This blog post was created in reference to item #23 in our post, “101 Graphic Design Tips for Business Success“

It’s Time To Relax

Ok, you have been working hard. You have focused on the project at hand intensely, putting all energy into it, but try to take a break to meditate. Clear your mind and relax. It can help you to return to the project renewed and full of new ideas and enhanced creativity.

For some of you out there the word “meditate” conjures visions of flowing water, esoteric music, candles and impossible physical contortion.

In truth, meditation means to calmly and lengthily consider something. Meditation is different from other approaches to getting a project off the ground in that, by all outward appearances, it is a seemingly passive process. There is no frantic scribbling on napkins, messing about with concepts on a design program, no interaction with the client and no active research.

Inviting Creative Exploration

Find yourself a nice quiet space where you are not likely to be interrupted. Dimming the lights can further a mood of contemplation, and if you find it helps, by all means add a background layer of non-intrusive music, soundscapes (sounds of nature etc.) and light a candle or two. The desired result is an environment that is conducive to relaxing your mental energies and concentration to a state where you are able to focus on your project with a calm, gentle and perhaps even playful attention that invites creative exploration without judgment and without the restrictions of traditional structured processes.

Experiment with different positions of repose, sitting upright in a nice comfortable chair, lying on your back on the floor or try adopting a traditional meditative pose to assist you in freeing up your concentration from its physical environment.

Allow your thoughts to gently converge the known elements of your project. Don’t seek to force any ideas or direction but merely “stand back” and watch your thoughts. You will be surprised at what interesting originations and remedies you can discover through meditation!