Sometimes (more often than I would like to admit) I wish I had a bigger budget to work on this blog. I would love to pay photographers or illustrators that I admire to do work for this blog. This advice really comes at a good time for me. This week, I’ve been learning about how actually having a smaller budget and more restrictions can make me more creative in coming up with solutions. I obviously wouldn’t say ‘no’ if someone were to offer me a big budget, but not having everything easily available forces me to look for alternatives – for other ways to achieve the same result as the ones that cost the big bucks.

When starting a project, I especially find it hard to pick a specific style among a world of endless possibilities. When I think that I could do anything, I lose focus on what really matters when it comes to the message I want to send with my design. You are more likely to problem-solve if you have a problem, in other words, a restriction. If you don’t have a problem, and you have all the tools available anytime, then you’re more likely to create something expected. If you work with less options, you are more likely to come up with different creative solutions than you have in the past. The mind tends to follow the same thinking-paths but if you change your options, this will be less likely to happen and you will ultimately come up with more creative and authentic work.

Have you ever heard the quote “Restrictions breed creativity”? Well, what that means is that during the creative proccess, searching for more and more options will not necessarily give you an answer, it will just make it harder to find it. – Pati

More advice on how to be a creative here, here and here!

Illustration by Pati Mo