What I love about working in the creative arts is that we're constantly surrounded by inspiration! Everywhere you look, there are beautiful interiors, phenomenal jewelry pieces, clever feng shui room arrangements, and gorgeous weddings. And if they're not in real life, then they're in the pages of magazines or online.
As someone who is creative, I'd like to give you a suggestion. Yes, you, dear reader! You're here on our site because you're either a student taking one of our creative adult distance learning courses, or you have a passion for one or more of the creative arts.
Now that I have your attention, I'd like to suggest that you make an Aspire List ... or an Aspire File... or both.
The foundation for all creative pursuits is to be an excellent looker. You must observe all things in life through the critical perspective of your creative interests. If you aspire (there's that word!) to be an interior designer or to design your own interiors, then you must get in the habit of noticing every interior you encounter. If you aspire to be a jewelry designer or to design your own jewelry, then you must get in the habit of noticing every jewelry item you encounter. And so on.
And as you're actively looking, you need to be "working" (see Pablo Picasso's quote on inspiration, above). Take photos, make a sketch, or take notes - but look at what inspires you, record it, and begin to analyze it. That's the work you need to begin doing to help invite inspiration to come to you.
The Aspire List and the Aspire File is part of this process. But rather than merely responding to things you encounter during your daily movements, like walking down the street or eating at a restaurant, you're actively seeking out great things to look at that will help provide you with the seeds for future creative inspiration. Here's how to proceed.
- Research and make a list of 10 amazing professionals in your area of creative interest, e.g., 10 wonderful interior designers, 10 astounding jewelry designers, 10 incredible wedding planners.
- Include in your list the names of the professionals to which you aspire to be like (!), their website addresses, and their blog addresses.
- To begin, your Aspire List should have one blank page devoted to each person. Your job is to start to fill each page, then continue adding pages. Fill them with what? With your creative, critical thoughts regarding each person on your aspire list and her or his work.
Example: You love Ms. A's interior design work. Start making a list entitled What I Love, then begin to make a numbered list. Ms. A's love of abstract art. Her use of exotic woods in her wall treatments and furniture choices. The way she ignores minimalism and packs her interiors with tons of visual details. And so on. To make this list, of course, requires that you haunt Ms. A's website and blog, you do online searches for her work, and you seek out her work in interior design magazines.
Your Aspire List for each inspirational person should get you thinking creatively and critically of the elements you love/like/aspire to. But it could also contain some critical thoughts in the vein of, "I love the way Ms. A uses color, but instead of going bold primary colors in most of her rooms, I prefer combinations of startling complementary colors, with one color popping against the other." Or "I'm not a fan of the bed in this bedroom that Ms. A designed. I'd go with a four poster, made of metal, with an overall Paul Evans sculpted steel to go with the industrial edge of the rest of the room."
Observe the work of the people on your Aspire List, but think critically and insert your own observations. What if you were fascinated by jewelry design, and you had Canadian designer Ezra Satok-Wolman on your list. You made note of his stunning Mandarin ring (below). What would you do the same? What would you change? How would you improve it overall? What twists of your own would you like to make?
Practice looking at the work of professionals, combined with critical thinking and your own creative reactions, can help you approach your own work from a fresh perspective. Go back to your Aspire List often, and seek out your chosen pros and their work on a regular basis - and maybe add others you can follow to the list. You'll find yourself being inspired, brimming with creative ideas, and developing a stronger sense of discernment.
And what's an Aspire File? It's like an Aspire List, only it's with items you find in magazine articles, in color ads, in brochures, in catalogs, and other resources you can clip and file away for future reference. Attach a large sticky note with your observations of each item in your file, including what you love, what you might do differently, and even what you don't like.
Have fun looking. Have fun creating. And have fun being critical and thoughtful about the creative work of others!
Sheffield School began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.
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Jay Johnson 
