A Step by Step Method to Design Inspiration

We are in the midst of re-designing the Tiny Totem blog, in case you haven't noticed. :) While I do consider myself a designer of sorts, I am also one of those people who is in love with too many things, and therefore I am exceptionally indecisive. Choosing a font, for instance, is near impossible. It takes great effort and many hours, and usually I decide on one out of sheer exhaustion and eye-torture rather than purely aesthetic reasons. I also have this problem where I can NOT use or do anything unless it's pretty. If there is an amazingly useful app in the app store, for instance, but for some reason it's not aesthetically pleasing to me, I just CAN NOT use it. Not by choice, either. My brain just refuses to obey that which is not also pleasing to the eye. Snob brain?

Final Inspiration Board for The Tiny Totem blog.

I knew that if I was to enjoy blogging, the blog itself must be pretty. And thus, the re-design. And I knew if I didn't come up with a very concise (and beautiful) plan,  I would get lost in the sea of a million design choices and paralyze myself. It happens. So one weekend while Jason went fishing with his dad and three brothers, I took advantage of the silence and figured out exactly what I wanted to do. It was a fun process, so I'm sharing it with you.

Step By Step Design Inspiration Board (What I did)

1. First, I went to Pinterest (where else would I go?) and created a secret board.
2. Then I flipped through all of Pinterest and saved any and every image that I was in love with. I tried not to think about it too much and instead let my instincts and intuition do all the work. I had no rules for this. Just look, love, save.

My Board of Saved Images Before Choosing My Top 12

3. After about 30 - 40 different saved images, I looked at all of them together. I was shocked to see that there was a certain theme running through them. Look what happens when I stop thinking so much; things start to fall in place!
4. I knew I wanted 12 final images that I would use as a sort of inspiration board for the blog's design. So I started taking out all the images that for one reason or another weren't adding to the overall look, or that just didn't fit in somehow. This is the hardest step, but once I got started, I kind of knew where I was headed, and easily tossed out the no's. Another idea is to create another secret board for your maybe's just in case.
5. Finally I chose the perfect 12 images. I saved all of them to my computer, made a grid in Photoshop and pasted the images in. 6. I printed it out and voila! I now have a perfect reference to use when making all those design decisions. It helps tremendously.

Themes & Motifs Discovered in Our Inspiration Board: 

Sans-serif fonts, capital letters, yellow tones, dark blues, soft pinks and mints, triangles, stars, black and white, and subtle contrasts. The overall "feel" of the board, which was not intentional but turned out exactly what I wanted, is modern, clean, but also a little enchanting, whimsical, cozy, and casual. Perfect!

I'm now officially a fan of this whole process. It really is amazing what you can do (especially creatively) when you stop thinking so much. This method of forming an overall cohesive vision enables you to gather inspiration intuitively and then use your critical thoughts and "rules" as editing guidelines rather than as initial judge.


IMAGE CREDITS
1st Row: Does anyone know who made the original Yay flag image? / Bat For Lashes colors: Creature Comforts / triangle shelf: Stone & Violet /// 2nd Row: Matilda: You are my fave / socks: Tea and Kate / Sugar Book: Shimokatazawa /// 3rd Row: Guide to Manhattan label: My Guide / circle with stars: Christine Buckton Tillman / triangle fabric: Chez Chouke /// 4th Row: Constellation cookies: Carnet Parisiens / MakeShift Magazine: cover by Santos Henarejos / I cannot find the source for the envelope, rubber stamp image.