Sometimes the best way to get an idea for a graphic design is to take a break.
Both experienced and inexperienced designers alike sometimes have trouble bringing new ideas for their graphic-design projects to completion. Sometimes you have a great idea but you just can't quite figure out successfully complete it. Because of the subjective nature of the field, there's no guaranteed formula that will produce great graphic design every time it's tried, but there are some things that you can do to help get the ideas coming.
Take a break
Sometimes coming up with the right idea for a graphic design means you have to just clear your head. Take a few minutes and go out for a walk or go down to the gym for a little workout. When you come back to your work area, you'll feel refreshed and be able to come up with more ideas.
Think Random
Draw some rough sketches on paper or on your screen. Doing something is better than just sitting and staring at a blank screen. If you're good at drawing, drawing something that you like to draw such as a particular cartoon character can help get your creative juices flowing. If you're not particularly good at drawing, then just make random shapes and shades.
Read a Blog
There are a lot of blogs out there that discuss design or other things. For beginners, PSD Tuts+ (http://psd.tutsplus.com/) has a lot of different tutorials that you can follow step by step. If you are a beginner who wants to learn a lot about Photoshop, Vandelay Design (http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/design/learn-photoshop-basics/) has a list of tutorials that you may find helpful. When you're feeling a lack of inspiration, reading something or even watching a video may be all it takes to get the creative juices flowing. There are quite a number of blogs that are created just for folks who come up with graphic designs. Reading a few articles on one of these blogs could inspire some great ideas.
Listen to Music
Many graphic designers find that listening to music while they're designing helps them focus on the design. One designer from Noupe says that "if yet another design book or article -- or studying your favorite designs -- isn't helping much, listening to well-produced music can give you fresh, much-needed insight and greatly improve your design." There's something powerful about the creativity in music that can help you come up with creative ideas for your designs.
Think About Color
Instead of thinking of the actual design, start thinking about what colors will be used in the design. Should they be bright? Should they be warm colors like reds and yellows or are they going to be more cool colors like blues.
Create a Mood Board
A mood board is often used to set the "mood" or "feeling" for the final design. It is a collection of images, fonts, colors and textures that can be presented to a client to determine what kind of design they would like. Some graphic designers create 3 mood boards per project and present these to the client. If you're doing a graphic design for yourself, creating a mood board may seem like an unnessesary step, but if you're having trouble coming up with ideas, creating a mood board will certainly help you get some ideas.
