Bad artists copy. Great artists steal.

Pablo Picasso’s statement (often misquoted as “Good artists copy. Great artists steal.”) is something that I have no problem with. I’m under no illusions about my design skill. I do copy. Being labelled as a ‘bad artist’ by Picasso is a valid criticism. Although I try to copy the inspiration, not the outcome as suggested by Cameron Moll.

If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Unlike Isaac Newton, I’m still climbing up the giants. I’m nowhere near sitting on their shoulders.

So where does this leave me? I’ve never studied design, art or any creative subjects. Unfortunately I’m one of those ‘I know what I like when I see it’ kind of people, but I am trying to learn about good design.

I’ve already decided to stick to the 2 (or 3) column layout. It’s part of meeting expectations: blog users generally expect blogs to be laid-out a certain way. I have nothing innovative that requires me to change it.

Colours are something I’m not very good with. I’ll probably just pick something from the top 10 designers’ colours and base a palette on that. Or maybe one of my photos. Font selection is a mystery to me.

I’ll take my inspiration from the what I see around: online and off. Rough sketches will follow. Critique is appreciated.