Whether you find it close to home or halfway around the world, it’s crucial to recognize what inspires you and give it time to move you. This week, we asked a few of you InVision users to send us pictures of your sources of inspiration.
As you check out what inspires your fellow creative professionals, ask yourself, “What inspires me—and how can I give it more time?”
Alexander Lynn, Platform Director at HIGHLINE
“Source of inspiration: architecture & the great outdoors.”
Melissa Ivone, Design Overlord at Curalate
“I feel most inspired when I can let go of my inhibitions and act like a silly kid. And I’m incredibly lucky because I’m surrounded by big, creative group of goofballs who keep me in this mindset on a regular basis!”
Natalie Armendariz, Partner and Product Designer at Funsize
“I get my energy and creativity from silence. This photo I took in Finland a few months ago that pretty much captures it.”
Kyle Conrad, Senior Interactive Designer at nclud
“I’m a huge music nerd, so any time I get to see a band perform or a DJ play, I’m there. (And I’m also the guy with headphones on all the time or talking about some random band to people I barely know.)”
Stuart Trevithick, Head of Design & UX RSA Group
“What inspires me? Nature and my friends. This is Shirley Llama, my friend from nature.”
Beatriz Belmonte, Service and Strategy Lead
“In an age where speed, optimization and agile are becoming the everyday currency in business, discovering Ando’s pavilion felt like one of those good conversations with old friends that gets you to focus only in what really matters. The narrow footpath leading to the entry forces you to take your time and walk slowly, by yourself. The concrete wall impels you to reflection, almost introspection.”
Ramla Mahmood, Designer at Vox Media
“I’m always inspired by my travels. This a photo from a recent trip to Dubai.”
Greg Beldam, Director of Product Design at Shopify
“I’m really inspired by cities and architecture. The way that buildings shape how people use them but also how they react and change to what people want. How a path can become a paved sidewalk because people want to get across a field quicker. We shape our cities, and they shape us.”
Jesper Fagerlund, Director of Innovation and Concepts at Propeople
“I have three wonderful kids, Ella here being 6 months is the most adorable baby ever. She inspires me to do great work daily, as I long to get home and squeeze her.”
Chris Palmieri, Managing Director at AQ
“This is an abandoned building just off of one of the most highly trafficked intersections in Tokyo’s fashion district Omotesando. It’s probably been here since the 60s. There are all kinds of mysterious inefficiencies in the human system, and you don’t have to look hard to find them.”
Scott Belsky, Founder of Behance, VP Products, Adobe. Author & Investor
“I first met the Periscope team a year or so ago, and participated in a brainstorm about the potential of this product before it was even created. And now, to have visited the Eiffel Tower, Pyramids, and Ellen’s show live. It is amazing to experience what I remember being a “crazy idea” just a year ago.”
Jory Raphael, Co-Founder & Lead Designer at Notabli
“To be completely cheesy, my kids inspire me.”
Tuesday Bassen, Illustrator
“Pulp films. This image is from Switch Blade Sisters.”
Image source: still from the movie
M. Kate Crowe, Senior Mobile Designer at Priceline.com
“I think the attached photo perfectly explains how I approach my designs. I want things to work and hate when they don’t.”
Image from Things Organized Neatly, curated by Austin Radcliffe
Jackson Latka, Co-founder of Notabli
“My father, who was always creating art and seeing beauty in everything.”
Junu Yang, Product Design Lead at Daylight
“People mostly. People using stuff we are trying to design for and others we collaborate with. This is a tripod rig we used to video document a guerrilla user session we did at a local cafe nearby our office in Banpo-dong, Seoul.”
Matthew Anderson, Art Director at Huge/KingCoyle
“Leather basketball by Unofish.”
Image from Unofish
Bas Berkhout, Film director/producer
“Photos by Daniel Arnold.”
Image from whentosaynothing.com by Daniel Arnold
Aaron Moodie, Product Designer at Etsy
“Most are space related. I find thinking about this subject both grounding and inspiring. Grounding because is makes a lot of my day-to-day concerns seem completely trivial, and inspiring because when you’re freed from thinking about trivial problems, you can turn your attention to more challenging ones.”
Image by Luis Argerich on Flikr
Joel Barron, Partner at Alchemy50
“I find the convergence of the natural and man-made world inspiring and often thought-provoking.”
Image from Unsplash
Margaret Kelsey leads content marketing at Appcues. Before Appcues, she built content programs for InVision’s design community for 3.5 years and has roots in painting and PR. She’s a big fan of puns, Blackbird Donuts, and Oxford commas—probably in that order.
