We cannot deny the importance of the calendar – forgetting an anniversary of a birthday of a spouse can get you in a whole lot of trouble. Jokes aside, for many of us, we cannot function at work or at home, without referring to the calendar, be it for appointments, deadlines or meetings.

To stay organized, most of us will use calendar apps like Sunrise or a calendar widget for Android devices, or Google Calendar. After a while, all these calendars begin to look the same, and you know, it is time we seek for some inspiration elsewhere.

Recommended Reading: Useful Calendar & Date Picker Scripts For Web Developers

Fortunately for us, there are plenty of eye-catching mobile calendar designs out there, created by very talented designers. Hopefully the 20 samples in this post today will make designers of calendar apps rethink the way they build their calendar interface.

Task Update by Rovane Durso

Calendar UI by Alex Bender

Clyp by Riccardo Carlet

PhotoCal by Jason Yoo

Anchor Calendar App by Alex / Tapein

Booking Calendar: Month by Ethan Leon for Guerilla Suit

Calendar by Jakub Antalik

Week view by Maria Shanina

Lucid Dream by Michael Sambora

Calendar App Concept #1 by Geoffrey Couten

Your Trip by NIMIUS

iOS 7 University App by Joe Mortell

Date Select wip by Michael Sambora

Android Concept Calendar View by Alek Manov

uiGo Colors by Rodrigo Santino

Calendar & Tasks Lock Screen & interaction Demo by Ilya Tsuprun

Mobile App Slider by Kenny Sing

iOS7 Calendar App by Nils Hoenson

Flat Todo calendar by Henrik Xu

Delete And Assign Task To Teammate (in action) by Tobs

Designers may argue that in order to be effective, creativity should be given infinite space rather than be walled around by certain fixed metrics or parameters. Whenever my fellow designer friends bring up their pushy clients with their overbearing demands and requirements in the creative work, I bring up Dr Seuss.

Dr. Seuss or Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist widely known for Green Eggs & Ham and other great children illustrated books. It was also said that Green Eggs & Ham was written to win a bet with his editor. The challenge: to produce an entire book in no more than 50 different words. The book went on to become the 4th best-selling English language children’s hardcover book of all time.

Of course, a small story of a creative giant like Dr. Seuss is never enough for a cross-argument, so we’ll need a few more points to elaborate the importance of creative bounds.

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How Constraints are Important

In most people, the word "creativity" pops up images like a wide open plane, a white room with no furniture or a man with unruly attire staring into space. Well, thanks to the television media, this kind of stereotype has become quite synonymous to creativity and creative individuals.

In reality, creativity is the uniqueness that you bring to any activity you are doing. It is an attitude depicting your way of looking at things. When you are being creative, you see potential instead of problems and opportunities instead of obstacles.

In fact, for creative individuals, challenges and obstacles stimulate creative ideas and act as important catalysts to think of breakthrough solutions.

Read Also: 7 Ways To Increase Your Creativity

Setting Up Parameters

In the particular case of graphic designers and digital artists, the meaning of creativity is not much different. Although for most of us the process of creativity is quite random, constraints often help in maintaining focus and producing just the right results without quibbling around with multiple solutions.

I know a designer who always used to complain about the constraints and parameters given to him by the clients in the creative brief. One day, his client gave him a task of designing a logo based entirely on his own idea and the only brief he was given was the name of the company.

So the designer went back with a happy heart, but only after a week’s time, he came back frustrated with working on an infinite canvas, and requested the client to give him a few more ‘parameters’ to work on. So much for infinite space for creativity.

Read Also: Why Designing Without A Design Brief Is Like Playing Charades

Helpful Boundaries

In mentioning the importance of constraints and limitations, I would like to highlight some of the most common boundaries that can help in catalyzing your creativity, particularly during a design experience.

1. Self-Imposed Parameters

Charity begins at home; similarly creativity begins by self imposing certain parameters around your thoughts. For instance, if a designer gets a task to work on something he has already worked on in the past, the creative part of his brain will automatically refrain him from thinking on the same lines as he did before.

One by one, all the recurring ideas will drop and by the end of the day he will (have to) come up with something entirely new and creative. Placing self-imposed limitations can boost creativity because it forces creative people to work outside of their comfort zones or think out of the box.

2. Budget Limitations

A budget has been considered as one of the biggest ‘creativity killers’ of all times. Often designers think of a brilliant idea that they think might impress the client, however they become utterly disappointed when the client tells them that the idea is wonderful but the budget is not enough to execute it.

The way I see it, almost anyone can think of a wonderful idea in a grand budget, the real trick is to keep the creativity high even if the budget is low. When you have less money and fewer resources, you are pushed to think harder not just for a better solution, but the best one, resulting in a more effective and well-thought product.

Read Also: Why Don’t People Want To Pay For Good Design?

3. Content Restraints

Whether it is textual content or visual graphics, as soon as the designer is told to ‘keep it short and simple’ their nightmare starts. However, in my view, this is one of the common fallacies – that the requirement of limited content shackles your creativity.

But if we look at Twitter, we can see that the limited word count (the restriction) resulted in most interesting and absolutely creative micro blogs.

Similarly, when designers keep the visuals and text simple, they automatically produce minimalistic and clean designs which is one of the most difficult and challenging creative design styles.

4. Cultural Constraints

Quite opposite to thinking ‘out of the box’, when it comes to cultural constraints, the only way to deal with them is to think ‘in the box’.

