Finding Inspiration

• Magazines and Books:  The old stand by for inspiration still holds– magazines and books. I have files of things that I have torn out of magazines as well as shelves of books all tagged with images that I find interesting. It is unusual to see a room and go, "YES! That’s it!" Normally it’s more like “oh wow I have never seen a picture hung that way” or "look at the way that those two colors work together." It’s much more about individual things in images for me than the whole design.

• Travel: Travel is a huge source of inspiration. Looking at the way different people live all around the world is a great way to stay inspired. But it doesn’t even need to be all around the world. You could visit different parts of the city or the state.

• Movies: I also love movies and that can set my creative juices flowing, especially ones where the production design is special. I watched Black Panther with a notebook–there were so many things to see from costumes to make up to architecture. All of it was inspiring.

• Fiction: I just finished reading Where the Crawdads sing and it was an unexpected source of inspiration. The mental images that she was able to paint will stay with me for a long time. Her portrayal of a sense of a slower way of life also was inspiring.

• Trends: As far as staying up with trends, I am a big believer in reading everything from news magazines like the New Yorker to design and fashion mags and lots and lots of technology blogs. It is rare that you will find me not with my nose buried in to something. Trends to me are more about getting a sense of the Zeitgeist as much as specifics about this color or that style. It’s more about feeling the general mood or temperature.