Create an Inspiration Book
Every creative type needs to stay inspired. There is plenty of inspiration on the internet and websites such as Pinterest that can organize it. But Inspiration can be found in places other than the internet, such as magazines, catalogs, business card designs, and stationary. With an inspiration book, you can save the items mentioned, little sketches, fortune cookie messages, quotes, your thoughts, and color swatches in one place. A benefit of keeping a book include being able to disconnect from the internet and not becoming distracted by other things online. Creating an inspiration book can even help you out of a creative rut.
Getting Started
To get started, find yourself a book to work with. It can have blank, lined, or grid pages. I prefer blank pages and a black cover. A black cover will stay classy and does not take away from what the pages contain. But feel free to pick any cover you want.
Useful items:
Scissors
Glue
Double-sided tape
Pencils
Sharpie Pens
Micron Pens
Gel Pens
Eraser (I prefer Moo Erasers)
Scissors
Glue
Double-sided tape
Pencils
Sharpie Pens
Micron Pens
Gel Pens
Eraser (I prefer Moo Erasers)
All you need now is some inspiration. Finding inspiration on paper is not as difficult as it may seem. I go to Half-Priced Books and library sales to find old magazines or books to cut from. Think of stores or groups you enjoy, sign up for their mailers or catalogs. In my book I have old gift cards (such as Jessica Hische's "Love" card for Target"), business cards, Vera Bradley patterns (cut from their mailers), doodles from the margins of my homework, song lyrics, and pages from an old sketchbook from college.
One of my most unique pages came from a paint palette. I drew a few thumbnails of my idea for a painting and while I was painting I put samples of the color on top of my thumbnails. I cropped the over-sized page down to the size of my book and let it take up the entire page. Over the top I added two lines from a song by Owl City.
I hope you all enjoy making your own books. Share a few pictures of your inspiration book with me on Instagram @TheStudioOwl or use #TheStudioOwl.
0 comments