Have you ever walked away or finished a project only to come back and feel unsatisfied with your work? Unfortunately, that frustrating feeling isn’t going away because a good designer never ‘finishes’ his work. The point is, if you feel unsatisfied with your work, you’re on the right track for future improvements. How could you use this ‘walk away and improve in the future’ concept to improve your work now? Simple, take more breaks!
As a designer, I get this feeling quite often, the feeling of “oh it looks alright but it could look better I guess”. That’s not the huge problem though, the problem is finding ways to make it look better. Usually, we often spend many hours working on our projects and are simply mentally exhausted or tired. You don’t gain creativity and inspiration when you’re tired, you become lazy. Top that off with RAM previewing and rendering and you’re set for a unproductive, non-creative project. By taking more breaks, you can actually become more productive (with moderation of course). Take a walk outside and get some fresh air or go out and do something to refresh yourself. Take a nap or call it a day and come back to it tomorrow. You’d be surprise at how much more productive you are working when you’re not drained and lazy.
If you’re feeling stumped or nothing is really sparking your creativity, come back to it later, it works every time for me. Obviously if you’re working for a client with a tight time schedule, your options are very limited so use with caution! I hope this article was a little helpful to your workflow (and your social life), rather than working lazily and getting crummy results, call it a day and start the next fresh morning! But seriously, if the render times are killing you, it’s time to upgrade your computer.
Thanks alot for the awesome advice! I get that feeling very much while making a movie..l’ll try to act on it.. And love the ending! FUNNY!.
Glad you enjoyed the article, thanks for the continuous support! Beat of luck on your shoots!
Oh man, im starting with motion graphics and designs now, i feel tired all the time… I always run out of ideas, and often i think that what im doing is not good enough, and when i realise that what im doing is not good, starts a terrible headache… I try to make it look good, but as i said i run out of idea.
You´re right, taking more breaks will help, i´ll work on that!
Thanks for your contribution and support! Yep, taking more breaks will help! Just remember, you have to make crappy stuff before you make the good stuff. If you need some inspiration, try looking at demo reels. I’ll be doing an inspiration post soon.
Dude, I just happened upon your website from videocopilot and I gotta say good job and keep em coming!
Thanks Anthony, glad you like the site! Bookmark the site and keep revisiting for more content!
Hi vinhson you inspires me a lot work hard and be creative on my craft as a matter of fact I have downloaded the cinema impact plug-in and the dojo lightstreaks. these files are great. more power to you this 2013
Thank you Archie for the kind words!