AIGA Baltimore

25 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Creativity

To celebrate AIGA Baltimore’s 25th year, Jon Barnes, Director of Communications at ADG Creative, has a to-do list for you that’ll motivate your imagination.

Dig out some of your old work or go through an earlier portfolio to see how far you’ve come.

Go to a museum you’ve never been to but always wanted to visit.

Watch a documentary on an artist or visionary who inspires you.

Have your best friends bring their favorite inspirational documentaries over for a movie night.

Focus on 1 artistic project you’ve had brewing in your head and get started on it. Not for work, just for you.

Volunteer at a career fair for local students or visit your high school art teacher just to say hi.

Rearrange your home office or studio for a fresh look and feel. Throw some junk out.

Start a file on your computer called “dreams” and start putting thoughts, notes, and ideas into it of your artistic visions.

Go the bookstore and browse through the art or design section. Buy something motivational for your coffee table.

Create a guerrilla art project somewhere secretive in public. Tell no one.

Make a really stylish homemade card for the next family member of yours who has a birthday. Work so hard on it that the card itself becomes the gift.

Post some of your favorite motivational quotes on sticky notes and put them in your car/bathroom/kitchen.

Create a motivational quote wall at your home or office and ask your friends to contribute their favorite inspirational quotes to it.

Take a day off from work and go to the beach. There is something deep and real about the ocean that connects with the artistic process. Schedule it now.

Spoof something famous (Mona Lisa, Abbey Road album cover) and post your subversive work around the office.

Take a new route or mode of transportation to work for a week.

Change your schedule drastically for a month, prioritizing your “personal creative time” above everything else.

Start a Facebook group asking your friends to post links to their favorite art and design websites. Call your group “Design Motivations” or something with the word “-licious” in it.

Get in touch with a local non-profit and offer to do a free piece of design work for them.

Commission a piece of artwork from a child you know. Pay them handsomely for it and hang the artwork in your house or office.

Repaint one of your rooms. Single color or mural.

Have an art show for all your friends and family at your house. Call it an “art party” and post up your work on all the walls. Even better: Rent a few cheap hotel rooms and have your show there.

Volunteer at a senior center or hospital to give some free art lessons or do a fun collaborative design project.

Pick an obscure holiday and plan a celebratory office party around it (Potato Day, Thomas Crapper Day, etc.). Go overboard with decorating, contests, activities and food. Pull in your co-workers to conspire with you in the planning.

Take a look at your personal website or online portfolio. Overhaul the content, get it updated, refresh the look. Barter with someone if you need help.

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