When it comes to starting a new creative project, be it designing a poster, creating some artwork, or developing a website, my approach (and everyone's, I'm sure) always begins with a thorough exploration of references. Reference hunting serves as a guiding light to the creative path, enabling transformation of ideas into reality. It is an important process for creators to gather inspiration, expand the vision, and infuse work with fresh ideas. By delving into a vast pool of inspiration, a foundation that is aligned with the project's objectives gets set.
However, there's very less value in this exercise if it is done without any strategy. Here's a bit on how I've gone about it all these years that may help you consistently identify the right references to produce works that stand out. If you're going through this to amp up your portfolio by the way, then I'm sure it is with the purpose of closing clients and pricing your service. I teach about this and so much more in my course but if you want sneak peek, check out this Pricing Guide book for free to learn a lot more tactics in detail before you price your services.
Five Step Process to Reference Hunting
Define Creative Objectives: The foundation of a successful reference hunt lies in clarifying your project's purpose, theme, or message. Defining what you aim to convey through your creation provides a sturdy base for sourcing relevant references that align with your creative vision. By anchoring your hunt in your objectives, you ensure that the collected references resonate with your end goal.
Understanding what you aim to communicate through your work provides a solid foundation for the reference hunting process.
Identify Relevant But Diverse Sources: While seeking references, it's important to explore a spectrum of sources that relate to your objective. While obvious choices are valuable, casting a wider net and exploring diverse styles can inject fresh ideas and perspectives into your work. This diversity enhances your creative toolkit, offering a broad range of inspiration to draw from.
Diverse sources provide a rich pool that can stimulate new ideas and perspectives.
Analyze Key Elements: As you gather references, focus on extracting the pivotal elements that harmonize with your creative objective. Look closely at aspects such as composition, color palettes, storytelling techniques, symbolism, and more. These extracted elements serve as building blocks for infusing your work with authenticity and resonance.
Assess and extract the key elements that resonate with your objective.
Synthesize With Personal Connections: The magic of reference hunting lies in your ability to synthesize and reinterpret influences to generate something entirely original. Cultivate personal connections with the references you gather, allowing them to permeate your creative process. Blend and remix elements from various sources to create a unique masterpiece that carries your distinct artistic signature.
Create connections with the material to enhance the authenticity of the output and process.
Iterate to Refine and Polish: The reference hunting journey doesn't end with inspiration collection. Continuously iterate and refine your work based on insights drawn from your references and feedback from others. Assess the impact of these references on your project and make necessary adjustments to ensure your creation evolves and improves over time.
Ensure that your output evolves continually over time.
In Conclusion
Embarking on a new creative endeavor, whether it's designing a striking poster, crafting intricate artwork, or developing a captivating website, begins with a journey of inspiration and exploration. This essential phase serves as a compass, guiding creators toward turning ideas into reality. And when approached strategically, it transforms into a potent tool that ignites your creative process. Watch this video for a quick look at the process in action for an artwork of mine -
By defining objectives, seeking diverse sources, analyzing key elements, forging personal connections, and iterating meticulously, you craft a robust framework that propels your creative endeavors to new heights.
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