This is a weird one... everything seems to
be a bit of a competition these days... who's been on the best holiday,
who gets the most 'likes', who's got the best job, who's the busiest...
or happiest... and a million other things which I'm not going to get
into. None of these should be a competition, or even a 'thing' but they
are and I think we'd all be happier human beans if we focused on what
makes us happy instead of what we *think* should make us happy.
Anywayyy... One thing I'm noticing more and more doing the job I do is
the weird and wonderful world of being creative. For a start, putting
your work out into the world can be terrifying because it's going to be
judged, probably disliked, probably copied and definitely compared but
also loved, shared and appreciated... so it's a fine line!
I
updated the designs of my greeting cards when they went to retail but
the words and phrases all stayed true to me because this was one thing
that my publishers, people who have been in the greeting card industry
for 15+ years, were drawn to (no pun intended!) - They had never seen
some of the ways I worded things or certain phrases I'd used for certain
relations etc... They thought
some of my words brought something a bit ...original... I guess, to the
(absolutely huge) world of greeting cards.
I've been warned
that now my tiny cards are in some of the huge shops, they'll be
copied... It's guaranteed apparently. In some ways it's flattering,
because you must be doing something right if people want to replicate it
but mostly it's very unfair and something I definitely don't agree
with, especially if, for example a big chain store took your design and
literally copied it (which has been done far too many times!) - I'm an
independent, freelance illustrator/artist/designer/whatever you want to
call me so it would hit me harder, I think, than if a design has been
created in house at a big store/company... and then copied, you know?
Anyway,
I'm rambling... Currently I'm working in top secret on loads... I mean
loads of stuff for next year, some of it old stuff (like some of the
things I used to sell on my Etsy shop) revisited and a lot of brand new,
sparkly things too. It's hard in some ways because I've tried to expand
on all my existing designs/work/doodles/thoughts and ideas, keeping it
all 'me' whilst also making sure nobody has done it already but then
also being 'on trend' and doing all the normal stuff that similar brands
do... you know the deal, mugs/notebooks etc.
There's only so
many times you can scroll through Instagram, Google and Pinterest before
you realise that lots of people are doing very similar stuff, what you
said or do has probably, definitely been done in some way before. You
have to accept that people are going to compare or even think you
'stole' the idea or words from somebody else, even if you genuinely
haven't. I had somebody saying I should have credited somebody else for a
rainbow I scribbled once... A rainbow?! I mean, there's only so many
ways you can draw a rainbow, right? I guess it's only the same as every
time you hear a new singer/song you automatically think which existing
singer/song it reminds you of... Why does it have to remind you of somebody else,
why can't it be a brand new sound inspired by lots of others that you
just appreciate... That's just the human way, I guess.
I've
never been 'full on' copied, as far as I know... So I can't comment on
that until it happens, but what I do know is that there are so many
people creating a lot of magic things and that the world needs lovely,
magic things. A good example is a few months ago, lots of people started
tagging me in a Kickstarter campaign that was going round for 'The Good
News Newspaper', a lot of people who have followed my little journey
were saying 'it's already been done', 'you're copying Emily's idea' etc
etc... and I'll be honest at first when I read through the Kickstarter I
felt a little strange because obviously it had the exact same goal as
The Happy Newspaper (to share positive news) with some similar phrases.
Lots of 'what ifs' and stuff went through my brain and I decided to
contact the guy who was setting it up. I voiced my thoughts/worries and
he was the loveliest about it, I made it clear that I wasn't against it
in any way because I genuinely believe that we need as much good news in
the world as possible... so more of it could only be a good thing! We
were both just clear that it wasn't going to 'copy' The Happy Newspaper
in any way... and let me tell you I'm not the first person to do a
'happy newspaper'... 'The Positive News' has been running since before I
was even born... and yep I got people saying 'this already exists' when
I was setting mine up too. There's also a mini drawing that does the
rounds on Instagram/Tumblr which is of a newspaper called 'The Good
News' by Lizz Lunney, and because it looks a very similar style to my
illustrations a lot of people thought and still think it's mine (I
always be sure to correct everyone) but in the early days of me setting
up the Kickstarter for The Happy News... I emailed Lizz to make sure it
was just a drawing and not something she was planning on creating before
it caused any issues (she has just done a mini comic for the issue 6 of
The Happy News yay!)
Because of social media and everything we're surrounded by these days, I sometimes find it hard to differentiate
between something that is a complete original idea/thought of mine or
something I've seen/heard before which is what I said about the
scrolling through instagram too much... but I guess that's exactly what
being 'creative' is all about, it's tiny pieces from absolutely
everything you've ever seen, heard or experienced which creates you and
your artwork... in whatever form that may be. It's different when people
have different intentions, if somebody is just wanting to make money
for example (i.e. a big chain store) they're more likely to focus on
what's trending, what's popular and if that means copying somebody's
work, then that's probably what they'll do.
I
guess my thoughts are... if you're authentic and true to yourself then
that's going to come across in your work. My aim from day one has been
to make a few people smile and that's all I ever want to do... whether
that's through a little card or a mug or a notebook to keep by your
side. As long you're happy with what you're creating and it feels like
little pieces of you, sprinkled with all those who inspire you (I'm
inspired every day by so many creatives, from music to illustration and
everything in between) then I don't think anybody can argue with that,
although they will... of course (you can't please 'em all).
Inspire each other and please keep creating... The world needs more of that.
Keep smiling,
Emily x