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You know that one dish that everyone loves because you added your own flare or secret ingredient to the recipe?
Or when you coordinate the perfect outfit that gives you a sense of self-confidence and awards compliments on your style?
Or when you are coming up with a caption on social media that’s original to your voice and invites interaction from your followers?
These are all scenarios of day-to-day choices that make you creative and, more importantly, original. Creativity is all about making things unique and niche to you. It’s okay to use references and inspiration. They are like the base recipe, the harmonic scale, or even your limited wardrobe. They can be used as the foundation for you to build from. Whether you add, subtract, distort, manipulate, alter, reinvent, encourage yourself to make it YOURS in whatever way you can.
Have you ever seen a photo from a “Sip ‘n Paint” class, where an entire room of people gets together to enjoy a glass of wine while painting on canvas with the goal of making their art look like the instructor’s painting? Notice how some of their final pieces will have odd shapes and/or colors than the rest? You might think, “They may have been doing more sipping than painting”, and you might be right, but those paintings hold a lot more memories and personality than the original reference photo. What’s the fun in copying something someone else did? Maybe it’s for the practice of style or technique, and that’s okay, but at the end of the day, you can’t claim either as your own original work. Those slightly tipsy or maybe just rebellious painters have created something that’s truer to them simply by adding those “jagged” brushstrokes, “wonky” shapes, or “wrong” colors.
How I Incorporate Creativity in My Work
You might think I’m an expressionist or abstract artist. Quite the opposite. My specialty is in realism. Contrary to what I’m preaching, I specialize in drawing things from exactly how I see them. But the only difference is that my references are either physically sitting in front of me or I’m illustrating in my unique gesturally style. If I use references, I do everything I can to make them look distinctively different.
So next time you see a cool idea on Pinterest or Facebook, or anywhere. Please don’t be a copycat, a fraud, or a plagiarizer. Be resourceful, be inspired, and give credit where credit is due. BE ORIGINAL & BE CREATIVE. It’s not that hard. All you must do is add more of what makes you…YOU.
How Does This Apply to Your Brand?
In graphic design and marketing, this is incredibly important for many reasons, including business success and copyright laws. You need to research your competitors’ brands and make sure not to copy ANYTHING and stand out against them to prevent legal conflicts or confusion amongst your consumers/audience. Brands need to be individual to you, your products or services, your foundation, and your purpose.
Here are a few questions that you need to ask yourself when creating an original brand:
- What is your purpose and goal?
- What are your strengths and area of expertise?
- Who are your ideal customers?
- How does your product or service benefit them?
- Who is your competition?
- How is your business different from competitors?
- What are your business values?
- How do you want others to see your brand?
- What is the story behind your brand?
- What kind of personality and voice do you want your brand to have?
- What features or graphics do you think would symbolize your brand best?
