Be a copycat
You've probably been told hundred times that you shouldn't copy others work and that you should always do original stuff. This is something I stand by as well generally. However there is at least one very good reason to imitate a certain style and recreate a certain look by yourself.
Imitation is an excellent exercise for your brain. I think subconsciously one learns so much beyond the obvious when copying other's great work. The skills one learns may benefit much later however.
Today I found some old illustrations that I did few years ago when flat color was in vogue. I remember I was really excited about this style. One day I sat down to create some characters in a similar fashion. It was a very satisfactory exercise and I'm sure it improved some of my skills other than just the ability to do such illustrations. Hard to say an example where I benefited from this exercise, but it felt like I acquired another weapon for my creative arsenal that can be used with other tools to create truly original work.
For such exercises you should choose styles you've never explored before and find work that you're very excited about. Don't be ashamed to walk in another designer's shoes. Better not to do an exact replica. Build on the reference and create your own version of it. That's how the biggest masters learnt their skills.
The mind works in miraculous ways and we have to make sure to feed it with unusual tasks and experiences to make it run at it's top speed. You need to surprise yourself with a completely different mindset from what you're used to. Try to do the same things differently from the way you used to do them. As a fav musician says, sell your turntables and buy guitars, sell your guitars and buy turntables.
I'd like to hear if you think my theory is correct.
- Ivan's blog
- Login or register to post comments
User login
Navigation
Latest critique
Active forum topics
Amen to that!
I completely agree with this... imitation is a great way to learn tricks and techniques that can help you later on in your own original work. A couple months ago I did a couple of desktops for myself that imitated the style of Shag. I was quite happy with them and learned quite a bit about vector illustration just by trying to imitate Shag's style. I collaborated with my boyfriend on another piece, and when my boyfriend had the chance to meet Shag in person, he took the piece we made together along with him, to show to Shag. He said that Shag liked it, and thought his style was appropriate for the subject of the piece. :-)
Creativity breeds
Creativity breeds creativity...
Well of course, that's why
Well of course, that's why so many people go paint Da Vinci's and Picasso's. It's not because they want to say, "hey look at me, I painted the mona lisa". Standing nose to canvas with a painting teaches you a lot, and it's the same with everything other kind of art be it illustration or whatever.
~the constant pursuit of innovation~
"A focus on cost-cutting and efficiency has helped many organizations weather the downturn, but this approach will ultimately render them obsolete. Only the constant pursuit of innovation can ensure long-term success."
Daniel Muzyka, Dean, Sauder School of Business, Univ of British Columbia (FT/09.17.04)
I think that black girl is
I think that black girl is hot, hot, hot..... !!!! :)
But I hate to copy other work. I design magazines for a living and I don't even keep a single one around me. When I sit down and start on a page, I like to start from scratch with no ideas what so ever and then just work on it. Takes twice, sometimes 3 times as long to design the same page, but I have lots of time where I work and like my work way better at the end.
If I copy from somewhere else, I'm just not proud of my work. Everything I see wherever I go, I try to analize and imprint into my brain, but that's about it.
______________________________________________________________________
"Life is a dream in which you don't remember fallig asleep or waking up. Make the dream worth dreaming, don't just sleep in the idea of waking up." - PIMPTRIX
Leslie Cabarga
Cabarga said in one of his books, "Never draw something that you can trace, never trace something that you can copy."
That's stuck with me. Because I'm very lazy and talentless. But I wholeheartedly agree, copying or miming styles can be very helpful. As long you don't try to pawn it off as original.
Yeah definitely. As Albert
Yeah definitely. As Albert Einstein said, "The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
Great quote!
When practicing I think copying other work is an amazing exercise. As Ivan said, it it forces you to look at details that you might have normally looked over, and furthermore understand how they came into being. Some of the best advice a writing professor gave us was try copying great writers like George Orwell. It seemed totally counter-intuitive at first, but as I don't plan on writing any of the same books that Orwell wrote, it was clear that it would be just for my own practice and not part of a finished product.
I do think it is important however when creating a new piece/layout/logo to seperate what are new ideas and what is a rip off.
And on creativity: How the text-fields highlight when active on this blog is sweet!
I totally agree.
That's how you develop your skills... in anything, really... This life is based on initial imitation of something... to acquire a certain amount of skill and knowledge so then you can come up with something original.