[andycogbill]

I recently sat down to redesign my site (again... it seems I am destined to design exclusively for myself... dammit no freelance stuff) and I left the computer an hour later completely frustrated; how do you guys keep designing for the same left-right-up-down rectangular web? I tried to think of a new way to present the information in my site, but I couldn't think outside the box, literally! I looked everywhere on the web for inspiration, but nearly EVERYTHING decently designed was done in a somewhat rectangular fashion. How else do you get people to read what you've written?

How do you people keep on designing for something so... fixed? Help me out of the rut...

[Bill Posters]

When it comes to web-design, outside the box > outside the web.

Go outdoors with a camera and take snapshots of the imagery around you that interests you.
Take in an art/design show or three.
Spend some time in a public library soaking up the layouts from old books.

The best kind of inspiration comes from the things and places where you'd least expect to find it.

It all feeds into the imagination and that's what you need recharging.

[andycogbill]

Originally Posted by Bill Posters

When it comes to web-design, outside the box > outside the web.

Go outdoors with a camera and take snapshots of the imagery around you that interests you.
Take in an art/design show or three.
Spend some time in a public library soaking up the layouts from old books.

The best kind of inspiration comes from the things and places where you'd least expect to find it.

It all feeds into the imagination and that's what you need recharging.

I thank you for the insight -- it's truly valuable -- but I don't mean I'm looking for inspiration. I'm looking for new ways of presenting information on the web. How do I get out of the rectangles? How else can you put text on a page if not in a tidy column if you want it to be readable? Etc.

[Bill Posters]

Sounds like you really are stuck thinking inside the box.
The idea of inspiration is that it helps you devise new ways for yourself rather than following the dictates of other designers - which, I thought, had lead you to the dead end you now claim to be stuck in.

The inherent limitations of the web make it less hospitable for experimental info architecture.
A much better source for re-enlightenment would be the edgier side of print where experimental layouts are more openly investigated.

That said, you don't have to look at other layouts to get inspiration for your own layouts.
Take my earlier, albeit cliched, advice and soak up other stuff, then let that feed back into your layout work.
Adaptations.

[andycogbill]

It's true, I've only ever designed for the web. Perhaps I should get a print job or two. Anyone got anything they want to farm to a poor jobless American student?

/worth a shot

I do really enjoy looking at books of layouts and designs and such... until now that inspiration has been kerbed by the web. How does one go about getting print jobs?