Importance Of Originality

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Recommended: The nature of plagiarism

The Place For Originality In Modern Society
Tan Ning Olivia (15913) Class: BADCN3C
20/10/2014
Why is originality such a commodity?
Paul Rand once said, “ Don’t try to be original, just try to be good.” However, designers these days as compared to the past are more preoccupied with the notion of originality, where they value the idea of being new and different from the rest. Having their work complimented as being original has become something that most designers would like to achieve. It feels as though being complimented with being original gives some sort of assurance and affirmation that they are good. These days, the “cult of individualism elevates the value of originality but at the same time blurs its definition.” (Story 1951).
That being …show more content…

Why it is impossible to create an original piece?
One way to attain originality is to ignore culture and society’s needs collectively. By doing so, it throws away the functionality and meaning of a design, because it is no longer relevant to people. A good design is more of how a designer can rearrange an existing work, element or inspiration to fit it into the concept and make it work for the consumers.
Increasingly, more ideas and designs will be generated day by day, thus achieving originality becomes increasingly rare. For example, drawing an apple would give us an apple logo, draw a black tick or swoosh and we would be copying Nike, simply drawing a yellow line would be ripping off Visa. The less complicated a design is, the more likely someone has already created it.
When Helen Keller was accused of plagiarism, Mark Twain wrote her a letter to support her, in which he stated that all ideas are second-hand, consciously and unconsciously drawn from a million outside sources. In the design field, we can always find some sort of trace back to a piece of work; be it in the styling, the concept or even the elements or colours used because there will definitely be some sort of familiarity and connection as long as there is an inspiration behind it. Everyone is copying everyone, sometimes even …show more content…

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Kate Cullinane. 2013. The Original Paradox. [ONLINE] Available at: http://designobserver.com/feature/the-original-paradox/37733/ [Accessed 18 October 14].
Michael Michalko. 2011. Twelve Things You Were Not Taught in School About Creative Thinking. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.creativitypost.com/create/ twelve_things_you_were_not_taught_in_school_about_creative_thinking. [Accessed 18 October 14].
Penelope Alfrey. 2000. Petrarch's Apes: Originality, Plagiarism and Copyright Principles within Visual Culture. [ONLINE] Available at: http://web.mit.edu/comm- forum/papers/alfrey.html. [Accessed 18 October 14].
Sherri Caudell . 2014. Paul Rand’s Influence and the Current State of Design. [ONLINE] Available at:http://burnaway.org/wade-thompson-son-sons-reflects- paul-rands-influence-current-state-design/. [Accessed 18 October 14].
Steve Delahoyde. 2011. Erik Spiekermann Talks Type. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.mediabistro.com/unbeige/erik-spiekermann-talks-type_b11762. [Accessed 18 October 14].
Story, JS, 1951, Plagiarism and Originality, Greenwood Press, Connecticut.

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