It has been said that there are no new ideas in design, that anything new has either been copied or stolen from previous designs. In the science of design, yes -- the principles are always the same: line, shape, color, spatial relationships, etc. On the other hand, the art of design is subjective, interpreted differently by both the designer and the audience.

While all designers may follow the same basic rules, how they interpret those rules creates unique design. Each designer is influenced by the world around them: by nature, music, art, or life in general…both consciously and subconsciously. Even as observers of design, our individual interpretation is subjective.

For example, take techno/house music. The basic ideas are almost always the same: a 4/4 beat of heavy drum and electronic rhythm. The average mix is repeating loops lasting between 6 and 10 minutes. The DJ creating a remix of a pop song typically strips away everything but the vocals. The vocals are then placed over the repeating loop, essentially creating a new version of the song. In the music industry, a pop song getting remixed is usually handed to several different DJs.

So while the basic principles of “design” in techno/house music are the same, no two DJs are going to remix the same song the same way—and in most cases the remixes are drastically different than the original track. It’s unique to the DJ that creates it and how they put their own “spin” on it.

Web design has its own basic principles. Most web pages have the same basic structure: a header, navigation bar, content area, sidebar, and footer. Based on those principles, the designer creates a look and feel that is influenced by brand, audience, client tastes, etc. In addition, a designer may be affected by the music on their iPod or the view outside the window. Often designers will refer to books of previous designs by other designers. Nevertheless, how they interpret the designs — and the elements of the designs which they choose to emulate — are unique to each designer.

Fortunately, as human beings we each have our own life experiences and no two of us are exactly alike. We all have different tastes in art, music and design. Each DJ presents a different concept when remixing a song, and each web designer has a different style and approach to creating the look of a web page. Ultimately, as the audience, each of us perceives that sound — or look of design — and takes away a meaning that is uniquely our own.

- Jason Holland, Interactive Graphic Designer