Whenever I feel creative out of spite I usually use either Pinterest, Dribble or Unsplash to boost my creativity even more to the point where I know exactly what I want to design.
If I'm feeling like I would like come up with a new UI design concept, I usually search on my saved Pinterest pins for this specific subject, or also Dribble or Behance, since it has so many amazing designs made by incredible artists.
When I finally have an idea of what I want to make, I search on Mobbin for examples of how some particular screens work, and what patterns they have, so I know I give the best user experience!
For wireframing I started using Whimsical and I am thinking of also using Trello. I never use paper for wireframing, I do not know what is it, but I feel like I think better if I use the computer to make the first 'sketches. Mostly because I can use geometric shapes and the actual phone sizes and sometimes even the templates.
I work with Figma mostly, sometimes I use Adobe XD, it really depends on what I want to design.
When I'm feeling creative enough to create some new packaging design or some new brand, I do the same thing, which is go to my Pinterest saved pins and see what sparks in me, and after that, I start searching for color palletes and some fonts that go along with the mood that I am looking for. After I select some, I usually make a moodboard, and go from that.
For color palletes I use:
To find some good fonts I use:
Once those steps are done, I look for some mockups that I feel like would look good with the type of brand I'm looking.
I use graphicpear or graphicburger to search for mockups.
I usually make an illustration for my packagings, but it always depends on what type of brand it is.
If I want to start a new illustration, I search for inspiration from real life, what surrounds me, and if that does not work, I search on Instagram or Pinterest, also recently started to take inspiration from books of some of my favorite artists, like : Beatrice Blue
Once I have an idea of a concept in my head, I start to sketch, using a reference image, being it a photography I took or some image of the internet, or from books.
When the sketch is done, I usually start the lineart, I chose the brush that will look the best with the art style I'm looking for, and also start browsing what colors will look best, what works and what doesn't.
When the drawing is complete, I start messing with color adjustments, to see if I can get it to look even better.
This is my workflow, you can have a totally different one if it works better for you, but you can also take these tips, specially from the most common tools I use! They are mostly free, so you don't have to worry about money :)
