Modern humans have been on this earth for 200,000 years, and some of our earliest cave paintings have been traced back to 17,000 years ago. As of 2016 the population of earth was approximately 7.442 BILLION PEOPLE! With all of that time and all of those people, is an original idea even possible? Statistically speaking, the chances are most likely not. Although its just facts and common sense, it usually doesn’t stop the aspiring artist, designer, or musician from trying to be unique.
The digital revolution and vastness of the internet adds a whole new challenge to this concept. With so many styles and inspirations just a click away it’s hard for work not to become widespread and generic. I also think that’s why advancements in technologies like virtual and augmented reality have blown up in popularity so rapidly. With a new medium it’s a whole unexplored terrain of everyone fighting to be the first to land that original idea.
As designers, maybe we have begun to tackle the idea of “uniqueness” in a different way. Maybe we don’t care so much about being an original, but about staying authentic to ourselves, and using the freedoms that we have to authentically inspire our work and push ourselves to new growths in our work.