All designers go through designer’s block. You can’t be creative 24/7. Here are some tips that will help you get inspired to design and hopefully let the creative river in your mind flow.

1. Watch a movie. This isn’t to zone out and hope something pops up subconsciously (although, sometimes that does happen – yay!). Watch a sci-fi or fantasy movie that includes a lot of outrageous scenes like The Lord of the Rings. Sometimes seeing architecture and paying close attention to the graphics of the movie, rather than the storyline, can give you some design ideas. It’d be best if you have seen the movie before so you can focus on the graphics and scenery.

2. Go to the zoo. It’s amazing what animals can do for us. By relaxing at the zoo and seeing all the different stripes, spots and animal prints you are almost guaranteed to see something inspiring that could be turned into a great-looking poster or logo.

3. Go to a museum. This might seem obvious, but try going to a museum that you haven’t been to. Go to a children’s museum or an American Indian museum. Try going somewhere specific instead of your run-of-the-mill museum. Try going to a museum that you’re not sure you would like – getting out of your comfort zone wakes up parts of your brain that can lead to creativity.

4. Look through Flickr and stock photos sites. Real-life photos are often a source of inspiration for something drawn or painted. There’s no reason that inspiration can’t spill over to the computer.

5. Ask “What if?” questions. What if dogs could talk? What if we lived on Jupiter? What if all you could use was red in your design? Just thinking about questions like this that out of the ordinary can boost your creative flow.

6. Take a walk. If you can clear your mind as you walk, when you get back to the studio, your house or work, your brain will be like a blank canvas for you to draw on. Many times it’s not that we can’t think of creative ideas, it’s just that we are thinking of so many other things that we can’t concentrate.

7. Create an inspiration file. On the days when you see something in a magazine or online that catches your eye, file it away – either electronically or literally. Tear a page from a magazine or take a pic of a book’s illustration you really like. Then when your creativity well is dried up, you always have a place to go to replenish your well.