I have a confession to make – I print out websites.
And videos.
Animation.
Ads.
Graphics.
Illustration.
And lots of other cool stuff I see.
But, before you all go ‘eyes up in the air emoji’ and say ‘why print it – surely it’s all online?’.
Let me explain.
There’s SO much digital inspirational stuff out there – It’s Nice that, Colossal, Mashable, Campaign, Millions of Pinterest boards, Behance, Vimeo, YouTube – the list goes on – there’s so much that it can be hard to keep up, so much…wallpaper.
But the digital world is fleeting – things disappear – that awesome video you saw on Vimeo has been removed, copyright has kicked in on something else or someone has taken umbrage and got it removed for some reason. That video or website where you saw that cool thing could now be nothing more than a 404.
Or just the ‘where did I see that awesome piece of type/illustration/ad/banner…can’t remember’ thing.
So, if I see something I like or may inspire at a later date – I like to print it out and stick it in a book – it might only be a snippet of something, a pattern, piece of type or the opening screen of something but it can remind you of it – who did it or what brand it may have been for – a bit old school admittedly but I like it.
Sure, I trawl the internet for inspiration, but those things I see that are special – I’ll download them and print out for posterity – if it’s that good it deserves it. It’s creating personal ‘best of’ books. Lots of lovely stuff that can inspire in one handy place.
You see, I believe the act of downloading, printing and curating things gives them more intrinsic value and also makes them more memorable. I like old school scrapbooks, they just seem to hold in your memory longer and aid recall. Also, these snippets can lead to further exploration of a particular style, so can be a starter for further online searches (and therefore more content for the scrapbook).
The physical act of leafing through a book is somehow cathartic. They are linear so are time based – we fill them in from front to back so you remember in time where you have seen or curated something.
OK, so it may not be everyone’s way of collecting inspirational material and I am in no way slandering the digital world – there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a Pinterest board (which reminds me I really must print mine out!) but, personally and for recall, I find that in making the effort to curate my inspiration I am adding a bit of value to it – it helps me remember it because I have made the effort in gathering it.
Go curate.
Liam Forrest
Creative Director
