Inspiration for great photography and design is everywhere

By Raul Flores

National Key Accounts Manager and Education Specialist Laura Schaub talked about the best places to find inspiration for engaging photography and design Friday morning. 

Schaub gave many examples of both online and physical places where photographers, designers, and yearbook students could find creative inspiration for their publications. Among these, she mentioned Pinterest, shopping malls, and even PowerPoint templates. 

According to Schaub, it’s all about thinking visually when approaching design. Not only that, but she also said that all content, whether it’s newspapers, magazines or yearbooks should be telling the story visually. 

“Sometimes we can take an idea from a yearbook and do something great with it for newspapers and magazines,” Schaub said. 

Shaub told attendees that aiming to create engaging content for publications sometimes means that rules have to be broken. In a landscape where there are many do’s and don’ts, stepping out of the expected boundaries can lead to creative results. 

“Be open to new things because you never know what you’ll get,” Schaub said. 

One of the most creative examples given by Schaub was her usage of the HSBC bank logo as a template for creating interesting and captivating designs for her university’s yearbook. Further, she spoke about the importance of leading the reader’s eyes through the photos with the help of creative design. 

“Take ideas and change them up,” Schaub said. “You can’t just copy what they do, you have to add something.” She continued. 

Some other places Schaub told students about were random restaurant bathroom tiles. She even showed the pictures she took of each and then compared them to the way she incorporated them into her yearbook designs. 

Schaub also spoke thoroughly about capturing amazing photographs and portraits. She went on to show examples of yearbook photography that utilized well-known visual elements that can increase a photo’s quality. Rule of thirds, leading lines, and framing was mentioned by her. 

“We’re always looking for different angles, different ways to profile people,” Schaub said. 

For Schaub, there’s importance in trying to explore the creative bounds of design. She urged student designers to be on the lookout for weird or unusual angles. She also said that ideas come frequently when looking at others’ work. Nonetheless, as photographers and designers they have to be careful to take these ideas, and if inspirations are to be altered and changed, always be careful not to copy something they loved. 

Schaub said she believed that a great thing to do during the creative process of design is to play around with what you have.