Sometimes, you’re working on a project and can’t seem to find inspiration. All the images you come across are things you’ve seen before. For example, if Pinterest is your source of inspiration, you’ll notice that most of the designs on offer are familiar—especially when you’re looking for something completely different.
An example using UI design
Say you’re designing a web app and searching for fresh, unexpected inspiration. Normally, you’d search for terms like “dashboard UI designs” or “modern web app designs.” You’ll find plenty of great designs, but nothing inspirational for you.
Finding something ‘NEW’
To get fresh inspiration, follow this simple 3-step process:
1. Start with Your Search Term
You already have this—it’s what you’re searching for. In our case, we searched for “website UI designs”. Other examples could be “interior design inspiration” or “T-shirt print designs.”
Using our example, searching for “website UI design” will display (more or less) strictly website UI designs. If you find one you like, you can proceed with it.
But if you want something more inspiring, move to step 2.
2. Expand to the Broader Category
Next, identify the broader category of your search term—the industry, subject, or topic it belongs to. In our example, the field is “UI design.” Now, if you search for just “UI design,” you’ll get a wider range of examples, including app designs, dashboards, and other UI elements.
Here, the goal is to gather more inspiration since the search term is broader. You’ll discover different styles and elements that can be adapted into your dashboard design. Integrating these elements takes more work, but the result will be something new.
Pro Tip: At this stage, you can refine your search with specific themes, like “dark UI design,” “blue-themed UI designs,” or “typography-focused UI designs.”
You still need more? (I like your style), You can go to step 3
3. Explore Related Fields
This is where it gets interesting. For our example, an even broader category would be “design.” However, searching for just “design” will return everything design-related, which isn’t always helpful unless you enjoy deep exploration.
This step isn’t about increasing search results—it’s about exploring fields outside your original search term. It requires imagination and rationale.
For instance, “graphic design” is related to “UI design” in terms of fundamental skills (e.g., typography, layout). Searching for “graphic design” might reveal creative ways to incorporate elements into your website.
If you want something more grounded and familiar, proceed to step 4.
4. (optional) Find something familiar
This step is about finding inspiration from a closely related field—something not too difficult to implement. You’ll need to brainstorm fields similar to your original search term, this comes from experience, or you can fill this form to generate a prompt.
In my example, I know from experience that “print design” is closest to “UI design” in terms of elements used (e.g., images, text layout). Narrower searches like “magazine design” or “newspaper design” (both under print design) can yield surprising results.
For instance, a “magazine design” search might return layouts that could inspire website sections. Similarly, “presentation design” offers familiar yet fresh ideas for structuring content.
An example from a different industry
The steps above were easy for me as a UI designer, but let’s apply this to another industry.
Recently, someone asked me to design a metal storage box (1x2x1 feet). I didn’t want something obvious—I wanted a fresh take.
STEP 1: I searched for “metal storage boxes.” The results were predictable—some interesting, some not. Overall, nothing new.
STEP 2: I broadened the search to “storage boxes.” This returned boxes of all materials, which wasn’t helpful since I needed metal designs.
STEP 3: Here, I had to think outside the box (no pun intended). I asked: What other industries make metal boxes? I searched for “small metal cabinets” and “small metal boxes.”. Then, I stumbled upon a PC case in the search results.
A search for “PC cases” gave me more than enough inspiration, eliminating the need for Step 4.
Final Thoughts
This process isn’t an exact science, but it can make finding inspiration easier. If you need help brainstorming design ideas, feel free to DM me on Twitter—I’d be happy to help!