Atmosphere as Inspiration

Design through observation

Inspiration doesn’t always arrive on command — and rarely from a screen filled with design trends. Often, it comes through slow attention: a shift in light, a color in a film, the way a sound lives in space.

This post looks at inspiration not as reference, but as atmosphere. Not something to collect, but something to observe.

In cinema, the work of Wong Kar Wai offers more than visuals. Color becomes time. Framing becomes emotion. In In the Mood for Love, tension is held in fabric, mirrors, corridors — and in the spaces between words.

Éric Rohmer uses sound differently. There is no soundtrack — only what exists within the scene. Music comes from a nearby window, a passing car, a record someone plays. This organic presence creates a quiet honesty, where sound and image live in the same moment.

In nature, mountains become structure. Not as metaphor, but as physical rhythm. Their mass, light, and distance shift our sense of proportion — reminding us that scale, silence, and presence are also tools for design.

A book, like The Creative Act by Rick Rubin, becomes a reminder that the creative process is less about force, more about openness. About noticing what’s already there, and responding with care.

These aren’t references to be replicated — they’re conditions to design within. A mood. A tone. A question.

Inspiration begins by paying attention — to what’s felt, not just what’s seen.