Inspiration vs Influence

Inspiration is one of those words that sound harmless until it overstays its welcome.

When I first started my design program in college, inspiration was everything. We built “inspo boards,” did word maps, pulled textures and colors from swatch books, and even spent time wandering museums, all in the name of “getting inspired.” We’d list out our favorite established designers, call out the work we admired most, and use that as a way to identify our own tastes.

Back then, that felt right. It was the beginning. But today, years later, I think inspiration is a little more complicated.

Because here’s the truth: we can scroll, pin, save, bookmark, and stare at inspiration until our eyes dry out. But the real spark? That doesn’t come from any of that. It comes from us. From within. And if we’re not careful, what we thought was just a nudge turns into a mass amount of mimicry. 

I’ve absolutely made designs I thought were cool and original – until I took a step back and realized they looked suspiciously like the references I’d pulled two days earlier. I’m not immune. None of us are.

So, what's the balance?

I think there’s a difference between being inspired and being influenced. Inspiration is light, passive. It gives without asking. Influence, though, wants something in return. It pushes us toward an action, a style, a direction. Influence is where brands and marketers thrive and it sells.

This is where the line gets blurry.

When we’re truly influenced, we might start building something that’s not even ours anymore. We may not even realize it until someone points it out. And suddenly, we’re left wondering: “Wait, did I even create this… or just recreate it?”

The real innovators? They don’t just remix the old – they’re inventing the new. They build what didn’t exist before. They lead, and social media, overflowing with trends and copy-paste content, makes that harder than ever.

I only pull inspo when I’m stuck. That might be a fault. But it's the truth.

When I hit a wall, I’ll step away first. Go for a walk. Eat something. Change the music. Talk to a friend. Pet a dog. Anything to shake the creative dust loose. Only after that, when there’s cobwebs in the creative zone, do I let myself reach for outside inspiration. 

Because once I start there, I risk skipping the exploration part altogether. I stop surprising myself, which is actually the part I love the most.

Still, there are the rush jobs. The corporate flyers. The basic one-sheeters. The “make-this-look-good-fast” briefs. That’s when I get it. You pull from the template gallery, match the typeface, and ship it. 

It’s real life. It’s survival work. But it’s not soul work.

Influence is exhausting. I hate admitting this but… yeah, I doom-scroll. I fill my head with hundreds of pieces from dozens of design worlds. I start working on something small, say, a POS sheet, and I end up feeling like i just absorbed a whole industry’s worth of creative output.

And it leaves me drained.

It’s the same feeling as realizing two hours passed, the sun went down, the moon’s out, and you’ve accomplished… nothing. Then comes the shame spiral and the self-talk:

“Dude, why can’t you just create something unique that doesn’t suck”

It’s inescapable sometimes. And the internet’s obsession with “staying on trend” doesn’t help. That phrase by the way– “How do you keep up with trends?”–has shown up in more job interviews than I can count. I hate it. 

Who cares?

Why would I want to make something that looks like everything else out there? So we can be more forgettable?

No, thank you.

Let’s be real for a second… There’s honesty in saying you were inspired. There’s a problem when you claim someone else’s idea as your own. We’ve all borrowed. We’ve all admired. But if your whole career is built off shortcuts… At some point, someone’s going to ask for the original. And if you’ve never practiced making something new, you’ll panic.

That’s when you get unmasked, like a Scooby Doo villain. “It was old Farmer Joe in a bodysuit all along.”

So… is everything a remix then?

Maybe.

I half-agree with the saying “everything has already been invented.” Because yeah, maybe it has. But maybe you haven’t made it yet.

I like to think of it like music. Artists sample each other all the time. Some feature. Some credit. Some make tiny changes and call it a new beat. I think about the Vanilla Ice / Queen riff all the time.

I’d like to think we don’t rip off work because we’re lazy. I hope it’s based on admiration for a piece we wished we’d done ourselves.

Still, there’s a fatigue in the repetition. The “yet another poster for another company outing” kind of project. You can feel numb to it.

So when you really want to innovate when it matters, you’ve got to cut the cord to everyone else’s ideas. The only way through.

Final thought. 

Inspiration is tricky. It can make us feel alive or make us feel like a copycat. It can fuel us or it can flatten us. It can light a fire or just keep us warm in place, never quite moving.

I’ll say this: I don’t believe in the myth of total originality. But I do believe in honesty, intention, and execution. If you’re borrowing, say so. If you’re stuck, be patient. If you’re creating, be present. 

And when all else fails… go pet a dog.

written, out loud