#NowPlaying: Music for Creatives & Designers + 3 Ideas to Keep the Creative Juices Flowing

By Kyle Christensen:

Us creatives can get burned out easily. Some days, you’re on fire and killin’ it. Other days, coming up with one original idea can eat up your whole day. Why does this happen? No idea. The upside is that when you start to feel yourself spiral, you can listen to our new creative-centered playlist.

These songs were handpicked by the entire Branch, designed (pun) to help you “crack on.” Listen to the playlist at the end of this article. On Spotify? Follow the playlist on our Spotify channel! Don’t forget to check back next month because we roll out playlists monthly.

Bonus: Read on to Learn 3 Additional Ideas to Keep the Creative Juices Flowing!

“Nothing motivates me more than a good playlist. Art & Design has a rhythm. If I can match that with the right playlist, I can knock out all of my tasks and then some.”

– Bach Mai, Graphic Designer at Red Branch Media (@RedBachMedia)

Are you a creative or #designer? This #BrandNew @RedBranch #playlist was handcrafted to help you kick ass and hurdle over #CreativeBlock. Click To Tweet

Idea #1: A Silent Commute

Something you might not have thought about to keep your flow going is to just “unplug” on your way to work. A silent commute, if you will.

According to Anna Silverstein (IDEO New York) in the IDEO blog article titled, “6 Ways to Get Inspired on Your Commute,” she states that “One day, I decided to end the habit for safety’s sake. With my phone now tucked away during my commute, that time is spent letting my mind wander, observing my surroundings, and pondering the day ahead. The result is that I feel more prepared for my day mentally and energetically. I’m less frazzled and magically seem to have more downtime.”

Don’t believe it? Try it for yourself. You might be surprised how much critical and creative thinking you can get done on your morning drive. My recommendation? Pair that silent commute with some coffee or tea.

Idea #2: Look to Your Fellow Designers

You probably peruse Pinterest or Google in search of inspiration before you start a design, and that’s a great practice to get your creative juices flowing. Why not take that inspiration to the next level and follow some amazing creatives and colleagues that are in your field and check out what they’re up to?

In my opinion, when you’re looking at someone’s work and you know who it’s by and why they’ve created it, it will give you a deeper understanding to their design decisions and might just give you that spark to create something original yourself.

Even Canva mentions in their design course, “(Creativity – Lesson 6/7) How to Get Motivated and Inspired to Design” that, “Looking at successful designers’ work can be an incredibly inspiring and motivating activity, and can help direct you towards a strong solution.”

My additional tip? Check out some great creative TV shows like “Making It” while you’re binging away at home to keep the flow going after hours.

Looking at work by fellow #creatives and #designers or binging great TV shows like @NBCMakingIt is an awesome way to get #motivated. Read more here & you’ll get a BONUS @RedBranch #playlist! Click To Tweet

Idea #3: Create for *You*

Take a little *you* time. And by *you* time, I don’t mean sitting on the couch watching Netflix or hopping online to “pwn some noobs” in your favorite game. I mean taking the time to just create or design for yourself. It will help you unwind and unlock some ideas you’ve been storing up in that subconscious of yours.

According to “Staying Inspired Isn’t Easy. Here’s How to Do It.” by Dennis Field on the InVisionApp, Inc. blog, “Designing for clients and companies can be exhausting.” Dennis goes on to say, “When that happens, you’ve got to take time to design for you.

Design without strings attached. It doesn’t have to be on a regular basis, but for some, it will be. Start thinking about some things you’d like to design for yourself. Posters, a new app, T-shirts… Whatever it is, find that thing you’d LOVE to design—and go do it. Get back to basics and inspire yourself again.”

How to Find Us on Spotify

There are a few ways to find us on Spotify. First, you’ll need a Spotify account. You can do that by going to www.spotify.com and creating a free account. Unless ads drive you nuts, a free account is all you’ll need. After you’ve got your account, go to our page and click follow.

By following us, you’ll get email notifications each time we put out a new playlist. We’ll be creating fresh lists for you each month, so you can listen to them as soon as we publish them! Now go download the desktop application for your computer, the app for your phone and stream music online by taking a listen to our playlist.

Keeping your creative juices flowing is an important thing to do in order to stay motivated and inspired. Just follow these 3 tips: unplug while you drive to work, looking to your colleagues and fellow creatives to cultivate a more personal, deeper inspirational boost and set aside time to create or design for yourself. While you try these tips out, listen to some great music on the Spotify player below that the whole team here at Red Branch Media, including myself, have handpicked for you to listen to during your creative workday. Now get out there and do great things!

Missed our other playlists? Check them out here:

• Brancher Top 5
• Red Branch Holiday Playlist
• Motivation for the New Year
• Love & Heartbreak
• Guilty Pleasures
• Nostalgia Overload
• Instrumental Focus for Writers & Coders
• Summer Poolside Playlist
• Your Favorite Covers
• Welcome to the Team
• RBM Does Karaoke
• Ultimate Halloween Party Playlist
• #WerkBranch: Music for Work
• #WerkBranch: Music for Brainstorming
• #WerkBranch: Music to Cheer Up the Office
• #WerkBranch: Music for Drowning Out Conference Calls
• #WerkBranch: Music for Your Office Party
• #WerkBranch: Music for the Intergenerational Office Playlist
• #WerkBranch: Music to Spark Imagination
• #WerkBranch: Music to Play While Invoicing Clients