5 Strange Places to Draw Inspiration From

There are no shortage of inspirational post out on the internet these days. I publish plenty of them myself, both here and on Outlaw Design Blog. Rather than share another generic inspirational post on a given topic, I want to share with you some of the odd places that I draw inspiration from. Some of these I’m sure other designers draw inspiration from, but I think a number of them might be places that you have never thought of to look at for inspiration.

Grocery Store

There is a multitude of inspirational sources going on in here. The two most common ones I take away from here are colors and packaging. If you are looking for some bold color combination’s, just take a walk over to the produce section. Here you can not only find a wide variety of colors, but also some interesting textures that might give you some ideas as well. Packaging ideas of course are located all over the store.

Craftsmen Style Homes

I am almost positive this one is unique to me. I have a thing for old houses and all the small details that go into making them unique. Craftsmen style homes, along with a number of other styles of old homes are filled with tons of architectural details. These details and finishes can help give you ideas on how to add that extra something to make your designs really pop.

Book Stores

I would think that many of you already know about this one, but some might have overlooked it. visiting the bookstore, especially the magazine section, can give you loads of layout ideas. Even web designer can probably find some interesting design elements and layout ideas from both magazines and books. I suggest looking at magazine in every genre and not just in the computer arts section.

Landscape Photography

Good landscape photography can be filled with amazing color combination and textures. Rather than browsing sites that have pre-made color pallets, I find myself turning to places like Flickr, Deviant Art, and other places that host awesome landscape photos to help me create my own color schemes.

Music Videos

For me, music videos are full of all kinds inspiration. A good music video can be filled with interesting color combination’s, textures, movement, emotion, concepts, and much more. Its like a plethora of inspiration in a 3 minute clip. All you have to do is know how to be able take inspiration away from it.

What are some of your favorite music video clips?