These past few days I've been revisiting the creative process behind a few projects, and honestly, creativity is a wild thing.
Talking with a friend, I realized I always fall into the same cycle: a client signs on, fills out the brief, I read the brief, and then I panic because no idea comes. So I go out hunting for inspiration like my life depends on it. Sounds a little unhinged, but that's exactly what makes every project I create so different from the last.
When I say creativity doesn't just fall from the sky, it's because it really doesn't. I've never once had an idea land on the first try — and that's because, before I sketch anything, I need to feel what that brand is trying to say. One thing I love doing is walking around, looking at everything, hunting for inspiration on every corner. And honestly, that's almost always how the ideas show up.
The Por Aí, Bora! case
One recent example was the brand Por Aí, Bora! (loosely, "Out There, Let's Go!"), a channel about travel and tourism. The creator wanted something fun, cartoon-style, with an 80s/90s vibe. And all I had was one thought: what do I even do with that?
I spent the entire day sketching ideas that led nowhere. Exhausted, I packed everything into my backpack and headed to the ferry to go home. On the way, it hit me: what if I used a universal symbol of travel? Not a plane, besides being dated, not every trip involves flying. I wanted something that's always there, on any journey.
Then, standing in the ferry line, I saw a man holding his backpack by the strap. And that was it, there it was.
I got home and started the first sketch. I already liked where it was going, but I kept tweaking it until it felt right.
The Analiz case
Another one was Analiz, an accounting firm. The founder mentioned she'd love a logo inspired by accounting's coat of arms, not a requirement, but I wanted to bring that detail in one way or another. That's when I really got stuck: sketch, erase, nothing made sense.
I landed on a result I liked, but it wasn't quite there. I kept at it until I gave up and tossed my notebook onto the desk. That's when I saw what I'd drawn, upside down. And that was exactly the result I'd been looking for.
What these two stories have in common
Telling these two stories, I noticed something: in both cases, the idea didn't show up while I was forcing it. It showed up after, in the ferry line, already exhausted, not actively trying to "solve" anything; and the exact moment I gave up and tossed the notebook aside. That's not a coincidence. It's practically a rule of the creative process (mine, at least).
We grow up believing creativity is a lightning bolt, a lightbulb that switches on out of nowhere. So when the idea doesn't show up on cue, the panic kicks in: "Am I blocked?" "Is it just not going to come this time?" But over time, I've learned that panic isn't a glitch in the process, it's part of it. It's the stage where you're actually diving into the problem, testing path after path, discarding the obvious until only the real essence is left. Nobody sees that part in the final result, but it's what gives the idea its foundation.
Inspiration isn't about sitting around waiting for it to knock on your door, it's about staying in motion, paying attention to everything, willing to see potential in things everyone else overlooks.
That's why I say creativity doesn't fall from the sky: it's the result of a process, and a process has uncomfortable stages. There's the stage of reading the brief and feeling the weight of it. There's the stage of scribbling things that go nowhere. There's the stage of getting tired, doubting yourself, almost giving up. And only after all of that comes the good part, the "that's it!" moment. If I skipped the rough stages trying to force a brilliant idea on the first try, I simply wouldn't get to the results I get today.
So if you also work in a creative field, design, or anything else that demands a new idea every day, maybe that's the takeaway: it's okay not to have the idea right away. It's okay to panic a little along the way. Inspiration is everywhere. It just needs someone willing to stop searching so hard, so they can actually see it.
