5 Inspirational sources to turbo-charge your creativity in 2021
Hi friends,
Welcome to 2021.
Let’s unify.
Let’s Love.
Let’s respect.
Let’s forgive.
Let’s learn.
Let’s grow.
Let’s be inspired.
Welcome to my first blog post of the new year. I have no idea what this year has in store for us, but I do know for a fact that there will be flowers in 2021. It won’t be the same as 2019 and it won’t be the same as 2020, but I know we will all need inspiration to create beautiful designs for our clients this year. So, I’ve compiled a list of my top 5 inspirational sources to turbo-charge your creativity in 2021.
Let’s get to it!
#5 Colossal - the best of art and visual culture
Colossal is designed to serve as an online gallery of visually spectacular artwork, while seeking to educate and inform rather than criticize or interpret. Through this effort, Colossal is used as inspiration and instruction in classrooms across the arts and sciences from grade school through graduate school. Via our website, newsletters, and social media impressions, Colossal reaches an estimated 10 million monthly readers. In a world brimming with information overload, environmental catastrophe, capitalism run amok, and social injustice, we curate Colossal to focus on the most positive, diverse, and impactful stories around the issues we care about most. It is our intent to amplify the voices of artists working toward a more equitable and environmentally-friendly future by utilizing innovation, unexpected materials, humor, spectacle, and vast reserves of skill and hope.
The Colossal weekly update is always welcome in my inbox thanks to inspirational artwork like the metal dandelion sculpture shown here.
I’ve never practiced the art of ikebana, but there is an element of it that comes through. My work does not portray a plant as it would be in its natural environment. Rather I manipulate it in a way that I find to be beautiful. I think the composition especially, like the placement and length of the flowers and stems of the plant, is really important. So in that respect, it is rather similar to ikebana. - Shota Suzuki
#4 Design Milk - Interior Design, Modern Furniture + Home Decor
Design Milk is also welcome in my inbox anytime because they are a company wtih a strong mission and sense of place. Here's a bit about who they are and what they stand for.
We built Design Milk on the foundation of sharing, supporting and fostering global creativity in design, art, architecture, technology and beyond. We support the world’s best independent brands, emerging designers, destinations, design events and products through exceptional, award winning content and e-commerce across the worlds of art, architecture, interior design, furniture, fashion and technology. We are a small company, but we have a strong voice and a large community, which comes with a responsibility to support and share all voices in creativity.
Design Milk also covers travel, tech, architecture, and style.
Speaking of style, I love seeing the creative ways companies incorporate the Pantone colors of the year. After the turmoil of 2020, Pantone selected two colors, a cheery yellow and a neutral gray, in hopes of offering hope and stability. Now, CARIUMA has released limited edition sneakers in both colors in their OCA Low style, so you can adorn your feet with those positive feelings and have them with you every time you wear them. Articles like this can inspire us to use color in new and interesting ways too.
CARIUMA goes beyond making vegan and
– they also give back to the environment by planting a pair of trees in the Brazilian Rainforest for every pair of sneakers purchased!
#3 - The Inspiration Grid- daily design inspiration for creatives
The Inspiration Grid is an online magazine celebrating creative talent from around the world. Your daily fix of design, art, illustration, typography, photography, architecture, fashion and more.
Some of you may not know that I have always been fascinated with industrial design. Partly because I worked as a product manager for a picture frame company for 2.5 years before I entered the world of floristry. I focused on the design and development of product lines for companies including Target and Wal-Mart during my tenure there. So, I've carried those design concepts and principles with me into my floral design philosophy today.
Industrial design can be a great source of inspiration for floral designers. This
by Pavel Petrov makes me dream of a wedding with dark wood containers, cactus, and white blooms for instance.
#2 Creative Boom - celebrates, inspires and supports the creative community
Here's a bit about what the team at Creative Boom has to say about their content. Founded in 2009, we deliver inspiration, insight and advice to nearly four million creative professionals each and every year. We love to explore the very best creativity and offer interviews, tips and ideas to help you succeed. They also have a podcast. I can't wait to listen to it.
Here's a snippet of a recent article written by Tom May that had some great motivation and inspiration to help start off the new year.
Alternative New Year Resolutions from creatives for a better 2021.
It was the year that we'd gladly erase from memory. But now 2020 is firmly behind us, what can we learn from our collective experience?
We've spoken to creatives worldwide and draw out some common themes in the following article. Read on, as we bring you the biggest lessons of the last 12 months and the ways that creative professionals will be doing differently in 2021 as a result.
Let go and accept the reality
As designer, illustrator and animator Robert Lomas puts it: "Stop worrying about things that are out of your control! It's completely pointless. What I’ll carry through to 2021 is this: Do what you enjoy doing. Be a good person. And make connections with like-minded people."
Mike Walsh, creative lead at Uniform, makes a similar point. "2020 taught me to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, as we never truly know what is around the corner," he says. "But whilst our politicians bumbled, bluffed and blagged, it was the courage, kindness and creativity of everyday people who demonstrated that, when we come together (or stay two metres apart), we can find a way through the toughest of times."
I highly recommend clicking over after you finish this blog and reading the rest! If you want to subcribe to the Creative Boom newsletter, click here. They foster a supportive community that cares about creatives doing well.
#1 Botanical Brouhaha - | Botanical: relating to plants / Brouhaha: overexcited response or reaction to something |
You probably have already heard of Botanical Brouhaha, but after over 10 years of content this blog/podcast continues to be a guiding light for so many in our industry. I absolutely had to place it at #1. Amy McGee, who I’ve affectionately dubbed the fairy godmother of floral designers, carefully curates the images and stories of inspirational floral designs and interviews the people who create them.
No rain. No Flowers.
are available through Botanical Brouhaha to raise money for charitable needs in Amy's hometown of Bryan, TX.
Here's a bit from Amy about her dedication to our community of floral designers.
"Dedicating my time to supporting the floral industry through this online space, BB has truly grown beyond anything I could have imagined. We're grateful for the opportunity to provide support and education for florists, a connection to people from around the world on social media, products for sale that raise money for my community, workshops taught annually by world-renowned floral designers, and a Podcast. Today, BB has a beautiful new website and online home, laying yet another foundation as we continue to expand our reach in the floral industry and improve lives in my local community.
I am often asked about the Botanical Brouhaha name and my answer is simple: Flowers have been my lifeline. They bring joy, they promote beauty, they can change lives, and they can inspire, but most of all, they have the power to connect people, and that will always be the heart of this journey, and to me, that's always worth celebrating."
She's so determined to help up and coming floral designers that she's started yet another online resource for florists called Bloom Trust Co. It's a curated collection of products, educational opportunities and services that floral designers can use to start or improve their business. The products and services are listed on the membership website for florists to discover and research what will work best for them. Then the florist can go directly to the resources, via links from the site, to purchase the lessons, tools, or services needed to make their business bloom in 2021!
Seriously, I wish there had been something like this when I first bought my flower shop back in 2006. It's amazing.
So amazing, in fact, that their mission statement itself inspires me.
Flowering with Purpose. Let's all adopt that as our mantra for 2021!
I hope you find some of these blogs, websites and newsletters as inspiring as I do. Also, I want to wish you and your family a very happy and healthy 2021.
Until next time,
LuAnn