Normally, when I run dry, I get all of the information I can on the business that I'm going to design for and I go and take a look at their competitors sites to give me an idea of what people in their industry think is good.
I then make three to four designs based off of what I like on the sites I visit and I generally end up with two designs that I really like which are a combination of all things good.
Other things to look at; ESPN the design of their graphics and other news shows - how they use their graphics and then i decide what can and can not be incorporated. This usually works pretty well.