Raising Your Ambition
In the early days of my design, video and photography career, I used to consider the standard or “bar” set for my own design to be the activity of those companies or individuals around me in my city, my business related meetup groups and design friends. Whilst those groups are still relevant, the evolution of the internet portfolio site encouraged and established a global standard that I could, and most definitely should, aspire to.
As the internet connects millions of designers across the world, it has enabled the design community to publish their work via the company portfolio, freelance website, personal blog or web platform. By encouraging contributions from such a large group of focused professionals, the variety of work and the competitive nature of the industry drives quality. Taking some time to peruse examples from these excellent designers allows me to assess my skills, provides inspiration and helps me establish areas of competence that would benefit from further study and practice.
Behance Portfolios
One of the best websites available for displaying creative projects is Behance.net, a web based portfolio site that Adobe have included access to as part of their Creative Cloud subscription. Creative Cloud has around 12 million subscribers and, as a result, this opens it to a wide range of highly trained professionals wishing to display their projects. These are organised into disciplines including graphic design, photography, illustration, product design , UI/UX, 3D, motion design and other media related subjects. So, if you’re struggling to feed your inspiration, viewing this site is a great opportunity to see what your peers are creating along with some descriptions regarding objectives and methodology. You can see my own work here as a complement to this site at Simcoemedia on Behance.
Other Sources
We have discussed Behance in some detail, but it is not the only way to find inspiration. Sometimes trawling through quality stock libraries can help you understand some of the current trends, ideas and possibilities for your own work. A couple of examples are iStock by Getty Images or even looking at some of the Envato network’s portfolio of stock sites such as Graphic River or Photo Dune…the quality can vary, but it can still be a source of inspiration.
Away from the internet, one of the key influences on the 360 Video Handbook I wrote back in 2017 was the design of magazines such as the copy of Disegno I purchase at the Design Museum in Barcelona.This publication provided inspiration for the layout of my book and emphasis when placing images or type and the use of white space. As an aside, Barcelona is a city where design is an intrinsic part of the culture and as such, if you get chance to visit, this could also provide you with some of the creative energy boost you have been looking for.
