Every creative mind knows the feeling:
You have a new project to tackle. It’s time to dust the cobwebs away from those creative gears in your mind. And yet, no matter how much you wrack your brain, nothing will come to you.Ideas are at the core of creative advertising and creative design. Both are vital pillars to your brand’s long-term branding and marketing strategy. Yet, it’s never been so essential to break free from the mould and make yourself stand out with never-before-seen thoughts and ideas in novel and exciting visual styles.
But the importance of being creative can only weigh on those suffering from creative burnout. Creative Advertising Agency like ZAK in London can rely on many creative thinkers to inspire one another and keep the ball rolling. But if you’re the “idea person” for your brand, what can you do when you run out of ideas?
What’s Creative Burnout?
Burnout is when you no longer feel any motivation or inspiration towards the project you are working on. It can happen across any discipline, including illustration, graphic design, photography, video and advertising. Burnout prevents you from grasping onto an idea that feels worth committing to and leaves you staring at a blank page in utter frustration.
If your next project relies on you to dust yourself off and bring fresh motivation to the table, here are some ways you can kickstart the old idea motor again.
Make a Start Anyway:
No matter what task you are struggling to do, the most challenging thing during creative burnout is to pick up a pen and make that start. However, once you get drawing, writing or designing, your instinct may often take over and start leading into some unexpected ideas. Of course, you don’t have to get straight onto your actual project either. Just taking ten minutes to explore something creative like doodling or writing your thoughts aimlessly can loosen up your creative muscles and warm you up for more.
Try Something New:
Creativity is all about innovation. Despite this, many creatives fall into comfort zones where they repeat the same techniques and formulas, use the same tools, or apply the same processes. If you are suffering from burnout, you might have just grown bored with going through the same motion over and over. Instead, try a different software or tool, or attempt an entirely new way of coming up with ideas. For example, if you usually brainstorm with a blank piece of paper and a pen in hand, why not mix it up by drawing random words from an online generator to spark entirely new thoughts?
Find Inspiration:
Many creatives fall prey to the myth that looking at too much other work will influence you and drown out your voice. This couldn’t be further from true! By curating what you enjoy from other creators, you create inspiration for yourself and help shape the direction you want your project to go. You can find inspiration from other creators in all fields, creative advertising included.
Inspiration is all over the internet on sites like Behance and dribble, or on youtube, where you can browse most ground-breaking advertising campaigns. But don’t feel like you need to restrict yourself to the digital realm for inspiration, either. Sometimes it’s enough to pick up a good book, go for a walk, or learn something new.
There’s Strength in Numbers: Benefit from Collaboration
It’s difficult to create ideas in a vacuum. Perhaps you have thoughts but struggle to sanity check whether your ideas are adequate for the task at hand. This is where a team of other creatives can make a massive difference. Working in collaborations allows the ideas of multiple creative experts to come together and bounce off one another.
Collaboration, multiple techniques and a wide range of creative influences are also the prime benefits of working with a creative agency in London. Creative agencies do away with blank pages and flat ideas.
By letting varied experts do what they do best and taking an agile approach to idea development, ZAK agency can create ground-breaking concepts each and every time we work with your brand. The creative process and inspired ideas can be trained, and by now, ZAK is an expert at developing creative briefs that break free from the mould and introduce that special something into your advertising strategy.
Get in touch today to chat with us about your next project and bounce your ideas off our dedicated designers and creatives.
