Bored With Repetitive Design

While there is a lot of room for creativity in magazine and newsletter design, there is also a great deal of repetitiveness. The basic look and feel, the overall layout doesn't change from issue to issue. Repetition and consistency are a good thing. But it can get boring for the creative person who has to do that same basic layout month after month.

How much can you tweak and improve and vary a design without completely ruining the page-to-page or issue-to-issue consistency? Trinity talks about this in her forum post titled "Tired of my own design." She writes,

The bottom line is, I am getting tired of the style. But a magazine has to remain consistent. One can change, and has to change, when designing ads and the sort. A magazine can't be changed from number to number although of course one can make small tweaks to improve on things.

I feel I am having the opposite problem of what we usually have as a designer, more than being short on ideas, I feel I am limited by the type of design.

... One needs innovation and needs to always up to speed, yes, but in other places one needs to stay consistent. How do you... not get tired of your own design?

Have you had similar experiences? How did you deal with it. Read the full post and discuss this issue in the forum. Or, if you just have a quick tip to share, post it in the comments below.