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CosmicPunked
Nyx/Shan | 26 | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳🏳️‍🌈 | She/Her | Local Galaxy Spooky Artist |
The welsh flag shows as black but I'm keeping it as it makes me feel like a pirate

Nyx @CosmicPunked

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Scared of being Unoriginal?

Posted by CosmicPunked - February 17th, 2023



A message for indie artists - based on the discussions seen on Twitter recently about people nit picking that someone's project has similarities to another in the same genre. It's so annoying when someone says "This character reminds me of XYZ!" or "This is kind of like that one episode in XYZ" or "This location looks like ABC in XYZ's Comic!"


There has been a lot of comparisons and dragging down independent creators because they have the same setting as other creators stories might and are held at ridiculous standards, even higher than that of corporations. What the audiences involved need to realise are T.V Tropes and Genres have been around since humans could tell stories and that nothing will truly ever be 100% original because somewhere it can be traced back to an inspiration or reference.


The reason I'm posting it here is because NG is the home of art, and I especially know the feelings of wanting to not continue any original projects due to the nagging feeling that someone, somewhere has already done it.


Also! I'm looking to collab with someone for pico day send me a dm with your idea, last year I made an album cover for a song entry!!


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Comments

you are 100% right!

A lot of interpretations for sure when people start trying to compare stuff.

At it's most innocent, when someone says 'Hey! Your thing reminds me of XYZ, which I love too!" , then it's less dragging down and more someone stating that they dig the theme of the art.

But yeah, when someone actually slags someone for not being 100% original just for drawing a giant robot, which was first done decades and decades ago, then it's just someone looking for a reason to complain.

We all get inspired by different stuff, so having similarities (without outright plagiarizing, which would be a real issue) or inspirations is what art is all about. Making something cool so someone else feels like making something cool.

Number one thing to do is just not be a jerk on the internet, which we can all manage if we try hard enough. haha

Yep, even when it involves fanart, people are still able to create stories and artworks of a completely new and unique scenario. I just find Twitter is very pessimistic about original creations, as I've seen many devalue another's work based on plot similarities e.g "Your characters are demon's in hell, so it's a rip off Hazbin Hotel" like, many hell-themed franchises existed long before Hazbin even showed up.

Fortunately NG is full of creatives, so it's easier to know that's a croc of crap, unless there is actual plagiarism involved. Hopefully their attitudes doesn't deter someone from going ahead with their own projects, which is why I made this journal, just to remind people that it's entirely fine if your creation is on the same train track as another project because both projects aren't heading to the same place.

I've felt that worry over originality in the past. But now, I'm pretty proud of the things I'm influenced by, and I love learning what other artists are inspired by.
One of my favorites, Hirohiko Araki, is basically the textbook example, as he wears his influences on his sleeves.

It's generally easy to tell when someone is ripping off another piece of art disingenuously versus drawing inspiration from it to create their work.

In my view, how many people conceptualize "originality" is much like how they conceptualize "talent." Most folk don't have an accurate idea of what either means.
Original works are rarely if ever, created in a vacuum.
Talent is just a fancy word for intuitive skill-- some people can start running, but everyone eventually has to learn the proper form (or, say fuck proper form, in the case of avant-garde, punk-inspired, surrealist, or abstract works).

Your first mistake was expecting intelligent, good-faith discussions on art on Twitter. Otherwise, this is a good thing to remind oneself from time to time—there is nothing new under the sun, so as long as it’s not wholesale plagiarism it’s okay to wear your inspirations on your sleeve and create your own take.

After all, Doom's concept of a first person view in a videogame was not even original and without imitation the FPS genre would never have existed.

These standards are ridiculous, you don't need to re-invent the wheel, just make a functional and durable wheel.

Thanks for making that post. We sometimes need to be reminded of those things.

I could have used a message like this some nights ago because I know I was really stressing when I realized one of my OCs was vaguely similar to someone else's. Thought people might get the idea I ripped them off when I honestly had no intention of doing so. I was already pretty over it, but seeing this definitely helps quash any remaining fears I had.

I think it's best to remember that many beloved franchises and characters have their own inspirations. Nothing is created in a vacuum.

I talked about this in a newspost of my own, but one of the most prominent examples I can think of is TMNT. That original comic is a loving homage to Frank Miller's Daredevil and it doesn't really try to hide it either. Yet, it took those ideas, did something fresh with them, and became a huge success in the process.

Good post, glad I stumbled upon it.