More often than not we are looking for inspiration from the past to sprint our ideas off in the unknown direction. This approach can be torn apart by many contradicting opinions of whether it is thorough or it is unimaginative and actually hinders designer’s creativity. Frankly, it depends of how literally ideas are interpreted into the new concept, but most importantly how strong and visionary this concept is. This article reveals how to get the most out of the inspiration boards and use past models to underpin new original schemes.
Historical references, precedent studies and inspiration boards are pooled together to describe all precedent content that we use for building the story. So, diving straight into why it is so important not to skip the storytelling or narrative phase in the project development, we emphasise the following 6 reasons:
1. Learning lessons
Being such far-reaching resource, there is plenty to discover, but not only it is a place to study the best ideas, it also is a place to learn what not to do. It is not any less important, because a comprehensive study of relevant examples reduces chances of disappointing results in the future. Lessons don’t always have to be learnt from your own mistakes.
2. Relevance to location
Storytelling inspired by concepts, events and meanings from the past is a very powerful tool to create something exceptional. Links between present and past help us imagine new original ways to approach design. Particularly, location linked historical references give weight and value to new proposals. Very big role is played by interpretation, which is a great skill unique to each individual.
3. Layers of interest
With such easy access to information, once the research has started it is really hard to stop digging. There always are more stories and meanings linked to any concept than you have ever planned to find out. The designer is the only one in control and has to be able to filter concepts for inspiration and know when to stop. Ultimately, curiosity is the driver here and it can get very addictive. But, quite often, inspiration comes from looking at something completely unrelated, so let’s bare the risk and enjoy the process.
4. Material palette
Cultural relevance can be expressed strongly through materiality. Tactile and visual associations are at the very heart of what we feel in any space. The experience of design through direct contact with materiality, that is inherited from the past or is inspired by the relevant bits of history, is very easy to connect with. Anything that allows us to start thinking of how things came together and to connect the dots between the place and the design into a story is a sophisticated type of experience that people will remember.
5. Romantic concepts
Dreamy imaginative motifs capture our emotion and hence reaction to the designed space. Our mind wonders away on a creative journey and lets us enjoy it from a very personal perspective. This is the kind of added value that is hard to capture but yet very clearly identifiable through experience.
6. One step further
Inspiration does not appear out of nowhere. Designers have to be looking around and learning from both past and present. Discrete links and subtle parallels can be formed when its least expected. Fascination can inspire great things. It motivates to create something amazing and strive to supersede the precedent.
We keep discovering more and more perks of doing research as we go along. All of the above overlap and merge into one argument to why we let our curiosity delve into the density of precedent study: Inspiration is an emotion-borne artefact and emotions ought to be borne out of experience.