BonFX

“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery – celebrate it if you feel like it.”

—Jim Jarmusch

“Genius is the ability to reduce the complicated to the simple.”

—C.W. Ceram

“There is no design without discipline. There is no discipline without intelligence. The life of a designer is a life of fight. Fight against the ugliness. Just like a doctor fights against disease. For us, the visual disease is what we have around, and what we try to do is cure it somehow with design.”

-Massimo Vignelli

“…cultural awareness (you can call it research, if you like, but it’s really something larger) ranks higher than technical ability and academic qualifications in the designer’s portfolio of attributes. When the British writer lain Sinclair was asked if he did research for his books, he replied that his whole life was research. I can’t think of a better adage for the modern graphic designer. Without constantly scanning, scrutinizing and absorbing what goes on around you, you cannot become a successful designer.”

-Adrian Shaughnessy, How to be a Graphic Designer, Without Losing Your Soul