Where do we look for inspiration?

As a design team working with small businesses we’re often tasked with finding sources of inspiration that align with the everyday lives of our clients’ customers. Whether it’s a yoga studio, a brewery, or a furniture designer, each and every category speaks its own very specific language, and it’s up to us to learn that language before we can speak it ourselves. So how exactly do we do that?

To an extent it comes naturally to us. We have a tendency to take on clients that are in spaces we frequent ourselves. We live in Chicago after all, and are borderline obsessed with the small businesses in and around our neighborhood. We know their clientele because we are their clientele. But every now and again we work with clients that push us into completely new territories, and that’s where sourcing inspiration becomes paramount.

A glimpse into our process.

The first thing we do as part of our process is interview our clients. Over the years we’ve refined a proprietary “get to know you” exercise that not only teaches us what our clients are all about, but oftentimes shows the clients a side of themselves even they didn’t know. It’s amazing how much information we walk away with. And we use this information as our basis for creative exploration and inspiration gathering. That’s where the fun begins.

Inspiration vs. research.

We like to look at creative inspiration from a few angles: ➊ Literal design inspiration. Logos, color palettes, graphics… imagery that feels like the world we want to be in. ➋ Experiences. What is the experience like for your customers, whether it’s a physical location or a digital one? And ➌ how can we “stand out while fitting in”, meaning… what aesthetic does the category lean toward, and how can we create something that’s ownable but not necessarily a radical departure from what customers expect?

And last but certainly not least, we consider the overall vibe and energy of our clients’ typical and/or ideal customer, which helps us further define the language we’re trying to speak. So it’s a bit of a design research/inspiration gathering double feature.

Our go-to resources.

We have a pretty substantial design book collection (thanks in part to the fine folks at Counter-Print and viction:ary) and are scrollers of Pinterest on the regular. We also love hand-painted signage, vintage matchbooks, pre-1960s album cover art, old menus… there’s really no shortage of visual resources - both analog and digital - to get the creative juices flowing. And we dip our toes in as many as we can.

More than anything else, inspiration comes to us by walking in the shoes of our clients’ customers and taking the time to look around and smell the proverbial roses. Because when it comes down to it, we want our clients to become a part of their customers’ daily lives. That’s when we know we’ve done our job.