Topics: Process: Creativity

Catch a fire. Get inspired. Stay inspired. Developing creative processes, overcoming creative block, fighting inner demons, working with others. (7 articles)

Redesigning your freelance website is an exercise in masochism. There are no colleagues to share the pain: It’s just you. As the designer who wrote The Art of Self-Branding, freelancer Lea Alcantara knew her site had to be just right. People were bound to scrutinize any update to the design, and she couldn’t afford to damage her credibility. Follow her process as she experiments to find the perfect balance of change and consistency.

Taking the Guesswork Out of Design

by Daniel Ritzenthaler

Issue 283May 5, 2009

Clients, like other humans, often fear what they don't understand. Daniel Ritzenthaler explains how sound goal-setting, documentation, and communication strategies can bridge the gap between a designer's intuition and a client's need for proof.

Look at it Another Way

by Indi Young

Issue 267September 9, 2008

Before you can solve a user's problems, you must see them as that user sees them. Once you understand what drives people’s behavior, not only do new ideas flow freely, but the ideas that flow are appropriate and useful. Indi Young tells how to get out of your own way and hear what your users are telling you.

On Creativity

by Andy Rutledge

Issue 254March 4, 2008

As designers, we're wrongly perceived as custodians and exponents of creativity. This matters because business currently overvalues creativity. To avoid the inevitable backlash, we must lead our clients' perceptions.

Understanding Web Design

by Jeffrey Zeldman

Issue 249November 20, 2007

We'll have better web design when we stop asking it to be something it's not, and start appreciating it for what it is. It's not print, not video, not a poster—and that's not a problem. Find out why cultural and business leaders misunderstand web design, and learn which other forms it most usefully resembles.

Get Out from Behind the Curtain

by Sarah B. Nelson

Issue 245September 11, 2007

Client input: positive process or creative noose? Many designers would probably say the latter. But it needn't be that way. Adaptive Path's Sarah Nelson shows how to create collaborative work sessions that take the clients' needs in hand while leaving creative control in yours.

Staying Motivated

by Kevin Cornell

Issue 243August 14, 2007

Been stuck in a creative rut so long so you've started to decorate it? A List Apart’s Kevin Cornell drops his crayons to share tips on developing and maintaining a productive creative routine.

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