What Inspires You?
December 4, 2009
Where did the greats like Michelangelo, Da Vinci and Rembrandt draw their inspiration from? It’s hard for me to imagine being that we live in the age of computers, where there are no limits to what we can find. Especially inside the design community where there is a huge playing field of resources available for all our inspirational needs.
But how much is too much?
Personally, I think we’ve already crossed that line and are now left to wade through all the muck. All of these inspirational blogs are only hindering us from creating something truly original.
Take a look at Shephard Fairey for example. He started out making “Andre the Giant Has A Posse” flyers and stickers. From there he took the stencil art world by storm. And we all remember his Obama campaign poster that gained him national (even global) attention. But how many rip-offs have we seen of his Obama poster? I’m not saying that it is wrong to be inspired by another artist. But I am saying that we shouldn’t set the bar so low as to copy someone else’s work and be proud of it.
Dare To Imagine
So is it so hard to imagine that maybe the classic artists, the greats, were able to paint, design and craft magnificent pieces of artwork without having to look at hundreds of others work? Maybe there’s something to be learned from a life without computers. Where people actually interacted with one another and had discussions face-to-face instead of on facebook. That’s why I love meeting up for a drink with friends to talk shop or finding local meetup groups that share my interest. Or even taking my dogs to the park for that matter. Just getting outside and communicating with other people is so refreshing.
We need to be more creative in the ways we get inspired. I don’t want to compare myself to others whose work is amazing and feel like giving up. I’m sure the people behind those great pieces of art/design didn’t make it just to make the rest of us jealous. But instead did it from a place of passion and wanting to push the envelope. And I bet if you talked with any of those designers that inspire you they would tell you to do work that is original and that you can be proud of.
I think true inspiration is a gift that’s given to us. Some have called it a Muse, others have called it drugs, but I think it’s the One who created us that imparts it to us.
Originally posted on WeAreJustCreative.com on February, 05 2009
9 Responses to What Inspires You?
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Same here Brad. I’ve been going back, time and again, to my roots of simplicity and doing more things by hand. I like what you mentioned about works of art being an evolution of older work and by those who inspire us, it’s definitely true in my life.
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“Personally, I think we’ve already crossed that line and are now left to wade through all the muck. All of these inspirational blogs are only hindering us from creating something truly original.”
Basing my response off of this quote, I agree with this 100%. So many sites look the same to me now days, and every “inspirational site” has the same websites over and over. Are these the sites we should be basing our work off of? Absolutely not.
I sometimes question how original some of these sites are, because really a lot of it is just bits and pieces of every other site out there.
The web in particular is becoming a competition on who can have the biggest and best, which is causing everything to look alike, which takes away from the truly “original design work.”
Good post Kyle.
.-= Josh Cagwin´s last blog ..This is my quote. Do you have one? =-. -
Great post regarding inspiration and originality. I too believe it is God who gives us the ability to create fresh and original art/design/music. I think, as designers, we need to get back to basics and focus on designing with our own imagination and passion. Like you said, the existing art/design we use for inspiration was created out of a passion and its this passion that should drive the rest of us to create our own art/design. Many design out of necessity to pay the bills and sometimes that’s unavoidable, but lets not get caught up in the paycheck. Let’s make a commitment as a community to put our heart and soul into what we do. I am the first to admit that I’ve poured through other design work to gain inspiration or styling tips, but I think its important that we use our “creative juices” for conceptualization and the bulk of our design. I don’t think we are at a point in history where any future work will be similar to, or based on some other original work, but I do think many people choose the easy way out(myself included). Personally, music and nature are probably the two greatest sources of inspiration for me. Yes, nature is the original work of our Creator but if we’re going to mimic anyone’s design, I can’t think of a designer greater than Him.
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Great post Kyle! Inspiration is so motivating. Looking at those galleries is great but we tend to become what we “eat” so to speak if that’s all we do. I think it’s great to go out and find inspiration, whether it’s God’s creation or man’s creation.
Encouragement or truthful criticism can be inspiring too.
Good post Kyle!
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I continue to find myself inspired by architects and physical space design. I find that the physical world often effects they way I approach interaction design and user experience.
Great post! Keep them coming!
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That’s why I always encourage sketching. It’s almost impossible to copy someone if you are constanty emptying your creative tank on paper.
Great post Kyle, thanks for it. -
Great post Kyle. Like yourself, I’m not into inspirational sites so much; I feel like viewing the best of the best not only makes my own work seem unfit, it sort of makes my brain go into info-overload.
This is one of the reasons why I think it’s important to carry a notebook around. I’ve been out and about in various places, and jotted down an inspirational idea just from my surroundings, or something someone said.
It amazing how if one day you just flip through the ‘ol moleskine, concepts and ideas are there waiting to be taken to the next level. Total originally – and organically-conceptualised, unhindered by the mire of the internet.
I think that for Christians, the Bible is the ultimate source of inspiration too, If I only had the time, I’d love to illustrate the whole thing.
I really like what Rich Hemsley had to say, too…
.-= Andrew Kelsall´s last blog ..Total Logo Design Process for Edit Websites =-.
I’ve been trying to break out of the Web 2.0 style that is all over inspiration sites lately. It’s tough. I’ve been trying things like forcing myself not to use gradients and going out of my way to change up the navigation and button styles. On one recent site I actually went back 2 weeks after launch and put in more conventional looking buttons because nobody was clicking the new ones I made.
We tend to think of creativity as being 100% new and original, but if you study the greats body of work and not just a few pieces you’ll see it’s an evolution partly from their own older work and partly from their peers who they were inspired by. As a creative you just have to keep pushing with every new thing you do.