# visual inspirations I absolutely love looking at what other artists are doing. I get new ideas for colors or techniques or content that I can adapt and explore in my own way. Even simpler, when I'm feeling creative, but not sure what I want to make or do, I like to seek inspiration by looking at art. Just looking at pictures isn't enough, of course. There are more active ways of going about finding and using [[inspiration]] as part of your [[! creative process|creative process]]. So before we jump into the resources I'm sharing, here are a few important notes to consider: ### copying ideas is ok, stealing work is not ok In [[Steal Like An Artist]], Austin Kleon created an entire book that emphasizes how it is ok to steal ideas by copying them. On his blog, he asserts that [copying is how we learn](https://austinkleon.com/2018/02/08/copying-is-how-we-learn/), especially as kids just trying to figure things out. Matthew Strom reminds us that [copying is the way design works](https://matthewstrom.com/writing/copying/) and that all the greats used it as part of the process. Student artists practice emulating the masters. Internet artists make fan art and explore crossing over characters and styles. Junior product designers take things apart to figure out how they work. Web and UI/UX designers emulate existing tools and styles to build their own products. This is good. Of course, we've all been taught that stealing is wrong. Copyright [^1] is a very real thing. Intellectual property rights are important as designers try to develop their own styles and professional work. So never ever take someone else's work and call it your own. That being said, you can be inspired and influenced by someone else's work and use that as a starting point for your own explorations. > "Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent." > &mdash; Jim Jarmusch, American film director ### make it your own The trick, of course is to make the work your own. Look deeper at what strikes you as interesting and try to understand what resonates with you. Then try to emulate it in your way. Since you have different talents and tools to work with, your version is naturally going to be different. Try to understand what the artist was trying to say or achieve and then think about how you can put your own spin on it. Your voice is different, your understanding of the idea is different. This is an active process of personal interpretation and that makes it creative stealing and not copyright infringement. Take multiple elements and let them have [idea sex](https://nesslabs.com/inspiration-to-idea-sex). Adrian Raudaschl goes into the logic behind this much deeper in [Ideas I coped to help steal more ideas](https://uxdesign.cc/ideas-i-copied-to-help-steal-more-ideas-34f5308ca08e?gi=7e309ca5da68). Especially relevant is the idea that mimicking reveals authenticity. The process of figuring out what to copy is what helps you to discover who you are. Daria Vorontsova's article [How to “steal like a designer” and boost creativity](https://www.intercom.com/blog/how-to-steal-like-a-designer-and-boost-creativity/) lists some practical steps you can take to better utilize the process, including exploring visual elements, identifying winning designs, and examining core principles. She also dives into tips for critical design thinking. In a humorous way, I think this tweet summarizes the process quite well: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">1. Copy somebody&#39;s style.<br>2. Fuck it up.<br>3. Keep fucking it up.<br>4. Keep really, really fucking it up.<br>5. Look: you&#39;ve got your own.</p>&mdash; Nein. (@NeinQuarterly) <a href="https://twitter.com/NeinQuarterly/status/597903896334458880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 11, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> ### collect your inspirations somewhere Hang on to the things you find inspiring. Save them somewhere. In the article referenced above, [Adrian Raudaschl](https://uxdesign.cc/ideas-i-copied-to-help-steal-more-ideas-34f5308ca08e?gi=7e309ca5da68) says to "build a library of stolen ideas". [Daria Vorontsova](https://www.intercom.com/blog/how-to-steal-like-a-designer-and-boost-creativity/) advises to "steal before you need it". The idea goes by many names Swipe Files, Inspiration Morgue, etc. It doesn't necessarily matter where or how you save your inspirations. Chances are the system will change over time (it has definitely changed for me). A folder full of images on your hard-drive can work. [Pinterest](https://www.pinterest.com/), [Google Photos](https://photos.google.com/), or [Evernote](https://evernote.com/) or any of the other digital platforms out there can work. Follow and heart artists on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/) or [DeviantArt](https://www.deviantart.com/) or any other platform that has work you like. I have a swipe file of ideas saved in Obsidian as a [[! mind garden]]. I have a huge collection on my hard drive that I'm trying to figure out how to best present publicly. I'm not the best at being consistent, but here are my [saves on Pinterest](https://www.pinterest.com/bennetc7/_saved/). --- ### finally, the lists After all of that, here are a few lists of places I like to find inspiration. - [[art inspiration links]] - [[editorial illustrators]] - [[logo and icon inspiration]] - [[web inspiration sites]] --- tags: #inspiration #resources home: [[! visual inspiration]] [^1]: migrate and link copyright content into the site. this is important stuff.