For some projects, the ideas come easy. There’s no
need to sweat the deadline when the transition from
brainstorming to layout is lightning fast. For others,
finding a good concept seems as likely as winning
the lottery. You flip through design annuals and surf
the web, but nothing sparks your imagination.
The perfect solution, however, could literally
be right around the corner. Training yourself to look
at ordinary objects in new ways can be a powerful
source of inspiration. Everything from your backyard
to office supplies suddenly becomes potential fodder
for that brochure plaguing your to-do list. Here’s a
look at how top designers use the everyday to bolster
their creative work.
Low-budget solutions
When Rule29 first started, the design firm worked
with a lot of smaller clients whose budgets didn’t
necessarily allow for original artwork. So the
Geneva, Ill., company got creative, using images on
hand or that could be shot around town. “Looking
through the last five years of work, some of our most
successful projects were things we did everything
on,” says creative director Justin Ahrens. “There’s
something about taking a few minutes to sketch or
carry a camera with you.”
It’s a tradition the firm continues today, maintaining
a small library of images that staff members
shoot and bring in. The photos might be used in finished
projects or show up in comps—to be replaced
with a higher-quality version if the client likes the
idea. Ahrens says this approach helps clients be original,
especially since so many companies end up using
the same stock images. It can also be a good tactic
when there’s not a lot of time to do photo research. If
there’s a need for a street lamp, for example, a Rule29
designer might go down the block and snap a photo.
Using everyday objects can also lend projects
an appealing, authentic style. When Rule29 got new
offices, for example, the firm put together an open
house invitation that featured snapshots of Open
signs from around the neighborhood—presented in a
rough collage. The photos, many taken by an intern,
aren’t perfect. But the realistic, slightly gritty feel sets
the right mood and tone. It’s part of what makes the
invite interesting and unique.
The firm is also a fan of using patterns found in
everyday life, ranging from a brick wall to fabric. In
other cases, it’s simply a matter of figuring out how
to tap the resources at hand. Rule29 recently created
a 32-page promotion about overcoming fear that
took the form of a journal. “No one had good handwriting
in our office except our intern,” Ahrens says.
“He handwrote everything.” But such DIY efforts
aren’t without a few drawbacks: With every change,
the intern had to rewrite that passage by hand.
Invention: The best option
Stephen Doyle, creative director at Doyle Partners
in New York, sets a high standard for himself when
he taps the ordinary. “It’s not a matter of using
everyday objects to solve a design problem,” he says.
“It’s a matter of seeing objects in a new way, so they
transcend their everydayness. It’s not about stuff
that’s just lying around.”
For the cover of The Druid King, Doyle transformed
a stack of twigs into a custom typeface. The
inspiration came from old fonts that use branches or
logs to form letters. His photographic version of this
approach makes sense in context of the book—where
the oak tree plays a role in the plot. He started with a
stack of oak branches and went to work with pruning
shears and a glue gun to form the book’s cover text,
which doubles as the artwork. Then he did the photography
himself, using available light in his studio.
A little pruning in Photoshop made it more readable.
A lot of Doyle’s ideas flow from taking the time
to examine the world around him. “Every minute
of every day I have a camera with me,” he says. He
started taking pictures so he could shoot his own
portfolios for slide shows, but now he frequently uses
his own photography in projects.
A cover he did for a Pat Metheny Group CD
features images shot in Manhattan and upstate
New York. Hundreds of photos were taken for the
project—all featuring a pole of one sort or another
interrupting the middle of the landscape. In part, the
infinity of the poles reflects the music on the album,
which is one piece of jazz from beginning to end
rather than a group of tracks.
Another of Doyle’s creative habits is keeping
scrapbooks of interesting objects he picks up as he
goes about life. These are simply empty books where
he can tape all the “junk” he acquires—everything
from cards to Russian candy wrappers. It’s a collection
of items he can refer to for inspiration on future
projects. “I like it when things are taken to a completely
illogical extreme,” he says. “The insanity of
some things we do makes them fresh. It gives them
energy. Invention is always the best option.”
No substitute for strategy
But even when your artwork is as close as the
kitchen or medicine cabinet, there are no shortcuts
for creating a strong concept. Chicago’s Flow
Creative embodies this truth in its tagline, “Design
with intent.” It’s a phrase that suggests just how seriously
the firm takes the process of understanding
client needs—something the company tackles before
rolling out its characteristically irreverent conceits.
One of Flow’s recent campaigns was for the
University of Chicago’s Graham School of General
Studies, which offers continuing education for nontraditional
students. To identify the client’s strengths,
principal Peter Zapf explains, “We asked, ‘What is
the nature of Graham School?’ We thought of words
we could associate with the school’s policy of engaging
with the Chicagoland community.”
Those words included authentic, connected,
definitive, and attentive. Each was assigned to one
of Graham School’s programs and became the core
attribute for a brochure dedicated to that particular
program. Next, says Zapf, “We asked ourselves, ‘How
do we bring these attributes to life?’ We thought of
everyday objects we could connect to the words.”
The final edit included a coffeemaker, an egg,
a nail clipper, a fortune cookie, and other quotidian
items. A well-worn glove was featured with the
word authentic on the cover of the brochure for a
Leadership Arts program. Combined with clean
layouts, carefully chosen colors, authoritative typography
(all by fellow Flow principal Jeff Clift and
designer Whalen Louis), and provocative copy by
Zapf, the end result was a series of memorable brochures
with lasting impact.
Keeping it real
Then there’s a twist that takes the everyday concept
one step further—using actual 3D objects as part
of your projects. It’s a method Christina Hagopian
started using even before she founded her New
York firm hagopian ink. As a freelancer living in
Cape Cod, she designed personal Christmas cards
that doubled as a soft promotion for her professional
skills. These simple creations reflected her
beach locale with illustrations of sea life, but she
kicked things up a notch by mailing them in clear
envelopes and putting a little sand in each one. This
touch added an element of surprise that made the
cards more memorable.
Hagopian says that she’s constantly influenced
by what’s around her. “I’m a huge proponent of getting
off the computer when I can,” she says. “Go
for a walk. Go to a museum. Let your mind flow.
Get your mind to see things in a non-design way.”
She believes everyday objects are appropriate when
they strengthen a project’s concept, but she cautions
against using them in a way that’s merely gimmicky
or cute. Her goal is to give something a new twist; to
make people see everyday things in a different way.
When using actual objects, one important consideration
is how the item is going to be packaged.
For her Cape Cod cards, for example, Hagopian
originally wanted to send shells, but she knew they’d
get crushed in the mail. “I’m always testing the post
office,” she says. “They called me ‘sand girl.’”
The packaging should fit the bulk of the object,
she says, and support the larger concept without hitting
your audience over the head. It’s also crucial to
know exactly how your creations will look when they
show up in a recipient’s mailbox: Hagopian always
sends a test item to herself.
