Pinterest is changing how we spend our time at home with family, how we create new projects at work, and how we pursue hobbies and crafts. Whether you need shot of inspiration for your latest venture at your day job or you want to revamp the look of your home, the pin boards at Pinterest provide excellent sources of inspiration that users can collect and then put to use in their daily lives.
Here are a few ways that Pinterest is revolutionizing the way we create at work and at home.
Pinterest Inspires Design Ideas
You don’t have to use Pinterest to make a direct imitation of project. Instead of creating a replica or a craft project on a pin board, some designers look through Pinterest for the spark of a design idea and then adapt the design for their own projects which may be in completely different mediums.
For example, writer Steph Vetne shares, “I often find scrapbooking and design inspiration from non-scrapbooking sources. There are patterns and designs everywhere you look – signs, paintings, color combinations, clothes, and on and on. Pinterest allows me to collect all those ideas in one place.”
Pinterest Inspires Business Owners
While many Pinterest users focus on their favorite recipes, clothing, and decorating images, Mashable recently featured BethMcShane uses Pinterest for her event planning business. She can provide sneak peeks of her events by sending clients to her pin boards. However, she can also find fresh ideas on Pinterest for decorating at her events.
More generally speaking, website designers are very interested in the “masonry” lay out of Pinterest and its grid-based design for some of their projects. There are many websites that integrate the Pinterest lay out and use of images.
Photographers and Brides-to-Be Use Pinterest
Photographers can showcase their work on Pinterest, while brides can create boards of what they want for their wedding. Both parties can view one another’s pin boards and get a better sense of the other person. Brides can pick better photographers, while photographers can provide the kinds of pictures that brides are looking for based on their pin boards.
Carly Harrington writes , “More and more when meeting with brides, they talk about ideas they’ve gotten from Pinterest… And the business has even gotten inquiries from brides from other states who have seen their work pinned and subsequently repinned. Lisa Mueller, a photographer and fused glass artist, said people can get a more intimate sense of who someone is just by looking at the things they’ve pinned.”
Use Pinterest to Find Creative Talent
Besides inspiring projects, Pinterest can also inspire the right kinds of people to apply for a creative design job. Work Club, a London-based digital agency, released a job search advertisement on Pinterest that created a narrative about the kind of person they’re looking for based on images from movies such as Indiana Jones and Saving Private Ryan.
Pinterest Inspires Leisure Time
Pinterest is also changing how we spend our time at home according to an article in the Argus Leader: “‘Pinterest is like fantasy football for girls,’ said Jeannette Appold of Rosemount, Minnesota. The 44-year-old lawyer and mother of two says the social bookmarking site has added value to her life by bringing out creativity that she never knew existed.”
Pinterest is especially helpful when birthdays and holidays roll around, providing gift and meal ideas. According to one news report , “Paige Brown… uses Pinterest as a source of inspiration more than anything else. ‘I love to travel, craft and cook and it’s the best source for finding things to inspire you for anything you enjoy,’ she said. ‘I love to find baking and drink recipes to make for my friends and family, which came in very handy for the holiday season. I also enjoy crafting, and there are so many free tips, patterns and ideas for all kinds of projects. I especially love photography and crocheting tips.’”
Pinterest may be one of the most powerful tools available for inspiration in both your home life and work. Image-based pin boards are the perfect source for ideas that you can either imitate or use as a spring board for your own creation.
About The Author
This guest post is written by Lior Levin, a marketing consultant for a neon sign store that offers custom made neon signs, and who also consults for a task management tool company.
