Design Prompt Generator

Check it out here!

The Challenge

After being laid off, I found myself with an unexpected gift: time. While navigating the freelance world, I realized that my relationship with design had become rigid, defined largely by client needs, tight deadlines, and established brand guidelines. The pure joy of creating something for the sake of creation had faded. I was experiencing significant creative burnout and felt a growing disconnect from the craft itself.

The challenge was twofold:

1. For myself: How could I create a system to force myself back into a state of creative play and rediscover my passion for design?

2. For the community: How could I build a simple, shareable tool that helps other designers who might be feeling the same sense of creative fatigue?

The Solution

I decided to build a tool that would act as a creative partner. Instead of waiting for inspiration to strike, the generator would provide an immediate starting point, removing the pressure of the "blank canvas."

The core of the application is a randomization engine built with JavaScript that pulls from four distinct arrays:

• Formats: A wide range of deliverables, from logos to skateboard decks.

• Subjects: Fictional clients and topics, from artisan pickle companies to lunar exploration startups.

• Styles: A curated list of aesthetics, from historical movements like Bauhaus to modern trends like Frutiger Aero.

• Constraints: A final challenge, like using only two colors or finishing in under an hour.

The UI was intentionally designed to be clean, minimal, and focused, putting the prompt itself front and center. I added a "Learn More" link for each generated style, turning the tool into a micro-learning experience where users could discover design history and trends they might not have known about.

The Outcome

This project was a profound success on a personal level. The process of designing and coding the generator was incredibly empowering and served as the perfect antidote to burnout. It allowed me to fall back in love with the problem-solving aspect of design, free from external pressures.

The generator has now become a foundational piece of my freelance practice, Source Hours (website coming soon), embodying its philosophy of dedicating time to independent skill exploration. It serves as a daily warm-up tool for myself and has been shared with a wider community of designers looking for a spark of inspiration. More than just a side project, it’s a testament to the idea that sometimes the most valuable work we do is the work we do for ourselves.