Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative
Here’s a super quick summary of this awesome book!
“Art is theft” -Pablo Picasso
1. Steal like an artist
“Nothing is original”. Which made me think — isn’t one of the greatest artworks created in museums dubbed as ‘ something original’? Let’s probably start first by defining, what really is “originality”? And as William Inge put it — “Originality is plagiarism undetected.” Everything we have created has an inspiration from which something it is derived from. It could be a creative remix of our experiences, lessons learned or the people that we look up to for great work.
It’s just that people who described something as “original” haven’t figure out the sources, because obviously — nothing comes from nowhere. Every idea that is described as fresh, new or revolutionary is a mash up or built on top other different ideas from previous generations.
2. Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started
I’m actually very quite guilty of this one — I’ve always felt weird calling myself a Product, Visual, UI/UX Designer or even a Frontend Developer. I always fall into the Impostor Syndrome because I feel like a fraud — that I’m not that good enough and have no idea what I’m really doing, even if people praise or recognize you for the skills you have. But the reality is, none of us do. If you ask every creative where the good stuff comes from, and they’ll probably tell you they don’t know.
Fake it until you make it. -William Shakespeare
So if you want to be something or someone, pretend to be one until you actually are one. Or perhaps pretend to be making something, until you actually make something.
Start Copying. And stop plagiarizing — there’s a difference. Copy from the people you admire creative work from, not just their style but how they also how they think. It’s basically reverse-engineering. If you want to learn how they design things — copy their thoughts. Then soon enough, you will be able to copy the quality of their craft.
3. Write the book you want to read
I’ve always been very hesitant about writing, because I feel like I need only to write what I only know. And whenever I write something that I’ve learned from somewhere, I feel like a phony or a copycat. But when you think about it, even the scientific works of Nobel-prized scientists are built on top of other scientists’ work.
So write what you like. Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run and build the products you want to use — do the work you want to see done.
4. Use your hands
In this digital age, we’re used to facing our screens at work. I lost track how many times have I been stuck in a design concept or a coding function just staring infront of my monitor — hoping some kind of “Aha” moment comes out, unfortunately it doesn’t. A computer is really good at implementing well-defined ideas, but generating ideas? Not quite sure about that. That’s why its very important to get out of your desk and do something. Sketch wireframes and rough concepts on paper, draw a mindmap of ideas with markers on the board or write ideas on post-its on a brainstorming activity.
It’s like creating an analog to digital process, but moving back and forth.
Even though I have countless of task checklist apps in my phone, I still prefer bullet journalling on a small notebook to write my thoughts and things I want to get done.
5. Side projects & hobbies are important
You know, the stuff you did for fun or you thought was just messing around.
Practice productive procrastination. Wait, what does that even mean?
“The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life” -Jessica Hische
Hope that gives you a bit of perspective.
6. The secret: Do good work and share it with people
Alot of people commonly ask this question , how do I become known? And the answer is — there’s no secret formula on this one. Although this is a not-so-secret one: Do good work and share it with people.
Share your secrets, your process, your workflow.
“Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.” -Howard Aiken
But if you‘re really worried, you don’t need to share everything. You could share the little things — snapshots of what you’re doing, snippets of your code, some sketches, links to great reads or resources, a good book you read (like this one) or even a handy tip you discovered while working.
7. Geography is no longer our master
With the help of the internet, the world has gotten alot smaller. I live in a sunny tropical island in the Philippines, and alot of my mentors aren’t even from my own town. I met most of them online.
Build your world. I’ve always thought that I needed to be in silicon valley to experience the “techie-ness” I want in a community. But this community I imagined, actually existed here already. And if you don’t find it in your place, why not aspire and start one?
8. Be nice (The world is a small town)
Make friends, ignore enemies — It’s that simple. Want to connect with like-minded people? Say nice things about them. Wan’t to avoid making enemies? Don’t feed the trolls. And more importantly, be kind and don’t be an asshole.
Stand next to the talent. You will only be as good as the people you surround yourself with. Take advantage of the internet and surround yourself with people who are smarter and better than you — don’t feel ashamed or shy about this. Always adapt a growth mindset.
Write fan letters. You don’t really need to write all the long mushy letters for the people & mentors you look up to. But if you enjoyed their craft, let them know. The internet is a good place as a fan letter alternative. Hit ‘Like’ on their Dribbble shots, or appreciate their projects on Behance, leave insightful feedback or improve on their work. Maybe they’ll reply back, maybe they won’t. The important thing is that you show your appreciation without expecting anything in return, and that you get new work out of the appreciation.
9. Be Boring (It’s the only way to get work done)
Take care of yourself. People might think that burning the midnight oil 24 hours a day, 7 days a week is a great way to improve your craft, feel cool amongst your workmates and succeed. But it’s also a great way to burn out fast.
Live. Eat breakfast. Exercise. Do some strolls in the park. And don’t forget to sleep. Being so good at something is useless if you can’t live long enough to see your ideas grow.
Stay out of debt. Let’s be real here: We all need money. We need it to eat, have a place to stay, send the kids the school or use it to invest in our tools. We need it to survive. So learn about money as soon as you can. Being the starving artist is overrated. It’s not how much you make, it’s how much you hold on to after. If you struggle on pricing your design services, you can learn more about the business of design from The Futur by Chris Do.
And keep your day job. Your day job right now might not be your dream job, but you can only connect the dots looking backward. I’ve learned grit, hard work and perseverance in engineering school. I learned how to handle clients by answering phone calls in retail. I accidentally learned about design hanging out with a college friend. I’ve learned and stole from them. The trick is to get a job that pays well enough but doesn’t make you vomit everyday and leaves you good energy to do the things you want. And soon enough, you might end up with a job that is like play to you — doing something you truly enjoy, every single day.
10. Creativity is subtraction
Choose what to leave out. In this age, information is overwhelming — it’s everywhere! And it’s always being blasted at us: on the streets, on your phone, in the office or at home.
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add. But when there is nothing left to take away. -Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I remember way back when I was just starting out: I was asked to layout & design a poster. So like any other newbie designer, I quickly fired up Photoshop and started doing stuff. A senior designer approached me and was asking, “Why are you adding these things?” (Referring to some design elements in the layout) I said, “I dunno. I just felt like it.” I could remember the look on his face. He told me, “Well, if it’s not bringing in any value to what you’re trying to communicate visually, shouldn’t you just remove it?” — And he was right. It looked a whole lot better after I removed & refined it.
In the end, creativity isn’t just the things we choose to put in, it’s the things we choose to leave out. — Austin Kleon
And that’s a wrap! Hope you enjoyed this one. Till next time, folks.
