A little while back, a designer messaged me feeling stuck. Not a beginner. He knew his tools, he was working in the field, freelancing, doing the job. But he told me something that stuck with me: he knew how to use the software, he just didn't know how to come up with good ideas. Spending tons of time on ideas, layouts, direction... and still getting stuck in the creative process. If that sounds like you at all, here's the thing: it's not a talent problem. Creativity is a skill you can train, and it starts with going back to the basics of good design. So I made a video walking through the exact 3 exercises I gave him: 1. Analyze good design. Find 3 designs you genuinely love and actually break down why they work — typography, hierarchy, color. 2. Recreate a design, piece by piece. Rebuild one from scratch to reverse-engineer the decisions behind it. 3. Take one brief, create three directions. Typography-driven, image-driven, and a wild card — reps over perfection. Do them individually or run through all three back to back. Full breakdown with real examples in the video below. Curious — which one are you going to try first? Drop a comment, would love to see what you come up with 👇