Anybody who’s familiar with graphic design knows the importance of clarity and simplicity being the key themes that will create a striking impression. But once you’ve mastered the basics of form and function, you may be willing to break the rules and aim to create some designs that aren’t afraid to be a little more unorthodox.
There’s few creative endeavours that are as receptive to ‘thinking outside the box’ as graphic design, and that’s because it’s an area that thrives upon themes of individuality, flair and fun!
So if you’re making a gaming website, a band T-shirt or even just a pamphlet, here’s a few ways that you can shake things up and create a design that’s not afraid to be a little different.
Break your own rules
Most of us graphics designers tend to go on auto-pilot when we’re first starting a new project as there’s always a few failsafe rules and templates that we turn to.
But rather than going back to those tried-and-tested fonts and colour combinations, there’s a lot more fun to be had by scaring your colleagues and being unafraid to make a few design faux pas so that you can at least make people look at your design more than just once!
Be controversial
As most graphic design jobs are following orders from a client they can suffer from being conservative and a little boring. So if you’ve been given the OK to ruffle some feathers, then don’t be afraid of really pushing the boundaries of what people expect from their product design.
This is an approach that particularly works well in advertising, and in case you missed it, one famous example was featured in the gaming site run-down of guerrilla marketing stunts that saw the likes of KFC creating the world’s largest logo in the middle of the Nevada Desert – costly but effective!
Throw out the template
Similarly, there’s nothing less inspiring than heading straight to your computer when attempting to come up with some leftfield design inspiration.
Taking walks, watching movies or even playing online pokies games are a far easier way to use the left side of your brain and create some design magic. And if you do have to fire up Adobe Illustrator, then try and use it in ways that you’ve never done before – as they say, the best way to create unexpected results is to work fast and go in blind!
