Avoiding Creative Repetition
Most likely, as you become more competent in a certain field, you will realize that certain methods do work, while others should be avoided at all costs.
This is a useful skill that keeps your work effective. That makes sense, because by focusing on techniques that work, you increase your chances of properly fulfilling your projects’ objectives. Yet this also carries a very significant danger: by relying on a set of proven methods, you run the risk of accidentally limiting yourself to it.
In other words, you suddenly realize that what you did for project X is almost exactly what you did for project Y. This is understandable, since you stick to certain methods. Unfortunately, this is also repetition. People will see a distinctive style at best, and consider you repetitive at worst.
The trick is to take a clear look at your current projects, understand their realities, and adapt your style to it. This of course shouldn’t mimic the mail merge functionality of your word processor; applying your creative skills to every project isn’t just a matter of filling in the same fields with different kinds of data.
Rather, this adaptive approach has to be holistic. Again, it’s not a matter of just substituting elements, but also making changes to how these elements relate to each other, all in the name of communicating your client’s message. A perfect example would be a designer who “violates” the principle of visual flow. In such a scenario, the designer could intentionally make certain parts on a composition hard to understand, to fulfill a client’s need to cause confusion for the customer.
In short, it’s good to stick to a set of fundamental techniques that are proven to work. Yet to avoid creative repetition, you sometimes have to stop followin your formula and try something new. Ultimately, it’s all about effectively getting your client’s message across, in the medium of his or her choosing. That indicates your proficiency as a freelancer, and not how well you stick to a set of rules.
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1 opinion for Avoiding Creative Repetition
Becca
Dec 6, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Thanks for this. Sometimes you don’t even realize you’re copying your own work.
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