Everybody encounters creative roadblocks at one time or another, us

included. And because this is an ever so straining problem for our think

tanks, we’ve created a collection of sorts for you as the reader to turn to.

With help from our peers, we’ve crafted and compiled resources that

inspire ideas, encourage creative flow, and display bits and pieces of our

creative processes. We asked them to answer the following questions as

literally or as creatively as they pleased. The responses were, as you will

see, outlandish and exciting:

1. What tools do you use to create?

2. How do you get inspired?

3. How do you know when you’ve come up with a great idea?

4. How do you overcome creative roadblocks or what do you do when you

get stuck?

These are our illustrated representations of the answers that we received.

“I tell my mom.” - Mickey Scott, Journalism: Advertising

[ASK FOR HELP]

“Bloggers/strangers.”- Jessica James, Education Foundations

[BLOGGERS]

“Coffee is absolutely essential to overcoming any creative roadblocks I have,

because it gives me the energy to start to chip away whatever wall I’ve hit.”

- Lauren Beauchemin, Journalism: Advertising

[COFFEE]

“Doodling is my way of problem solving. It helps me to work through things in a

visual context.”- Carly Elliott, Journalism: Advertising

[DOODLING]

“Running.”- Monica Baker, Human Physiology

[EXERCISE]

“Start by telling my friends and family, ‘Duuuuuude, I think I have an idea.’ ”

- Marisa Beltran, Psychology & Spanish

[FRIENDS]

“Step back and take a break.”- Zoe Merrill, Psychology

[GO BACK TO IT LATER]

“Sometimes, if all else fails, you just have to hunker down and make yourself start working on whatever it is you feel like

you’re stumped on. Make a cup of coffee, trek to the library, and don’t let yourself leave until you have something done.”

- Lauren Beauchemin, Journalism: Advertising

H[HUNKER DOWN]

“I take a break, grab some food, take a nap, avoid the problem and come back to it

after time away.”- Trevor Curtis, Journalism: Advertising

[IGNORE]

“Look for opportunities to make everyday occurrences into a creative possibility.”

- Conner Gordon, Journalism

J[JUMP IN]

“Complain about it and work until I cry.”- Carly Feke, Undeclared

[KEEP GOING]

“These days everyone’s laptop is their best friend. It provides inspiration, distraction,

and often the tools to do whatever you need to do.”

- Lauren Beauchemin, Journalism: Advertising

[LAPTOP]

“Listen to music and try to recreate what my mind’s eye comes up with when I hear

a certain melody or sound.” - Riley Dellinger, International Studies

[MUSIC]

“Unlined notebooks. Handwritten Notes.” - Austin Powe, Journalism: Advertising

[NOTEBOOKS]

“Observing what is around me, what others are doing.”

- Elizabeth Bayer, Journalism: Advertising

[OBSERVE]

“When I pursue, said idea.”- Matt Dolan, Business Administration

P1234

[PURSUE IT]

“Editing and reviewing these parts critically is often more energizing than

writing them.”- Annecy Beauchemin, Geography

[QUESTION]

“Seek help, step back, or start over. It really sucks. Reflection helps every now

and then. Sometimes I will seek opinion.”- Tim Chen, Electrical Engineering and

Computer Science

R[REFLECTION]

“Most of the time it comes in some sort of half-formed thought when I’m first waking

up in the morning.”- Ana Choban, International Studies and French

[SLEEP]

“I talk to everyone around me because hearing others’ thoughts sparks new pathways for my creative outlook.”

- Yaasi Seyedhossini, Biology

Xt -Hey! How’s it going?

Hi. It’s going well. How about you?

Same. Keeping busy with classwork.

Yeah, it’s been craI

[TALK WITH OTHERS]

“Interesting people and beautiful parts of nature are inspiring to me. Sometimes

though, inspiration comes from an unrequested epiphany.”- Pete Kagey, Bioengineering

[UNREQUESTED EPIPHANY]

“When I come back to it later I can usually see my problem with new eyes.”

- Lauren Prater, Journalism

[VISION]

V

“Just wait for the inspiring moments to happen.”

- Loretta Fok, Education & Psychology

[WAIT]

“Move on and away from previous ideas. Start at square one to get to the root of the

concept.”- Meagan McLafferty, Human Physiology

[XED OUT]

“Certain events whether epic, character building or tragic.”

- Gregor Cunningham, Business Administration

[YOUR EXPERIENCES]

“Every now and then you just need to stop what you’re doing and allow yourself to

zone out.”- Carly Elliott, Journalism: Advertising

Z

[ZONING OUT]

Something About The Authors

Lauren Beauchemin

Lauren Beauchemin was born and raised in a suburb of Portland, Oregon, where the coolest place

to hang out in middle school was a grocery store shopping center. She can often be found laugh-

ing loudly at things others only chuckle at.

Carly Elliott

Carly Elliott also hails from the land of trees and masses of rain, Portland, Oregon. She aspires to

one day own a pet hedgehog and find the cure to all problems.