When I interviewed for my current job, part of the process was a one hour presentation to the department to showcase my work and skills. The audience was a mix of creative types—photographers, videographers, designers, programmers and instructional developers. I showed a poster I designed that was part of a campaign to encourage sign language use in public spaces. During the question and answer session, I was asked where I came up with the idea for the poster. It is so rare that I am ever asked that question—usually a client is focused on their reaction to the work. Even in design school crits, I rarely recall my peers taking interest in where the idea came from. To me, that is the most fascinating stage of any creation. Back to my presentation and this great question—I was so pleased that my future colleague asked me that, for a few minutes I forgot that every word I spoke was being judged and analyzed.

I went on to explain that the poster was to remind people that when in public, you should respect the communication preferences of others, and in this particular place, that was American Sign Language. Initially I was thinking about the message—remember to respect others, and possibly using hands or a sign to illustrate this. I was flipping through a book about the designer Paul Rand, and I happened to see a logo he created in 1938 for Wallace Puppets. He used a simple line drawing to write out the name, mimicking the bouncy string that animates a marionette. The idea was in my head immediately—a hand making the “r” handshape in sign language, with a string tied around the finger to serve as a reminder. The string spells out the rest of the word “respect”.

In terms of impressing the group—this question was great for me because it was sort of a fun process to explain and I was enthusiastic about it (and the fellow designers in the audience were encouraged to hear me bring up Paul Rand).

I have a large collection of books that show artists and designers sketchbooks. Deeply intrigued reading about the creative process of others, sometimes for me that is more interesting than the final piece. Not just designers or artists, but inventors, engineers, architects, industrial designers, the list goes on. What better insight could there be into the creative process than going on that journey from start to finish?

Personally, I start out writing down long lists of words to describe the project. Then, I go straight to my books. I have the problem or goal or message in my mind, and I nearly forget about it but keep it somewhere at the back of my mind. Pulling out whatever seems relevant, I page through and stop on whatever looks intriguing. Usually, something will catch my eye and that will be the spark I need. Next is sketching out the idea and seeing if I feel it’s going to work. It’s not like that every time for me, but when everything lines up just right, that’s the perfect process. I have other sources of inspiration too, other methods of collecting thoughts and ideas in a way that I can go back to them in the future and pluck out some little spark.

What inspires you? When you are trying to think of an idea, where do you go to spark the creative process?