By Vikas Jaswal

Today, I finished reading Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon, and I thought I'd share a few things that stuck with me.

Being a graphic designer, I'm constantly surrounded by creative work. Whether it's scrolling through Behance, looking at packaging in a store, or noticing an interesting poster, there's always something that catches my attention.

But there's one thing I've often wondered about: Is anything we create actually original?

We talk so much about being original, having our own style, and creating something nobody has seen before. But when you think about it, almost everything we create is influenced by something.

And that's pretty much what this book got me thinking about.

So, Is It Okay to Steal Ideas?

When I first saw the title Steal Like an Artist, I found it interesting. I mean, as designers, we're always told not to copy other people's work, and here's a book literally telling us to steal.

But that's not really what the author means.

The idea is that nothing comes from nowhere. Every artist, designer, writer, or musician is influenced by something that already exists.

And honestly, that makes sense.

Let's say I'm working on a branding project. I might like the typography from one design, the colours from another, or the overall simplicity of something completely unrelated.

Does that mean I should put all those things together and call it my own? Not necessarily.

The real skill is understanding what makes those things work and using that knowledge to create something different.

There's a big difference between being inspired by someone's work and simply copying it.

We All Start Somewhere

Something else I liked about the book is how it challenges the pressure to be original all the time.

I think that pressure can actually make creativity harder.

Sometimes, we spend so much time trying to come up with a brilliant idea that we forget to actually make anything.

You open Pinterest, save a few references, look at some amazing projects on Behance, and suddenly an hour has passed.

And you're still staring at a blank artboard.

Sound familiar?

I think most designers have experienced that at some point.

What I took from the book is that you don't always need to know exactly what you're creating before you begin.

Sometimes, you just need to start.

Your Style Doesn't Appear Overnight

Another thing that made me think was the idea of finding your own creative voice.

When you're starting out as a designer, it's natural to admire other people's work. You see someone creating amazing illustrations or beautiful brand identities, and you want to learn how they do it.

I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

In fact, studying other people's work is one of the ways we learn.

But eventually, you have to move beyond following someone else's style.

You experiment, make mistakes, discover what you enjoy, and slowly start developing your own approach.

And I don't think that process ever really ends.

Even after years of designing, there's always something new to learn.

One Thing I Want to Do Differently

If there's one idea from this book that I want to carry into my creative work, it's this:

Spend less time worrying about whether an idea is completely original and more time making something meaningful with it.

That doesn't mean originality isn't important. It absolutely is.

But maybe originality isn't always about inventing something the world has never seen.

Maybe it's about taking everything you've learned, everything that inspires you, and bringing your own thinking into it.

Two people can look at exactly the same thing and come up with completely different ideas.

And I think that's what makes creativity interesting.

A Final Thought

I'm not going to say this book completely changed my life or transformed the way I design overnight.

It didn't.

But it did make me question something I've thought about for a while: why do we put so much pressure on ourselves to be original when learning from others is such a natural part of being creative?

Steal Like an Artist is a simple, quick read, but it gives you quite a bit to think about.

If you're a designer, illustrator, writer, or just someone who enjoys making things, I think it's worth picking up.

And I'll leave you with a question:

Do you think creativity is about making something completely new, or seeing something familiar in a different way?

Vikas Jaswal

Graphic Designer & Visual Creative