Two tips for design inspiration
- Keep it simple
- Steal
Keep your designs simple
OK! This is easier said than done but this is paramount. If you want to live a happy life, keep it as simple as possible. If you want to do a good design… you get the picture!
Take this photograph of 60s fashion model Twiggy by Barry Lategan, for example. He didn’t really do much but take a very simple picture, simple make-up, simple lighting… and yet we all remember it.
If you something isn’t working and you want to improve it then take things away don’t add any more mess.
I created the Twiggy outline by importing the photo into Illustrator and using the Live Trace feature.
Steal your designs
Doesn’t sound very ethical does it? But it is what everybody else does.
Take this beautiful website from Japanese artist Marumiyan, for example. I don’t know anything about him but look at his stuff! Excellent, and it really inspired me.
The background for the above picture came from Veerle Pieters who wrote a tutorial on how to create a Mac OS X type desktop background. I’ve got a lot of good stuff from her in the past. One of the best sites I know about how to do things in Illustrator and Photoshop (HTML and CSS, too). (A PageRank of 8! OMG, I’ve got a long way to go!)
cool tips mate..wow…continue this good work…
Cheers, Motivator, always good to get a “wow”!
Rob,
While I wholeheartedly agree with you on the first tip (keep it simple), I’m hesitant to go along with the always shocking “Steal It” idealogy.
Especially when you don’t give much description to what you mean when you say steal it. You gave me some examples of inspirational work. But being inspired is very different from stealing. Please explain!
I don’t mean to be rude, I just want some more! Thanks.
To me stealing and inspiration are the same thing as it is entirely arbitrary where you put the dividing line between the two. I’ve downloaded a couple of images to show you where the inspiration/theft has occurred.
The first is for the background.
The second is from the Marumiyan website.
So you can see where I came up with the simple image of a woman’s face. I will definitely do more of this simple black and white imagery with simple colours and blends in the future.
More cynicism here! http://robcubbon.com/what-is-good-design/
Not rude at all Trylon Tower Expert! Hope this helps!
Rob
To me stealing would have been you taking all or an element of that photo and putting it on the Mac background.
Your work was instead inspired by the 2 photos but not necessarily taken directly from the other works of art.
I’m into music and so I here pieces that inspire me to make something similar to it. I haven’t stolen it, rather I’ve made my own version. Once I get started, my action creates further inspiration. This inspiration then pushes my work into my own.
Does that make sense?
I see your point about how inspiration can be stealing.
Thanks for the clarification!
No problem, Trylon Tower Expert, do come again!
Excellent tips, you give great picture examples that help a lot. Thank you.
Think out of the box, of course
it is true that their are very little original variations on the web nowadays . Almost everything is stolen from one place or another , but justifying stealing is not the answer … you should at least give back the credit one way or the other at the very least .
@Bodybuilding Blog
No problem, thank you.
@LowonganKerja
Great name. Exactly, thank you.
@web development india
Maybe stealing is the wrong word. But, as you say, that very little is original on the web nowadays and that almost everything is stolen from one place or another, so … how can you credit when you don’t know where it comes from? For example, you do a website with shiny web 2.0 buttons, who do you credit? Get inspiration from the world but with your interpretation on it, that’s my opinion. Thanks for your contribution
steal, haha! I forgot what famous author said “steal from one and its called plagiarism, steal from many and its called research!”
Exactly! Haha.
Oau, I am speechless! Stealing is one, and inspiration is something else! You are inspired by a beautiful morning in the woods, or by a sunset – you don’t steal them
. Stealing is not ethical indeed. It’s good that you rectified: “stealing is the wrong word”!
Did I read your words correctly? Did you advise people to steal a design? That is completely unethical. One must give credit where credit is due! The original artist must be rewarded not the thief.
RoWeb Design. This is exactly my point. You get inspiration from everywhere. It’s just as pointless to credit a beautiful morning in the woods as it is other designers that have inspired you. The whole of creativity runs off inspiration and you may as well call that stealing. I said, maybe stealing is the wrong word, I’m not going back on what I said. I’m just trying to clarify it for people who are maybe misunderstanding me.
@Arizona Graphic Design. Yes you did read my words correctly. Yes I am advising people to steal a design. If you think this is unethical you could then notify the “original artist” I’ve ripped off to design this site! But he probably won’t even recognise his work! Thanks for the comments!!
Pablo Picasso is widely quoted as having said that “good artists borrow, great artists steal.” It’s not the works of art that he is saying to steal, it’s the ideas! If classical masters of art took ideas from each other, why can’t we take ideas from each other now?? Obviously recreating another artist’s work is a form of plagiarism, but recreating something new from their idea is just development! Isn’t that what art is all about? Developing from different ideas to find your own particular style?
