We all get stuck in a rut sometimes. What inspires you? When you're stuck and you're trying to come up with ideas, what do you look at and concentrate on?

I tend to browse deviantART. Honestly, with all the different forms of art, I get some sort of vision in my mind as to what I can create that has my own name written all over it.

I've done that before. I don't browse through as many personal websites as I have in the past. I think some of that is because I don't have a domain anymore. I still have the name for some reason, but I just haven't found the drive to start it up again.

Sometimes I'll just look through stock photos (like on Stock Exchange) and see if I can get something from that. I have this bad habit of starting things and never finishing them.

We dicuss this a lot in my Concept Design class. I draw inspiration from numerous places. As a graphic design student browsing through design portfolios is highly inspiring because I want to be at the level they are on some day. I even have design journal. Whenever I see something that inspires me online I print it out and paste it in my journal and write down what draws me to it. Same applies if I find something in a magazine. Just going back and looking through the pages motivates me each time.

Oh Man, I'm the exact same way Mona. I go on Deviantart and look at the different things. Thats what made me start doing photo manipulations or "pop art". I remember finding this piece and ever since I have loved to do them

Piece:

I definitely go through DA a lot, and I also like to go to Dictionary.com and browse through the "Word of the day archive". That helps a lot for me, as well.

That's one bad habit I'm attempting to stop. I have so many unfinished PSDs, it's unbelievable. I wonder if I'll ever make the time and/or have the motivation to finish them.

That design journal idea sounds great; wonderful way to find inspiration (although, it may not work for everyone). I suppose you draw different elements from them into your own work?

Hey, Holly, funny you should say that. I'm going to attempt doing photomanipulations. I'm not terrible at manipulating photos and modifying colors is definitely my thing.

Oh well if you ever have any questions always feel free to ask. I love playing with colors on them. You can add anything to them and make your own little world of all sorts of things. Its great. It takes a lot of time though, the only thing I ever hated about them was actually finding the right images to use.

usually the layouts here and the layouts i tend to see while browsing websites for resources or fanlisting (<< many have crazy layouts)
but in fear of making layouts too much like the ones i see tends to stop me on more then one occasion...
as for things other then layouts
Photography is random... whatever i like and if i have my camera i'll snap a shot.
Photomanipulation a lady on devinatart first got me into it Glitterc*nt and from there i started my stuff....
but as of late i've been at a stand still with both photomanipulations and photography... and with highschool ending i need to figure out what to do with my life....

Deviantart and my music, definately. There's always that one song that would fit in with what I'm trying to make. :D

Exactly. Taking the inspiration, drawing upon it, but still making the design my own and orginal. Much easier said than done.

I hate when I get stuck, designers block.

It's not what inspires me, its what goes on in my head.

sometimes during school, i'll get so bored, i start thinking of new designs to do.

DA. yes! It works... alot. an inspiration.

I was about to make a thread asking how you guys get out of a rut, because that's kind of where I'm at right now. I have no motivation and no inspiration. However, I've found that browsing pictures on vox inspires me to try harder.

Mrrm. Picasso did say, "Good artists copy. Great artists steal." I don't know -- that's the first thing that came to mind while reading through this topic. Personally, I really haven't gotten into DeviantArt.. I dunno. I usually am just inspired by watching a movie or listening to a band, having the desire to create that. I do have to say that a lot of my Buffy and Angel designs come from fan art that I've seen online just by Googling.

Well, thing is, if you do try to copy someone, you can still learn a lot. You don't have to make it public but I'm sure you won't be condemned for trying to copy someone else's style. It may get annoying if there's a huge influx of people attempting to do the same but that's how some learn.

Kara, that 'Word of the Day' at dictionary.com is definitely original. I often browse fan sites; some of those kids come up with some crazy stuff. I do sometimes wish there could just be one site I could go to that archives fan art but...I guess that would make inspiration too easy to find huh? And having seen the deviations Mona listed in the 'current trends' thread of stock photography having digital design elements applied to it, I am now tempted to go check out DA more closely.

i also looq throo deviantart or artists that are better than me in making different types of work

My inspiration comes from the images I work with. But I love looking through DA just for kicks

I always draw inspiration from personal experiences. I'll get an abstract vision in my head, usually from something I've either dreamed about or just something that is stuck in my mind.

Something that came up recently is this image of ants burning in the sun. I know, it isn't the most pleasant of visuals, but here's how it came about.

I have bizarre dreams. I was talking to someone recently who I felt comfortable enough discussing my dreams. I typically dream about burning ants with a magnifying glass in my (now deceased) grandmother's backyard. He came to the conclusion that somehow this was my way of convincing myself that I was so full of anger, that I had this image of myself as a cruel person.

So I'm working on a photo manipulation (something I haven't done in AGES) based on that concept. Self punishment + ants + sun.

PS, I'm not a freak.

deviantART, as well diffrent styles of music

I do like looking at design sites, web comics, or anything that can be visually appealing one way or another. Seeing other people's ideas somehow gets my brain to move on and come up with stuff of its own.

Another source of inspiration that works for me is music, and songs with a strong visual content (if that makes any sense to someone else but me x( ). A good example for this would be songs by They might be giants, it is easy for me to unblock my brain while hearing them sing of robots parading around the city or about people walking in their sleep.

Lastly, I do always try to write up what I remember from my dreams right after waking up. Sometimes it is the most random things such as "he has a spoon for a spine" ;>_>, while some other times I get to write a more complete story. In any case, reading them later on also has helped me beat mental obstacles, too.

Looking at what other people create in other forums, look at peoples portfolios, that works a lot.

usually nature inspires me or a really neat picture... i don't know i'm in a rut right now

http://piepmatzel.de/

Not sure if it's random but a nice directory, nonetheless.

Similar to people browsing DeviantArt, I find inspiration to create when looking at other great artists' work. Makes you feel like going out and making something.