Tapping into creativity can be a tricky thing a lot of the time. I've been asked where different concepts and ideas come from and I think, maybe, the question isn't 'where?' but 'when?'

Quite often, ideas pop into my head while I'm walking my dog in the woods. Or they come when I'm showering during the shampoo rinse cycle. They come when I'm driving around doing errands and I'm not expecting an idea to form at all. Essentially, they arrive when I'm trying not to have ideas. I can't really force a good idea or concept. I'm essentially trying to trick my creativity into giving up the goods. I liken it to training an obstinate puppy that won't come when called; I walk away from him, acting as if I don't care that I'm leaving him behind, and eventually the little guy follows me...I hope.

These little moments of idea formation are really cool. They're kind of exciting; like getting that prime parking spot with time already in the meter. Sometimes these ideas are more like starting points. They're the ones I'll take to my sketchbook and try to flesh out and then complete them on the computer or they're more fully formed and I can almost envision the complete package. Those I will start to build in Illustrator or Photoshop right away. Or I start playing with different variations on the original idea and one starting point leads to another and then another and I just ride along on that current until it I arrive at a satisfying destination. That's really exciting too because I started with the kernel of one idea and wound up in a place where I hadn't expected. A place with multiple options and images, fonts, colors.