Today’s been a Design Day (working on the summer collection) but a bit of a strange one – moments of clarity and purpose and getting-shit-done but also moments of staring into space and general confusion. What I usually do in those moments is make some images that have no purpose or final use – it’s essentially pointless but makes my brain feel better. Today’s output:

It got me thinking about creative block, for want of a better term, and I cast the net around, finding a zillion blog post ‘solutions’, most of which are largely useless (take a year off?  Sure, would you like to pay my rent during that time?) Here’s a selection…

creativeblock.monomoda.com/ Hit refresh to get new kernels of stupidity.  Really, how is ‘make it beautiful’ helpful for someone staring down a blank screen/page?
blog.iso50.com/2010/02/10/overcoming-creative-block/ A lovely good-lookin’ blog with completely random but very interesting ideas. ‘Go see a film’ is now part of my repertoire, as is ‘cook a batch of chilli’ (except I find lasagna to be even more effective)
www.voodoochilli.net/tutorials/creative-block.php Getting drunk, always a sound strategy
www.inspiredm.com/2010/01/31/creative-block/ Absolutely DREADFUL stock images, but some decent basic advice – going for a walk really does help
nubbytwiglet.com/blog/2007/09/03/how-to-fight-artists-block-7-methods/ Just do something!

Other sites recommend you listen to Jason Bourne soundtracks (??), get a personal trainer, draw single rectangles on a sheet of paper, and more nonsense. Film going, lasagna making and fiddling of old images seems pretty good to me.