"Artists" and "Designers" : Please Get Over Yourselves

Okay, I just can't take it anymore.  I'm so tired of "artists" and "designers" acting like such prima donnas.  This past week alone, I've read about three divas who just need to get over themselves.  One doesn't want anyone "stealing her pins from Pinterest!"  Now, I don't pin, or Facebook, or Tweet (OK, maybe I tweet a few times a year); but isn't the whole point of Pinterest to share?

On that same message board, I've come across people who don't want you to copy their cards.  Then why are they posted in a public forum for everyone to see?  Once they are on the net, they are fair game.  Now, I wouldn't copy someone else's exact ideas; but there is very little that hasn't been done before.  You can't re-invent the wheel, folks!

The icing on the cake, however, was a reply that a very well-known designer in the card-making field posted in the Comments section of her YouTube video.  Someone had commented that she didn't like the card, and she explained what she would have done differently.  Granted, the woman did sound a bit gruff at first, but she concluded by saying that she really did like all of the other cards that the designer had done, but that this one just wasn't her style.  (Plus, English isn't her first language, so some things didn't come out the way she wanted them to sound.)  Here is what the designer said in response:


 I love this card. :) Wouldn't change a thing. As for the "constructive criticism," you need to sense that criticism is welcome before you say anything. Many artists & crafters would be crushed by your remarks. I've been through design school so it's no big deal to me (especially since I have no idea if you're credible--you have no cards or videos for me to view). I'm just saying be careful what you say. You can quickly become the rude person you don't mean to be.

Wow!  So now we have to be "credible" in order to express that we don't like something?  And what constitutes "credible"?  Does a viewer have to have to make cards and videos to have a valid opinion?  Does someone have to have permission to say she doesn't like something?  Another viewer expressed it best when she said that this designer often responds to negative comments in a defensive, immature way.  My husband added the term "elitist."  I think those three adjectives sum this response up quite well.

I think these prima donnas need to come down off their high horses and realize that not everyone on the planet is going to worship them and everything they do.  Very few concepts are purely original, and they should be flattered that others want to "copy" them.  And you don't have to go to design school to know what you like and what you don't.  Everyone has a right to an opinion, even if it doesn't coincide with yours.

OK, I'll step off my soapbox now.  Now go and make something wonderful so that we can criticize it, pin it, and copy it without giving you credit.  That's what I'm going to do.  :)