A few tips for those who want to gain individuality and become successful in the creative field.
Today, the search for style is puzzled by anyone who, one way or another, is associated with creative activity. Writers, journalists, artists, designers, photographers ... You can’t list them all, but at the beginning of their career they all tried to find their own unique style. Someone succeeded, and someone waved his hand and took up less creative craft - management, for example. But if you do not want to leave creativity, then the search must continue.
Why is style so important?
There is a term in the fashion industry - brand DNA. It implies a unique idea, principles and techniques that distinguish a particular brand from hundreds of others and allow buyers to recognize it at first glance. For example, camellias and a tweed jacket at Chanel or a red sole at Louboutin shoes. Also, the unique style of the designer or photographer makes his work recognizable. And if your work is recognized, it means that you are worth something. In other words, a unique style is recognition, and recognition is a direct path to success.
Chanel jacket
The question of a unique style is especially relevant now, when the whole world is “inspired” by the same resources (Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, etc.) and, willy-nilly, everyone copy each other. At some point you begin to think that everything has already been created before you, and whatever you do - it won't work out from the crowd, because comparisons with some of the great ones cannot be avoided.
Crossover Landwind x7 , under the carbon copy repeats the style of the exterior of the Range Rover Evoque.
Original: Range Rover Evoque
Of course, there are examples when people do not bother at all in search of a unique style, copy what someone else did well before them, and earn good money. Recall, for example, the Chinese auto industry with its budget replicas, strongly resembling models of other brands. But if the path of plagiarism is not for you, then you need to identify and improve your style.
How to search your style
As usual, there is no single formula for searching for one’s individuality. It all depends on the field in which you work, as well as on the nature of the character and personal characteristics. But there are some universal tips.
1. Imitate
No matter how strange it may sound, but many artists and writers began precisely with imitation (for example, Rubens ). They copied the work of other famous artists and eventually developed their own style. Therefore, in imitation in the initial stages of the creative path there is nothing wrong. On the contrary, it will allow you to realize yourself as a person and teach you to look at things through the eyes of different people.
2. Stuff your hand
Even if your sense of beauty and individuality are already visible in the very first projects, do not rush to rest on your laurels. The style needs to be honed and perfected. As time passes, when you look at your first creations, you will realize that you have done a great job. Moreover, you will notice: what you considered your unique handwriting at the very beginning, was reborn as something new.
3. Do not be afraid of criticism
All creative people perceive criticism painfully. Creating a work of art is not waving you a shovel. You lived with it, did not sleep at night, redrawn a hundred times, and they say: “Fi, this is like Vasya Pupkin’s”. But do not immediately rush to the critic with his fists or withdraw into himself. Very often, criticism allows us to see the work with a "fresh" look, to find flaws and, ultimately, to do better.
4. Try different techniques.
To understand that you are doing better, you must first try everything. Maybe you will never paint hyper-realistic pictures - well, not yours. But beautiful abstractions will be obtained easily and naturally. Make a list of genres and styles that you want to try, and do at least one work in each of them. You will immediately understand when you "get into the stream" - you will get no less pleasure from work than from contemplating the finished result.
5. Use new tools.
This advice echoes the previous one, but does not lose its relevance. Most likely, you have already felt how creative individuals depend on the tools with which they work. To draw in a familiar graphic editor, take photographs with tested lenses, take notes with your favorite pen - all this is a comfort zone from which you have to go out from time to time. You may spend more time and effort using unusual tools. But the proven algorithms will disappear by themselves, exposing the frame, which is your unique style.
Finding your style by competing with thousands of talented competitors is very difficult. But maybe you will be a little reassured by the realization that the DNA of all people on the planet coincides by 99.9%, and despite this, every person is unique. Nature did it, which means you have chances too 🙂
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Why is style so important?Why is style so important?