CSOTD: Inspiration from the distant past

Welcome to my first CSOTD, Creative Spark Of The Day, post.

Note: If you haven’t heard why my brain is weird, the following will not make as much sense.

Most of us know how designers often borrow heavily from other designers. Jony Ive’s use of fellow industrial designer Dieter Rams’ designs, for Apple’s iPod, iMac and calculator app are well documented.

But Ive’s work was only a few decades after Rams’ original design. Ive had to acknowledge Rams’ influence because it was so obvious.

The creative spark

Yesterday was my wife’s birthday. As she’s a historian, I took her for lunch at the 950(ish)-year old Lincoln Castle. Within moments of entering the grounds, I was sparked by the huge selection of inspiring patterns, textures, colours, graffiti, arches, decretive stone work and shapes.

Castles and most other very old buildings, provide a gold mine of creative inspiration.

For who?

Off the top of my head, I thought of creatives in fashion, branding, textiles, ceramics, jewellery, authors, game developers, haberdashery, web design and furniture makers. Plus anyone looking for a radical change of scenery to get their creative juices flowing.

Yes, a creative in any of the above areas can take inspiration from an earlier period in their field. And that’s what many of them do.

But by taking inspiration from something so distant in time and so dissimilar to what you’re seeking to create, you can create work that truly stands out.