Inspiration on a Budget

Finding the right inspiration doesn’t always have to cost a lot of money, and most of the time you don’t need to leave your office to get it. Without spending a dime on subscriptions or bus fare, here are a couple ways to find it in print or online.

Many designers don’t have the luxury of time to research new projects or refresh old ones. Often, they’re limited by a yolk of deadlines and the whip-like demands of their employers to produce, produce, produce. The lucky few get design periodicals on the company dime or spend time surfing the web for news and ideas, but that all depends on the employer’s understanding of the design process. A good way of keeping up-to-date on trends and techniques, while maintaining a tight time and cash budget is to sign-up for Free trade magazines and email newsletters.

Free Magazines

Graphic Design USA is a Business-to-Business trade publication for creative professionals of all stripes. GD:USA covers the people, trends, ideas, and news that creatives want to know about – the things we talk about around the coffee pot. The June 2005 issue covers the American Inhouse [sic] Design Awards, sponsored by The Creative Group, and their most recent monthly issue, August 2005, announces and analyzes the results of GD:USA’s 19th Annual Stock Visual Survey. Signing up for their Free subscription is simple and can be done online.

Big Idea: Your Connection to the Communication Arts consists of three different monthly regional publications which deal specifically with creatives in Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota but also cover a broad range of topics applicable to a National readership. Big Idea covers all aspects of the creative field with contributors from its three main regions. It presents views from the street as well as interviews and discussions with designers on their projects and workspaces. Although it may seem like the advertisers may not apply to your work, the articles speak to all creatives everywhere… and a yearlong subscription is Free. You can sign-up with Big Idea and select your favorite region via their website.

Before & After Magazine is focused on making the design process accessible to everyone, professional designer and amateur alike. Their format takes on both print and PDF, with paid subscribers gaining access to all of their articles and free subscribers only be able access downloadable PDFs from the website. With such great articles online like What typeface goes with that?, How to find the perfect color, Design on a Centerline, Before & After provides a primer for designers who may need some inspiration and suggestions of accomplishing their goal. Though you can subscribe to either the Print or the PDF edition for a fee online, you can also sign-up for their regular email announcements of when new articles available for download.

Free Samples

Another great (sometimes) Free resource available to designers is the promotional materials Paper Mills send out all over the country. Many of your favorite Paper Mills will send you Free samples directly from their websites or you can speak to your print broker or vendor to get samples sent over. These samples are always extremely creative and often produced by well-known designers and agencies from around the world. Some of paper promotions I keep around on my walls have come from the French Paper Company, all produced by Charles S. Anderson Design. Google “paper mills” or contact your print broker or vendor for some great examples of excellent design.

Free Ideas

Designers rely on fresh ideas from their peers. Most don’t get the opportunity to venture outside of their immediate circles of work and friends, that’s why some of these Free resources can come in very handy. There are many other online and offline sources of exceptional practices and executions out there, and if you keep your eyes open you can build a vast library to refer to for your next project.