Staring at a blank piece of paper is perhaps the hardest part of the creative process.  One of the benefits, yet pitfalls, of digital design or writing is that you can easily erase your work and start over.  There isn’t even a crumpled wad of paper on the desk or in the wastebasket to remind you of repeated failures or gradual progress—just invisible wadded up seconds, minutes, and hours as you undo and redo more than you would, perhaps, with a more finite set of design tools and paper, where you’re paying in paper, not merely in minutes.

When starting from scratch, I have found two useful methods to prevent some of this waste.

1. Search for inspiration online

Sometimes I start by doing an online image search for designs aimed at the same purpose as mine.  For instance, when designing a wedding shower invitation, I might look up wedding invitation examples for inspiration.  This can help me decide what text needs to be included and jumpstart ideas for colors, styles, fonts, graphics, and more.  Or if I’m trying to make a save-the-date postcard for an arcade-themed event, seeing how others capture the arcade style in a postcard can help my brainstorming process.

If you’re using a design program like Canva, you can also search for templates.  While I generally start from a blank design, the templates sometimes give me a boost when I am contemplating the endless possibilities a blank page presents.

2. Create a mockup on paper

Going back to the basics can free up your creative juices.  Many of my most productive design phases happened when I picked up a pen and paper and started drawing and jotting down notes about what I wanted to convey and where and how.  I would draw out frames for where I wanted to place images and arrow in notes about what images I had in mind for each spot.

This step not only helped me speed up and improve my early designs, but it was also a much more effective way to communicate ideas when working on a design with other people.  You can show them what you’re thinking before committing an hour to putting it together on the computer, and you can share early feedback with each other to reduce design iterations.

I don’t follow either of my tips as often as I probably should, but when I do, they tend to pay off.  More valuable than any particular rule, though, is remaining flexible and open to trying new things—new styles, new sources of inspiration, new methods for reaching your design goals.  Mix and match freely, and always keep an eye out for ideas that inspire and will help you grow as a designer.