits of cinematography directed by Alex Prager as featured on the NY Times. Touch of Evil features the top film performers of the year in short clips inspired by infamous characters some of us will recognize immediately.

You'll definitely want to watch and rewatch these dreamy videos, and take a moment to figure out the inspiration behind each one. If you don't know the backstory, don't worry! Each one is provocative enough in its own right to inspire a day's worth of dreams.

screen shots taken from Alex Prager's Touch of Evil short films

Inspired By: Maintaining a Sketchbook

Sometimes I can get so carried up in the desire to make everything so pretty, that I end up throwing my hands in the air and not making anything at all. This can be pretty stagnating for a creative person, so I'm delighted that next week I am completely signing off from the internet and all things digital. What am I going to do? Well, I'm going to lay on a sandy beach with my sketch book and a handy set of Micron pens. (Oh, and don't worry- I have posts scheduled for the week, to keep you entertained and hopefully inspired!)

I was a little concerned about how much I am going to enjoy this vacation. Spending a week with Phil's whole family isn't exactly my idea of getting away. But when I saw this sketchbook series by Art Expiration, I suddenly began looking forward to stealing away by myself on the beach and finally expressing myself creatively, in the most rudimentary way. I'm hoping the isolation will help some creative juices find their way to the surface, and I've already decided that nothing needs to be pretty. Just expressive.

How about you? When do you feel most creative?

Inspired By: Vintage Ohio

Nothing beats the excitement mixed with nostalgia that rushes from a box full of musty old treasures. When I looked through my Grandma's old keepsakes from her high school days, I was surprisingly more interested in the vintage design of the pamphlets and brochures she kept than some of the snapshots in scrapbooks. I experiences a similar sense of awe when looking through this Flickr set of vintage ephemera from Ohio.

One of the fun things about these little cards is the die-cut shape. How often do you see funky shaped brochures and postcards these days? Not often. I particularly like the skates with wings logo incorporated into the shape of the top left card. It's pretty clean and graphic, but also has traditional preppy elements in its simplicity and color choice.

Check out the movement created by type, too! Words whoosh behind skaters or are diagonally printed across banners, giving each image extra energy. Whimsy is added to energy with these simple engraving-style illustrations boldly inked with block of color.

I'm feelin' a lot of artistic inspiration and overwhelming nostalgia in these designs.
What about you?

images: What Makes the Pie Shops Tick?