Restating problems

When designing a magazine page 
about Curzon Station, I had to 
experiment with several text layouts 
until I created one that was
successful

Visual problems need to be answered in an interesting way in order for the response, or outcome, to be successful. By restating the problem, or redefining it, you are more likely to approach the problem/design brief in an interesting way, breaking the conventional design rules. This is important because the way you approach the creative problem will affect the final outcome, which needs to be unique and diverse, not only to increase your chances of being recognised as a creative practioner, but also to increase the chances of your client wanting to use your work. For example, a graphic designer who designs a website that has a very different layout to other websites is more likely to be remembered, therefore increasing his or her chances of getting more work in the future, as well as viewers liking his/her work because it breaks conventional design rules and is very different from what they're use to.

The most successful and easy way to ensure that you do approach a creative problem in an interesting way is to review you approach. By doing so you will give yourself a much wider choice of options, resulting is a larger probability of producing a unique idea. Make a list or mind map of as many ideas you can possibly think of, and then narrow down through experimentation and evaluation.

It is vital to your creative success that your work is original. Random triggers are very useful for helping you create original and unique ideas, even though they may not relate to your creative problem. Any word, image or experience can be a random trigger, and writing or sketching them for future reference can be very helpful.