Overseas Creativity

An important, yet often overlooked, aspect of being an innovative and successful designer is maintaining an awareness of global design trends. Exposure to design movements overseas can jumpstart and redirect creative flow, while offering fresh perspectives and cultivating a curiosity for the exotic or unexplored.

Design styles vary dramatically from country to country, as diverse political and cultural environments foster the emergence of new design trends. Observing the way foreign alphabets are utilized in layouts may be unique sources of typographic inspiration for designers dealing strictly with the English language. Noting how ethnic color palettes and textile prints are integrated into design pieces can spark ideas, or encourage a designer to explore new patterns and color schemes. It is beneficial to study these seemingly trivial cultural fragments of daily life because they profoundly affect the development of art and design.

The culture we grow up in shapes the way we perceive our surroundings. Colors and motifs take on specific meanings that become ingrained in our minds after years of exposure. For example, in the United States, the holiday season is heavily associated with reds, greens, gold and holly. However, in other parts of the world, winter holiday decorations have a wide array of colors, and decorative themes vary according to regional plants, customs, mythology and history. As designers and creative thinkers, we need to overcome any definitions assigned to holidays, festivals, seasons, emotions and any other tangible object or intangible concept that may require representation via design. A designer well-versed in global iconography is less likely to be constrained by a narrow visual vocabulary. In its most potent form, design transcends geographic boundaries and has the ability to unify people with its universal language.

Design movements from around the world have made a huge impact on the global design community. The propaganda art used in Soviet Russia generated much admiration and is emulated in modern-day advertisements by companies such as Smirnoff Vodka. Swiss International Style, initiated in Switzerland in the 1950’s, emphasized readability and ultimately produced two world-renowned typefaces, Akzidenz-Grotesk and Helvetica. When these regional movements intersect, ideas intermingle, giving birth to unique, hybrid design styles. An old example of this occurred in the 16th and 17th centuries, when Iran and Turkey delivered gifts to the Moscow Kremlin to preserve diplomatic relations and keep lucrative trade routes open. Persian, Ottoman and Russian crafting techniques fused into a spectacular new form of artisanship. These days, we don’t need to travel across the ocean to see the world’s incredible variety of design. Fortunately, all we need to do is go online and, with a few clicks, we have a wealth of design inspiration at our fingertips.

Locating these indispensable sources of inspiration can be slightly tricky, especially when sifting through design sites written in a foreign language. Fortunately, some overseas Web sites, such as domusweb.it, an Italian magazine, offer English translations, making navigation infinitely easier. Other sites, such as netdiver.net and icograda.org, aim to foster a global design community by recognizing outstanding work from all corners of the world, and forge cross-continental connections. Certain design magazines printed overseas offer membership to US residents, with free shipping in some cases. It is wise to tap into these amazing global resources and pay attention to the constant evolution of design.

Just as a muscle in the body needs resistance from multiple angles to achieve maximum strength, creativity needs stimulation from multiple sources to flourish. In today’s competitive arts industry, introducing overseas design into your daily dose of design inspiration may have a tremendous payoff and give you an edge on competition.