Organization
=
the ability to change everything
So, one of my favorite things to do is go through my magazines and rip pages. I used to have a real problem with this because I had this feeling of, “I just don’t want to split this issue up, I just don’t want to split this spread up.” It’s like being a vintage store owner and acquiring a three piece suit with a magical cape and a matching hat. You just don’t want to sell them separately and split them up. (what’s that about anyways?)
But then I realized, if I don’t tear these pages out, they’re going to sit on the book shelf and rarely be opened. They’re not going to live the life that they were intended to, and that’s to inspire you and give you beautiful visuals and, well, be looked at.
(One of my favorite rips... it resides in the front cover of my binder. I just love this woman's spirit)
So, then I have no problem ripping. I rip away, you know?
I start flipping, I find the ones that I want, I find the ones that make me stop. Even if you think you might not use it at that time, rip. Also, you might not realize you’re finding inspiration in it, so, you have to be conscious of your reaction, because if it makes you stop and just look and stare, you should just rip it.
With that being said, you might rip a lot of things. And how do you remember what you liked about that? How do you keep it in a place so when you do need inspiration for a project you are able to find it? It can easily become unorganized and next thing you know, you have all these random pages and that’s not going to do you any good.
So, I’m going to share with you a few things over the past few years I have come up with and perfected in my own little way to be very organized in this activity.
I first started out with these little embroidery storage rings.
They’re amazing and I know they’re used for other things, but they embroidery ones are especially fabulous because they’re huge. Not saying that you need to hang all your magazine clippings on them because after you have so many and you flip through so many times the hole punch will rip, so you’ll also need hole reinforcers, but you probably won’t run out of room anytime soon.
Strive for zero miscellaneous categories
Even if it's something that’s weird, like you find a spatula you really adore, and you might be thinking, “I don’t really like spatulas that much, but this one’s awesome,” just label it spatulas because you never know, you might find another spatula you like and then it might turn into you’re the latest and greatest in spatula designer… I mean you never know. Just label em. So you can have anything, it doesn’t have to be the regular categories, (skirts, pants, jackets) I have lingerie, hair, make up, shoes, color (probably one of my favorite categories).
This is not just for fashion designers, this is for anyone who creates anything that ever needs inspiration, because it's hard to just turn it on and off. You see so many great inspiring things in your day, your week, your month, your year, and you can't remember them all, I mean I can’t, maybe you can, but you don't have to … and that’s what great about getting organized.
If, for instance, you are at Barnes and Nobel looking through a magazine and you find something you want but you cant because the magazine costs 20.00, Well be resourceful and copy down the publication, year and title (of spread, items etc) find it later and print. Which brings me to my next idea.
If you don’t want to print because printing is expensive, it wastes paper or maybe you just don’t have access to print whatever you want, save it.
Save it to a USB.
I cannot tell you how many folders I have of things I have found online. Don't let your inspiration folder be a dumping ground. Make an inspiration folder and then make specific folders inside of it.
Since you don't have a hard copy, you might even make an album and set it as your screen saver.. woo hoo now we're really getting wild.
Just two beautiful images for you to look at, thats all.
Next keep it in a binder. Usually what I’ll do if it’s and inspiration I don’t necessarily know what I’ll use it for, but I do like it and it does strike me as beautiful or interesting, I’ll keep those in a binder in some plastics sleeves. I love plastic sleeves, they go a long way. And you don’t even have to spend a lot of money, buy cheap sleeves and then make your own dividers with post-its.
I love them also because they’re literally like a layer in Photoshop, you can write all of them with a marker and then erase it without damaging the image below it.
The ring I keep for my most current projects, because I can hang it right in my workspace I can see it, its easily accessible.
The binder, I do keep close by, and every once in a while I’ll go through and look at things and if you don’t like em anymore, take em out. You can put those in a “old news” folder if you don’t want to throw them away, but its completely normal for your taste to change. That really great blown out gingham check bag you once drooled over may seem quite hideous now, that’s ok.
If you really just have a problem ripping out pages I completely understand, but let it be known, once you do start ripping pages, you wont be able to stop.
but you can just dog tag everything!
Downside: You can't categorize.
And these things just seem very basic, and I might be wasting your time, but this is just what I do and I find it really important to track your inspiration, to keep it organized and keep it easily accessible because when it does come time to create something, it’s a shame if you don’t have things right there so easy for you to see.
It only increases speed in getting things done, increases the quality of your work, it suddenly becomes easier, and better productivity is better creations, better designs, better art, better things to look at, and that is really what this is about. To make this world a more beautiful place and you know, it starts with us.
I just have this overwhelming feeling recently, getting ready to graduate, with my high school graduating class getting ready to go out into the work force, I want to help us, because we are about to be in a place to change everything. And I see that I have good habits, and bad, of course, but if we all just help each other and we share each other’s good habits and strengths, we can be better. Being organized does not come naturally to everybody and things like grammar don’t come naturally to me (if you haven’t noticed). Someone will tell me something that might be the simplest thing of his or her day and it’s the most profound thought of mine.
Like I said, this might be a waste of your time, but I feel like I could be helping you and that’s all I want to do. Creative people have creative ideas and these probably aren’t that creative, but they help, they work and if you have any other ideas because I know there’s 50,000 other ways to organize creative inspiration please do, share.
Happy ripping,
M.
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