To be or not to be inspired
Design inspiration sites are not new. In fact, despite the high number of quality offerings, more sites featuring notable professional or student design work have cropped up.
The majority showcase design work as a whole. Identities, posters, and publications in a celebration of the visual over the conceptual. FormFifyFive, Visuelle, Bitique, September Industry do for print design what Siiimple and Minimal Sites or The Dieline do for web and package design respectively.
Some sites are more focused, like Swiss Legacy, Typography Served, Typojungle or Logo Design Love but they all conspire to illustrate the state of global design.
One could argue this is a good thing and that the unprecedented access we have to outstanding international projects strengthens the global community of design and raises the bar for everyone. Good design in Canada is good design in India, right? Perhaps.
On the other hand, might it not be contributing in part to a certain homogenisation of visual language? Does inspiration inevitably lead to mimicry? It’s no secret that many inspiration sites pilfer other sites so featured works make the rounds and, for a time, increase the design studio or designer’s daily web hits. These showcases, which are most commonly devoid of any but the most basic contextual details, also tend to value aesthetics over content or concept, reviving the endless question of whether graphic design is simply beautification rather than problem-solving or information distillation.
I personally value craft and materials as much as conceptual development. I also appreciate having instant access to visual work created in other countries or for other cultures. When I’m designing however, I try to avoid looking at inspiration sites, the same way I avoid reading fiction when I’m trying to write my own. In my observation, ideas that comes from visual “inspiration”—meaning finished graphic design projects created for a different purpose—are generally weaker than those that emerge from experience or jamming.
It’s inevitable to be influenced by the variety of messages and visual stimuli we encounter each day but does looking at inspiration sites take that influence one step too far? I recognise this is undoubtedly not the intent of any of these sites yet I have witnessed professional designers, and students alike, propose ideas directly adapted from a solution they saw in someone else’s portfolio. I have also at times arrived at a design only to remember I saw something similar weeks previously.
Maybe inspiration sites are, like competition compilations or “best of” books, simply meant to be viewed in moderation. Isn’t part of the pleasure of being a designer, the opportunity to offer your skills to the service of another and still find a way to make it your own somehow? If you ape someone else, what is left?
- – -
Thumbnail: detail from an NB:Studio project
That’s a funny point, which I agree with very much. The more I find out about practices behind graphic design, the more afraid I am of this idea of photocopying and ape ideas.
Although on a slight tangent, perhaps it is a different type of inspiration that can help kick start a project. While most of the work I come across may be graphic design, I love love love looking at other avenues and using these as more abstract forms of delight.
I rely heavily on inspiration to get me through the day, but I also think it is a worthwhile discussion to look at what forms these may come in.
Simple tangents bring me to very different places, from architecture, to historical stories, to Lady Gaga’s views on social issues, to why exactly the oldest Hanson is always wearing a tie. I love looking at interior design and awfully addicted to American politics at the moment. Crazy personalities that translate into very weird visual interpretations.
Anne Coulter? HELLO!
Agreed. Amazing that your Hanson obsession goes on : )
Leave a comment
Your email is never published or shared. Required fields are marked*
Please be constructive.