Recently, I’ve been trying to make a concerted effort not to use just the computer for inspiration (clearly, deciding to embark on a mission that involved a greater time than usual outside was a genius move in the middle of a freezing rainy British winter). Here’s five places I’ve been finding inspiration recently:

1. The Good Old Library

I haven’t lived in this city very long, so the library still has that vaguely mysterious feel where I haven’t quite worked out where everything is. One of my new favourite activities is to have a wander down there and stumble upon something interesting. These days, when you can buy a copy of a book online for the same price as a bus fare, it’s a lot more tempting to just do that, but I know I’m more inclined to give something bizarre a shot if I’m just borrowing it. Another bonus is finding titles you’d never think existed, like Roof Tiling Patterns For The Discerning Observer and so on.

2. Charity Shops

Now, I love the purchase of a charity shop oddity as much as the next woman, but they’re also great places to browse for inspiration as well. They’re also a bit less predictable and sales-concerned than commercial shops (or even libraries), so they too are good places to find titles like An In-Depth And Comprehensive Look At Roof Tiling Patterns For The Discerning Observer or a bundle of sixty-two postcards of pedestrian footbridges.

Incidentally, if anyone has sixty-two postcards of pedestrian footbridges, I would be interested in making you an offer.

3. Collecting Things (but also nosing at other people’s collections)

Keri Smith is the woman to look at when it comes to collecting things, and she has better ideas of ways to collect (and collate) things than I ever will. As well as going out to find collectables, though, I think this is one of the places where the internet is a fantastic resource, when it’s used as a tool rather than the default option. I’ve been trying to treat the internet more like a library and rather than look at people who do the same kind of thing as me (which is a bit like the equivalent of only ever reading design books), I’ve been lurking in the musty, funny-smelling dark corners of the internet. It’s fantastic for people who are really, really specialised or mind-bogglingly obsessive about a certain subject. Similarly, eBay is a bit like being invited into someone’s house to poke through their attic or be shown their Toby jug collection.

Someone, incidentally, who is doing beautiful work with collections at the moment is Lisa Congdon. Proper lovely.

4. Using One’s Eyeballs In A Different Manner

I’m lucky enough to live in a city that would never be described as pretty, and that’s just how I like it – the uglier the buildings are the better, I reckon. I’ve started drawing more and more buildings and because of this, I’ve found myself looking up a lot more, and looking more closely at chimneys and rooftops and treetops and spotting all sorts of interesting things.

Since I’ve noticed myself doing this, I’ve been trying to set myself mini-missions and look in other places that I might not have thought of, like looking down every alleyway I see, and that sort of thing. There’s intriguing stuff everywhere.

5. Using Someone Else’s Eyeballs

It’s less sinister than it sounds… My partner and I occasionally go out on photographic missions where we go exploring the neighbourhood and take photos. What’s brilliant is that we like taking photos of very similar things but look at things in really different ways, and he always crops a subject a lot more tightly than I do. I’m always blown away by his photos when we compare them, because he’ll have taken a photo of exactly the same thing I have, but framed it in a completely different way. It’s hugely inspiring to go out with someone like that and feel I’ve learnt a different way of looking.

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Upon re-reading this, I feel a bit as if I’ve just stated the obvious – go outside, look at stuff, libraries are quite nice, don’t just use the internet to read design blogs, other people look at things differently. Big deal, right? But I know I don’t do enough of it, and I’m not sure it’s ever possible to do enough of it.

Predictable exploring in predictable places can result in predictable work. Embrace the random. When you venture into those musty corners, you’ve got no idea what you might find, and that’s just where it gets interesting.