5 Unconventional Places to Find Creative Inspiration
Google Maps Signage
No surprise that a lot of my inspiration comes from old things, signage is no exception! Find yourself on street view in a tiny town in Japan, Italy, Mexico, etc. and take a look at all of the different street signs, wayfinding signage, or exterior building signs. The world is your oyster! I mean, this is obviously available to do in person, but around the world where we aren’t able to travel as freely as possible, Google Maps is always there to discover gems from around the world!
Thrift store books
This might be one of the most obvious ones, because I’m always taking photos at the thrift store! The book section is my favourite because the cover layouts are my favourite to check out, and I can find appreciation in all sections from the pulpy sci-fi books to the Betty Crocker cookbooks filled with photos of Jell-o shrimp salads. Honourable mention to the thrift store board game section, the record section, and the area where they have old sewing patterns, even vintage clothing labels can be so drool worthy! Avoiding the more big-box thrift stores like Value Village is usually better for this kind of hunt, since they tend to cycle through quickly and be picked over. It’s the smaller neighbourhood thrift shops that are more likely to have the real gems!
Online Shops
This one is kind of a fun way to spend time, and it can be a bit of a black hole BUT this will get you more unique design inspiration than Pinterest or Instagram. I love to browse packaging from independent wine shops (like my example here Primal Wine), specialty food stores, cosmetics and beauty shops, you name it! So many of these small boutiques carry local brands, which can have some inspiring packaging but the algorithm didn’t funnel them into your digital orbit. One tip I have is to find a cute shop on Instagram and see who else they’re following and discover from there...It’s like (browser) window shopping!
Archival Publications & Online Catalogs
One of my favourite student projects I designed was heavily inspired by Mountain Equipment Co-op’s catalogs from the 80s and 90s. Sadly, the archives of those don’t live on the internet anymore but for the time that they did, I was creatively fuelled by that. Searching for catalogs or vintage advertisements online can be fruitful if you’re patient!
Restaurant Menus
The thing with restaurant menus is that they can be REALLY bad. Sometimes it’s an educational exercise to identify what exactly makes a design bad though! When they’re good they’re good though, and I love finding restaurants and cafes with character that have fun menu designs or an aesthetically pleasing PDF menu on their website.
