[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text](Yes, in English, for once. Oh, and there might be some offensive language. You have been warned.)
You want true originality? Nature, that’s what. Not my depiction of nature, just nature.
So, before I got up this morning, I was sitting browsing through articles on just about anything and everything design related. I love design. I’m a graphic designer by trade, and I doubt my head will ever forget that even though I mostly do communications and marketing now. The design thinking and design mind just trumps it all. Well, anyway, it hit me that everyone tries to be so original. Everyone tries to be cutting edge. Everyone seems to be chasing that idea of getting that one brilliant idea that will make everyone else go «woah!» – and while getting there, we ditch ideas that could be great, but «you see, these guys in X already did something like blah». Well, fuck those guys, and fuck you.
Stop trying to be original. Just stop it. Most likely you aren’t. Even though you don’t think you’ve seen anything like what you’re working on right now, chances are someone else on this planet has the same idea. At least roughly. Should you let that stop you? Hell no! You should continue. Make it good, make it better, just make it. It doesn’t matter if those guys down the road are suddenly making the same thing. You just have to be better than them. You have to be the best one at what you do in your market.
So what if they’re doing very similar stuff to what you’re doing in Australia. Or China. Or anywhere you aren’t. Are they trying to get into your market? Your turf? Are you trying to get into theirs? No? Then who cares?
It is awesome those times you have that one brilliant idea. That point where your genius is fully recognised. That moment when you are truly original. But should that be the focus of your way towards success? No.
Should you put down your work and start something new when people say your work in progress looks like this thing they saw in that mag? No. You should go find that magazine, find out why that thing is recognised, and then you should do it better.
Everything nowadays looks to be a remix of a remix of a remix, and that’s ok. No one does anything in a vacuum.
Look at someone enjoying making food, for example. Especially when they try to make something new. Look at them starting with some kind of a base recipe. It might be just in their heads, but it’s there. Look at how they’re searching their memory of how things tastes, and how certain types of tastes reacts to each other, and watch the magic unfold. I swear, when I realised I could have garlic, ginger, three types of chili, bell pepper, tomatoes, cream, chicken, bacon and just about half of my spices and herbs-cabinet in the same pot and have it taste awesome, I though I were going to die. Have anyone else thought of that before? I’m sure they must have. Do I care? No. It was too awesome.
Awesome does not equal original. Awesome is finding out what works, and make that better. Awesome is when you find that one problem or issue or just a thing you want to solve, and then solve it in the best way you find.
The only one who cares if your work is truly original is you. And maybe those hipsters in squared flannels, drainpipes and wayfarers cruising on their longboards while discussing who listens to the most obscure music, hoping no one else notices their favorite bands. Fuck them.
Reach for glory. Find what works, make it yours. Make it awesome, because that’s what you are. Awesome.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]