At this point I am referring to the cultural constraints which designers face when developing a design for a foreign culture. For instance, in most Arab countries, it is forbidden to use a woman’s image in posters and ads. But there are many examples where an absolutely feminine product has been successfully and creatively promoted without using a woman’s image.

Read Also: Why Cultural Awareness Is Important In International Marketing

5. Deadlines

Deadlines are most controversial amongst designers and their clients. No matter which date is decided, it always comes too early for the designer, and too late for the client. Designers may also complain that there is never "enough time" to think of a creative idea.

To be honest, I think that deadlines are a blessing in disguise. When the designers know that they have to develop a design in a certain timeframe, they become more focused. This slight pressure tactic helps them squeeze their creative juices to a greater extent. For designers, especially freelancers, deadlines are also a great shield against procrastination.

Read Also: 7 Ways To Stop Procrastinating On The Job

Conclusion

Apart from the bounds mentioned above, there are many other major and minor limitations a designer faces during his professional life. However, turning obstacles into opportunities is where creativity jumps in.

It doesn’t matter where you are or which challenges you are facing, in order to be successful you have to try and make the best of your circumstances.

No matter how skilled you are in your trade, there is a need to have a good reputation attached to your skillset. I have seen freelancers who began as writers, some more talented than others, now working in data entry because they don’t have any writing jobs in their hand. One of the reasons that contributed to this is the lack of a solid freelancing reputation.

Although, I have never personally interviewed them, it is easy to imagine their plight. A writer’s got to eat, right? Don’t fall into the same trap. It’s time to look into why it is important to have a solid form of reputation management and how the ability to handle damage control can help you survive in a dog eat dog world out there.

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your work has gone live

When I started out, I would normally assume that only the client, who I work with, is taking interest in my work. The truth however was that clients of my client, his Twitter and Facebook followers, and his other social networking contacts are also looking at the work I produce for him.

One day I received mail from my client, lambasting me for my shoddy presentation of a task because one of his Twitter followers commented negatively about my work. That was when I realized that I need to be careful. Someone else, aside from my client is also looking at my work.

Though, I eventually lost that client, I learned a valuable lesson. When I lose a client, I lose all potential clients that I could get from his network. And there goes my reputation down the drain.

Read Also: Get More Clients: How To Harness The Power Of Testimonials

Tough Crowd

In my view, online freelancing is the most transparent profession in the world. Everything is laid out for everyone to see. You incur wrath for the slightest mistake. Your work can be discussed and mocked, and there is nothing you can do but sit and watch.

The comments section in particular can nail you. And if you have being fooling around all this while, then you can be in for some serious trouble. Criticism can finish you off.

My advice for any freelancer is to not fool around on the Web. There is always someone watching, and everyone is ready to comment. Negative testimonials can ruin your career. This is what the Internet can do. Your reputation hangs by the thread. It is, therefore, essential to use common sense while dealing with clients.

Read Also: 5 Ways To Tame Difficult And Problematic Clients

Freelancers thrive on networks

You cannot continue being a freelancer if you think that you only have to answer to yourself or to your immediate clients. It is an industry for the freelancers by freelancers. Look at some of your clients. Chances are they might be freelancers themselves. Freelancers are usually judged by their peers, and that is the beauty of this profession.

Read Also: How To Deal With Criticism In The Freelancing World

The sooner you understand that you should take every step only after careful deliberation, the better. To do this, you might begin to put more effort in fulfilling certain freelancing norms, which comes along with each project.

What To Do & Not Do

On top of meeting deadlines, open communication with your client is essential. At times, I see it my personal responsibility to inform my client of small changes that I thought I should make in an ongoing project. While the update would not make a difference to the client, I still chose to do so because I think my client should get the latest updates.

It has to be said however that a freelancer should not dramatize things to establish a reputation. You should do things out of the desire for being the best, and allow your golden reputation to be the outcome. Your goal should be your performance, not your reputation. When you perform well enough, your reputation will follow and possibly precede you.

When you give prime importance to building a reputation for your work, you lose your focus, and can’t look at the broader picture. You might end up not fulfilling primary responsibilities, which ultimately puts a dent on your reputation.

Read Also: Freelancers: 10 Things Clients Don’t Like Hearing

overcome negative feedback

Even after trying your best, you can still get into trouble, as negative feedback could haunt you. Those who work on freelancing sites like elance should be careful with what they do. Any conflict with a client may land you in hot water. Strike a balance and avoid any discord. You must have the inclination to fix things rather than provoke it further with inflammatory remarks.

Read Also: Convincing The Client – How To Win A Design Argument

The best way to deal with this is like how hotels handle it on sites like Trip Advisor. Any negative review is firmly addressed by a representative of the hotel, which will post a clarification on why the incident happened. It actually helps potential clients to understand the ground truth.

No one can satisfy each and every customer; there is bound to be someone along the way who gets frustrated over the slightest of things. An honest clarification is perhaps, the best way to deal with it.

Calm, Collected, Consistent

Every successful freelancer is an excellent public relation manager. And one of their most important traits is to be temperamentally sound. Reacting aggressively to comments and criticism with an egocentric approach will not help either. The ability to accept feedback and grow from it will be essential to your growth.

Your consistency in rendering service of a certain quality is also important, in that it will give off the impression that you are level-headed. And for clients, level-headed freelancers are the best because they are street smart, and don’t over-react over the slightest of things.

If you leave a good impression with all of your clients, that’s where your reputation will stem from, and who knows, it may open a lot of new opportunities for you in places you’ve never imagined.