Kickstart your creativity vol. 2

Ideation doesn’t have to be limited to the precursor of a project. Yet, we creatives often keep the two tied together. Nothing bad happens when you aren’t ideating just for the fun of it, but incorporating it into your creative practices can broaden your mental models in unexpected ways, serve as inspiration for your leisure projects, or come in handy when you’re brainstorming your next client brief. We’re back again with a new iteration of creative exercises you can try with Dropmark to get those juices flowing.

Alien anthropologist: Collect images of things as if you’re seeing human culture for the first time. For instance, if an alien encountered a traffic light for the first time, how do you think they would capture it through a photograph? A naive approach to everyday items can inspire fresh perspectives on things you take for granted in your creative life.

Ad-lib your vibes: Try asking a question through a moodboard rather than words. For example: “What does this piece of music look like?” “What personality would this HEX code have?” or “What does this perfume look like?”

Decade immersion: Spend a self-imposed amount of time only referencing one era and collecting materials from that time. Don’t limit yourself to the visual arts here. Collect architecture, interior design, car design, fashion, etc.

Commute collection: On a day when you’re taking public transportation or walking to a destination, collect items from your journey. This practice can be a nice way to start finding inspiration in the mundane and challenge you to be present and take in the world around you in ways you may not normally engage.

Texture diary: Give yourself some amount of time to document all things texture: surfaces, materials, and unintentional patterns in things like rust or shadows.

Collect by emotion: Similar to the vibes exercise, but a little reversed. Collect things that make you feel a certain way rather than trying to create an aesthetic collection around a feeling.

We hope you give some of these exercises a try! Looking for more inspiration? Check out vol. 1