Many moons ago, I worked as part of a design team that had a weekly meeting called "What Inspires Me." It's a question that, for many creatives, can be totally daunting. Just ask any artist what inspires them and watch them freeze while they process everything that inspires them.
The best answer I can give you now is: just about everything, for better or worse. In the end, I spoke of books. Well, duh, you must think. Everyone draws inspiration from books. Okay, wise person, but did you volunteer at your school library every summer through grade school? Did you T.A. at your junior high library? Did you hang out at your high-school library during lunch to avoid social awkwardness, but most importantly, to immerse yourself in banned books and Neil Gaiman novels? Were you a student worker at your college library? Are you now actively pursuing a library science degree while volunteering at your local library and moonlighting as a freelance designer?
That's what I mean when I tell you that books inspire me. It's not a generalization. Their physical and digital existence inspires me. Their smell, the texture of the pages, the typography used, the cover design, illustrations, subject matter, and so on. Books inspire me. Libraries inspire me. An endless list of topics inspire me and have molded this persona I now live with.
More to the point. This journal is going to be a collection of the endless things that inspire me and why. The topics range from art to music to film, traveling, and the mundane. It's a balance I'm trying to keep in speaking to the design focus I currently have, while also talking about creative inspiration on a personal note.
It's an opportunity for me to share what inspires me, regardless of the medium, and to learn about what inspires others.
