Create Originality By Using Other People’s Ideas

Photo by Dave Morris

Worried about being called a copy cat? Having a hard time coming up with original products to sell? Perhaps you are going about this the wrong way.

Let me use artists and musicians as an example. Most of them have a collection of enjoyable works by other artists. Sometimes you can even guess where an artist copied his style get his inspiration by looking at the resulting work. To create original work, one must have ideas. And ideas don’t live that well in a vacuum. If you are trying to come up with an unique idea all by yourself, you are making things too hard on yourself.

Before damning me to copyright hell, I am not advocating stealing other people’s ideas. Stealing ideas is wrong, but using their ideas is practically essential for creativity. There is a difference.
 

Definition of Originality

For the purpose of product design, I will use the following definition from Todd’s imaginary dictionary.

originality [o⋅rig⋅i⋅nal⋅i⋅ty] -noun       The perceived distance between similar ideas.

 
Originality is relative because it is a measure of distance. The further something is from another similar idea the more original it becomes. At the time of Tetris’s creation, there were no other games like it. Therefore its distance to other existing ideas about games is very far and was considered to be very original.

Since this is all in your head, the measure of distance between ideas can be a bit vague and subjective.

Originality is subjective because it is based on perception. If a product is unlike anything you know, then it is unique to you. The same may not be true for the next person because he may know somethings that it resembles. This is why people tend to argue over how original something appears.

By the very nature of trying to be original, you are already dependent on other people’s ideas. You cannot distant yourself from other ideas, if you don’t know what ideas already exists.

 
How to Create Originality

To put it plainly, originality is simply a matter of creating distance from other ideas in your audience’s head.

While it is possible to sit in isolation and try to come up with ideas all on your own, that is definitely the hard way. Besides, whatever you’ve come up with might already exists. There are better ways to approach this.

How to be original using other people’s ideas: (in order of effectiveness)
• To reproduce an existing idea is flat out stealing. Because you’ve created no distance and added no additional value. This is bad m’kay.
• To reproduce an unknown or forgotten idea is good if done right. You know, with proper permission if needed. Knowing your audience pretty important for finding ideas outside their norm. If the idea is not in their heads, then it’s new idea regardless. Even an old idea like wearing shoes might be a novelty to certain tribes in Africa. This is also why we are suckers for remakes of classics if we’ve forgotten them.
• To improve an existing idea is a viable way of creating distance depending on the magnitude of the improvement. The iphone was not the first touch screen phone, but the degree of improvement over its predecessors has put it in a league of its own.
• To combine multiple existing ideas is the most common way of creating original ideas. The remixing of ideas is a powerful tool. If you look hard enough, most original products have their roots from one idea or another.
• To combine and improve multiple existing ideas is what creativity is all about. Mixing, improving, and adding your own ideas.

The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas. – Linus Pauling

Examples of “Original” ideas

• Gravity + Pentomino = Tetris (according to gamespot interview)
• Barefoot + Shoes = Vibram FiveFingers (I’d like to try this)
• Tetris + Bingo = Tringo (ah, good times =D)
• Air + Bazooka = Airzooka (cats hate this)
• Lion King + Donuts = Donut Lion (ya, rly)

 
Using existing ideas is not a bad thing. In fact, that’s how creativity works. We process ideas, our own as well as others, and mix it up. Copying happens only when you don’t try hard enough and the end result still looks too much like the original.

 
The Final Ingredient

Trying to be original without ideas is like cooking without ingredients. But even with all the preparations, we can’t make a great meal without the cook! You are an essential part of this creative process. Originality is great, but no one cares about original dishes that tastes like crap. That’s why you have an very active role in adding your own thoughts, testing the results, and changing ingredients.

In all honesty, originality is easy. Originality that don’t suck is the hard part. Like any skill, it will takes practice. We’re all learning to be more creative. Got any creativity tips? Share it in the comments.

-Todd

Update: The following short video talks about the process of stealing in creative design.