I honestly can’t stand the thought of creating a new design from scratch. It’s bad enough that I’m not a formally educated designer (last I checked, buying design books on Amazon does not constitute a formal design education), but on top of that, I just don’t have the ability to innovate.
Almost everything I’ve created aesthetically is always shamelessly ripped off of something else I’ve seen. Granted, over the years I’ve grown as a designer to some extent. For example, I understand now that every design element on a web page should solve a specific problem or serve a useful purpose.
I also know that content analysis, marketing strategy, and similar work should precede all design work. A design should always be based on a full consideration of the whys, hows, whens, and whats of a company, product, or service.
But even after all that, I still feel like my designs will copy others’ styles too much.
The truth is, I find it hard to create, that is, to innovate in the area of visual design. It’s not an easy thing to do. Even when I was a kid, when I drew pictures (which I was okay at) I always copied my drawings from something that already existed. I rarely just drew from memory or created out of nothing.
But I suppose almost everything is created with some kind of background or inspiration, so I’m probably not alone in feeling this way.
But when you look at the amazing stuff being created by different designers on Dribbble as well as stuff showcased on various galleries, it’s tough not to feel inferior.
Now I’m off to read a website brief for a new client project, and decide if I will design it myself or outsource it to someone else. Unfortunately, it looks like the budget on this one will not allow me to outsource it, so, like it or not, I’ll have to create.
