When you're looking for ideas a good way to do this
is to brainstorm on paper.

Below is a Mind-map (sometimes called a Spider Diagram) which was created for a board game. The design of the board game was to do with racing.
In order to come up with a theme for this racing game a brainstorming session took place on paper.
One idea sparked off another idea!

 

 

Once you have a Design Brief you need to brainstorm all the things that you will need to research in order to become an 'expert' on the area. You need to be familiar with lots of different aspects as this will help you understand what goes into designing and making a product. You can then apply this knowledge to your own work.

 

A guide to some areas you should brainstorm are:

EXISTING PRODUCTS

PROCESSES - Printing - CAD/CAM - Die Cutting - Factory Systems

PRODUCTION METHODS - One-off - Batch - Mass - Continuous

MATERIALS

COLOUR - Primary - Secondary - Process colours

TYPOGRAPHY - Fonts - Styles - Spacing - Letter parts

LOGOS & TRADEMARKS

TARGET MARKET

FUNCTION

SIZE/WEIGHT

ERGONOMICS

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS - Issues - Recycling - Symbols

QUALITY CONTROL AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

COSTS