How to steal like a designer and boost creativity
Let’s be honest: creativity is a nebulous landscape. With the evolution of digital technologies, we’re now exposed to other people’s opinions, ideas, and work on an almost minute-by-minute basis.
So whether its originality of thought or artistic brilliance, the sheer scale of visual and conceptual input we experience on a daily basis can blur the lines between where your idea ends and mine begins.
Originality is the holy grail of creativity. But does true originality exist in design or is it always influenced what came before?
But here’s the thing: humans can’t have new ideas without prior sensory input. It’s not me; it’s science, and it’s how our brains work.
From composers, to philosophers, to modern-day tech moguls – some of the most brilliant minds of this century have observed that great artists remix, recontextualize, and build upon ideas that already exist to create work that inspires and influences others.
The great composer Igor Stravinsky once said that, “A good composer does not imitate; he steals,” while Steve Jobs echoed this maxim in his 1996 statement that “Good artists copy, great artists steal.”
