Make it Yours: How to take inspiration from others without copying their work

Posted on 27. Feb, 2011 by Princess Lasertron in business, inspiration

I wanted to share the slides and some thoughts from a talk I did last weekend at Awesomecamp 2011 in Lincoln about taking inspiration and creating something original that you can call your own.

The struggle to make inspiration your own affects everybody because whether you are designing dresses, websites, creating programs, or coming up with a business plan, we are often tempted to tiptoe down the path traveled by somebody before us in the hopes that they won’t see us. Deep down, we know that’s wrong, but how can we appreciate and honor the inspiration of others and create something unique?

I don’t have to explain how unethical it is to copy another person’s design or idea. There is a real person behind every design. A person who needs to make money to support their families, to hire employees (and support THEIR families), a person whose work represents their true passion. Our ideas are our capital and copying it results in lost revenue, lost jobs, and missed opportunities whether the copier’s intentions are good or not. How many of you have had your work ripped off before? It stings.

So I though of my best tips and advice for taking inspiration from one source and applying it in an original way to your own work.

1. Practice telling yourself that you are creative and your own ideas are good enough!
So blogging is obviously an amazing platform for the creative community, but when we immerse ourselves in our feed readers a little too much, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with inspiration and feel like we will never be good enough to compete with that. That we’ll never make anything that great. Take a step back though because it’s just as likely that other people are saying that about YOUR projects. Inspiration is not a competition.

2. Figure out what exactly it is that draws you to a certain design.
Start by making a physical collage or using a image clipping app (I love imgfave and pinterest) to collect photos that represent the inspiration you would love to recreate. Then look at the images and try to figure out what it is that draws you to that style. It could be a typeface, texture, or a color, or a common detail like eyelet lace, brushed metal, or natural wood. Use that knowledge to branch out of what has inspired you and think of other things you could incorporate and claim as your own.

Wedding pinboad from Dublin09

3. Don’t constantly refer back to your inspiration source.
The more you look at an inspirational photo or object as you are working on your own project, the potential for creating unique work diminishes. Definitely keep those pictures in a file somewhere, or put one up on the wall and change it often if you like to see them. But don’t become obsessed with someone else’s image.

As time goes by since you have seen the pictures, you start to remember what it is about them that really spoke to you in the first place. The nuances and tiny details blur in your memory and you start to remember the big picture, the things that made you love the photo. Then you are better able to focus on which elements you can adopt into your own work.

I surround myself at work with inspirational materials rather than photos–glass jars and cups of sharpies and markers, prints from past photoshoots we’ve done on the wall, strings of paper chains hanging on the ceiling, various collections–I have vintage textbooks, polaroids, action figures–whatever floats your boat. I like to switch it up from time to time too to keep the vibes fresh.

4. Collect inspiration from a variety of places.
Some trends get reblogged and shared so many times that they become really commonplace and expected. If you let a trendy style influence you too heavily, nobody will see you as an innovator.

So turn your eyes away from the screen and onto something else. Drive for an hour in one direction and then get out of the car and sketch. Pick up a magazine title that you wouldn’t typically read. Or just call a few friends to go grab some pancakes and listen to what they’ve been up to lately. Those personal, individual experiences aren’t things that other people can right-click-save-as into their inspiration folder.

5. Draw inspiration from the original designer’s creative process rather than their work.
Sometimes what first inspires an original work is a process or a technique rather than a “big picture” vision of a finished product. Have you ever started making something and then realized how you could apply the same method to another project? When I first figured out how to make our posie flowers, it was that ruffling and folding technique that inspired me to make the cuffed corsage bracelets. Two completely different projects with a similar process.

Figure out what it is about the technical aspects of your source of inspiration that makes it beautiful. How was it created? Can you uncover anything about the technique used? Is there a biography about designer? Can you find more information about their personal motivation? If you can learn about the original designer’s personal process, you can use that information as a tool as you create your own work.

What frustrates me most when I find copies of my work online is when the copier absolutely mutiliates my process and the finished product looks like crap. I think, wow, I hope nobody sees this second-rate workmanship and wrongly associates it with my brand. There are a million ways to reinterpret my designs, and I am always trying to reinterpret them too. Nothing is worst than getting stale.

6. Don’t copy yourself!
When we figure out what works for us, what makes money, what gets results, that is a huge triumph as a businessowner or artist. But it’s also easy to fall into the trap of forgetting to keep challenging yourself, and it won’t be long until the next young whippersnapper comes up with an improvement on your tried and true method. Be the first one to improve upon your own inspiration. Reframing or redesigning your own work will also help you learn more about your craft and get a better grip on your own process.

Inspiration is one of the main reasons I work. I love that finding and sharing beauty every day is part of my job description, and I feel that I am making the world a better place if I can make something that will bring happiness to someone else.

xo
meg

If you have one, share a picture or a post of something you were inspired by and how you made something unique and personal with it!