I take a similar approach for book design, Christina. For this last project at least, I definitely limited myself from looking at other versions of my book cover. I didn't want the current versions to subconsciously influence my design choices for my book cover. I relied on notes I'd taken while I was reading and my own interpretation of the text to help me construct concepts. This helps me steer clear of "rip-offs."
But once I had a clear idea of my concept was, I researched like crazy for ways to execute. And that's my general process. I come up with a concept based on my interpretation of a project and then I look for things similar to what I'm trying to do, or interesting things, I think I may want to try and incorporate and I draw my inspiration from there. I feel it's important to take advantage of what's already out there and look at what others have done well and maybe borrow pieces of that for my work. But I make sure that what I'm doing isn't an exact copy. Because not only would that be ripping something off from someone else, it's also not reflective of me and my work in any way, which is ultimately not what I want. I want all of my pieces to reflect my personal style as a designer so I try and look for ways to do that. Whether that be technique or a pattern or lots of breathing room (all things I like to incorporate into my work), I want my designs to bear my mark in some way.
My source of inspiraion: Pinterest. (Yea, I said it!) Also, google images. These are two readily accessible sources of visual inspiration that are an immense help to me in the research phase. Clothes are also great sources of inspiration for design as is fashion, furniture, paintings. These are some of my favorite go-tos. Design is all around us! (bursts into non-existent design-related Disney theme song, lol)
