A Neuroscientific Approach in Dealing with Designer’s Block

28 Nov, 2012

Almost everyone in the Arts or creative field encounters this situation of running out of ideas and concepts. There always comes a point in an artist’s life where no matter how much he tries to come up with a piece of art, all of sudden, it just seems like the hardest thing. It’s as if the artist has exhausted all of his creative mojo and what’s left is an uninspired and frustrated shell.

This is typical of anyone who’s in a creative profession and every designer has encountered such lack of inspiration. Better known as designer’s block, this condition can last for a few minutes to a few days. But for some, it could be a month-long struggle trying to design without that wanted spark. Depending on the cause, a designer’s block can even take years to overcome. This is especially a pressing concern if one makes a living out of designing corporate booklets, promotional postcards, marketing flyers for a row of businesses.

Thankfully, the discoveries of neuroscience back us up with foolproof solutions that could help a designer emerge from this hopeless state of non-inspiration. Through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), scientists were able to deeply study the activities of the brain. This field of study revealed that creativity and imagination starts with perception, as a Fast Company article cites. Yes, it’s all about perception. Industry leaders such as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Linus Torvalds and the great minds like Einstein and Da Vinci started with the perception that something can be done or that something is possible even in the midst of opposition. That is, they’ve seen things much differently. The main reason behind the link between perception and imagination is their common neural circuits. Imagining something isn’t possible if you can’t perceive it. And perception is a product of the audio and visual experiences of the past. Experience modifies the connections between neurons so that they become more efficient at processing information.

Now, if the designer has had similar experiences or has been in a life of routines, it is very likely that he’ll only be repeating the same concepts and ideas he’d been using in his designs until he comes into frustration and gets swallowed in a designer’s block. Actually, it’s no longer scientific to call it that since it’s already been known to be caused by the lack of new neural circuits in his system. Refer to the first sentence of this paragraph. I used “similar experiences” because no matter how many experiences you’ve had in the past, if they only belong to a single or few categories, it doesn’t count. It has to be different sets of experiences at the least of your expectations.

“In order to think creatively, you must develop new neural pathways and break out of the cycle of experience-dependent categorization.”

Nadia Goodman mentions in 3 Creative Ways to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone this certain brilliant viral video of the brand Old Spice that definitely raised its image. This video shows Terry Crews creating “muscle music”. It’s probably one of the most unconventional video that I’ve seen from any brand. But it made a huge positive impact on Old Spice. This is what Goodman terms as smart risks. She adds, “You need to get comfortable with being a little uncomfortable. When you know how to handle discomfort, you’ll be better equipped to evaluate risky choices and less likely to resist innovation.” In the design sense for instance, you’re less likely to run into a designer’s block if you’re used to designing for a variety of media whether its for print postcards, brochures, booklets, websites, logos and product labels.

Similarly, the following sales sheet design (which could also be good for a poster design) of a wine business, probably printed at PrintPlace.com (because this was retrieved from the online printing company’s Facebook page) is one of the most peculiar product label designs I’ve encountered. It’s featured as one of the best designs in the printing company’s fan page. I don’t know. The design just seems extremely good and relevant. It just shows how far deviance from convention, tradition and comfort could reach.

So there it is: Getting a little comfortable with discomfort. A designer has to seek out the strange experiences or experiences which he has little to no idea of dealing with. The following are her suggestions to improving your creativity. These were addressed to businesses but are as very applicable to artists.

1. Take an improv class.  Improv, a theatrical exercise where you improvise a scene with a group of people, essentially mirrors that experience. You have to get used to change — fast. Improv classes require you to think on your feet, so they foster creativity and innovation.
2. Switch places with the receptionist. If you work behind a closed door, step outside that safety net and spend a week in the thick of things. For example, Tim Brown, CEO and president of IDEO, a global design consultancy, swapped seats with the receptionist in the hopes of feeling less isolated. The move encouraged people to talk to him and made a public statement that he was willing to break the mold.
3. Open yourself up to scrutiny. Leaders, especially at large companies or chains, are often sheltered from critical opinions. Put yourself on the spot and give customers a chance to talk with you in your support forums. Try to answer their questions honestly and hear their criticism with an open mind. You don’t need to pander to every concern, but recognizing larger themes may offer helpful insights. (This strategy is particularly effective if a recent PR blunder has upset your customers.)

The first and second ways (and other ways similar to them), with respect to neuroscientific proofs are the best exercise of fully utilizing and developing your creativity. There always has to be that unique experience elements or stimuli – either a new piece of information or an unfamiliar environment – in order to awaken your creative systems. Once the brain faces the unfamiliar, it starts to modify its perceptions, thereby expanding the possibility of creative outputs. So, the next time designer’s block hits you, you can either take a walk on a path you don’t likely take or do things you don’t usually do.

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