Rob, I agree with you 100%! Your site is very helpful to me! I guess you could say that I have “stolen” quite a few of your ideas! Haha
I’d heard that expression before, Lauren, it’s good it has been attributed to Pablo Picasso; you could do a lot worse that get inspiration from him! It seems to me you’re making my argument better than I am and illustrating it with great examples. How come you don’t have a website? You can guest write here if you want. But that’s quite selfish of me to ask as I really would be stealing your talented observations for little in return (only a byline).
Anyway, keep coming back for some more tips. Steal away!
Actually I’m only a college student, obviously art/graphic design is my major. I stumbled across your site when i couldn’t figure out how to make something on photoshop work! Haha! But I have found many of your suggestions and hints to be extremely helpful! It was just a big coincidence that a few days before I read these tips, we discussed the issue of “stealing” ideas in one of my in classes. My professor actually used Picasso’s quote and I found it to be very interesting, so i decided to pass it along!
That’s great that you have found the suggestions and hints here helpful, I hope you continue to do so. All the best with your course and when you finish, I hope there will be things here you’ll find helpful in your chosen profession!
I agree with your advice to steal ideas from other designs, but as an added note I think it is very important to add or change something to customize it. An original logo or photo theme is always a great way to up-sell a site.
Cosmetic Contactss last blog post..Cosmetic Contacts
I think you can be easily misunderstood when you give the advise of “stealing”. Inspiration is the right word, and I think it’s important to get inspired and add originality and personal touch to every design.
Hello Cosmetic Contacts and ITtradeOnline. It’s great to hear different opinions on this topic and I have very much enjoyed reading them. Good point about changing and customising what you have stolen, Cosmetic Contacts. Good summary, ITtradeOnline.
Very blunt. I also like the live trace feature in illustrator, it’s one of my favorite tools.
As to your second point, I say if you can improve on an idea and make it your own than go for it.
Haha I love this article, 2 of the greatest oldest tricks in the book. Keep up the good work.
David Leonard – Tampa Bay Freelance Web Design
Sometimes its better keeping it vey simple but then you loose part of visitors which are looking for attrative design and pattern for them selves.
Good Advice! I think I can now go into the world of attractive design!
Hello Oregon Web Designer, thank you for your comments. I guess I am a bit of a blunt designer.
Hello David, yes old design tricks!
Hello Çocuk Oyunları, I like to do simple designs.
Hello Edith, go for it!
Thanks for the blog post. I don’t think it’s right to outspokenly say ’steal’. I think that a more effective recipe for identity and to help progress design into new trends, appeals, and to evolve it as a whole is to borrow ideas, but to combine it with your personal style, and enough toward your personal style that the idea doesn’t look very recycled, contributing to original work.
Check out Nick La’s post on inspiration
http://www.webdesignerwall.com/general/finding-inspiration/
Namaste!
Thank you Robin, I know I’m putting the cat amongst the pigeons by saying “steal”. And I do definitely agree with what you say about borrowing ideas and combining it with your own to create interesting design. Thanks for the link. Nick La is definitely one of my web heroes!
I like very much this design. The color and simplicity.
On the topic of the inspiration, it is normal to see the work of others to take ideas
Hello mercado divisas, I would say that it’s more normal than you think.
Thanks for sharing, thats a great design
Ok positive thinking, I’m glad you like the design
That pics pretty cool. I do see why you like the work shown on that website you shared by Marumiyan,. You’re right, he is inspiring.
I agree its saves you a lot of time to find something that’s already made to copy. And if its old like from the 60s I guess no one will get mad about it. nice image btw.
ya i’ve noticed you sadly have to steal content sometimes just for your base, but i always switch everything around
thank you for the help, the pic is still great.
thanx for the tips~ (^_^)
I do agree with your first tip about keeping things simple because to start a design, or drawing you need to start small with a basic idea and expand from there. On the other hand, I don’t quite agree with stealing. I think there is a difference between being influenced by someone’s ideas and stealing someone’s ideas. When you look to others’ work for inspiration you need to make sure that you own work is still unique and has your own creative ideas embedded in it.
I’m not so sure if you can differentiate between stealing and looking to others’ work for inspiration. Obviously copying blatantly is obvious but I wouldn’t want to draw a dividing line and say “any more inspiration and you’re stealing”. But, I’m probably wrong.
An Excellent blog! Thanks for the simple tips.
Thanks for sharing .. good tips
I think using the word ’steal’ implies something sinister or underhanded. I can appreciate the line between it and inspiration may be hard to see but it is definitely there.
Furthermore, some of the greatest emergent illustrators of our time are indulging in the complex. cris vector!
I take your point on both points but I still think that there is no dividing line between inspiration and theft but we’ll have to agree to disagree on that one! Also, thanks for the heads up on Christiano Siqueira! His illustrations are very complicated but his website is very simple!
The first photo kinda has a Andy Warhol status to it
I had to laugh at your tip number two. Actually it is a formula used by lots of famous people. I remember reading one famous person (of long ago) who said any good idea he read instantly became his. He used all good ideas to succeed.