This article was authored by Başak Onbaşıoğlu, Andrea Robredo Cernicchiaro and Jana Beneito Molina, members of WDO’s 2023–2025 Young Designers Circle.
Imagine you are in the design studio. It is jury day and a student pins up their work nervously on the board. Something on the board feels familiar to you. Is it the concept? Is it the material palette? You can’t quite place it, but say to yourself “I think I’ve seen this before.”
The thin line between inspiration and imitation has blurred, leading to a design monoculture where trends dictate rather than inspire. As industrial design students, we’ve experienced firsthand how easy it is to rely on the Internet for design processes. While researching and referencing existing work is an important part of the creative process, how do these examples subconsciously influence our design outcomes? By identifying and understanding how digital platforms promote homogeneity, this article outlines how we combat monoculture in design processes.
The role and impact of the internet on our design process is significant. As students, in particular, we often find ourselves turning to platforms like Behance or Pinterest at various stages of the design process. These platforms offer an efficient way to gather similar case studies, inspiration for forms, materials, user experience and presentations. They also serve as helpful tools for creating moodboards and conducting benchmarking in the beginning of the design process.
However, the same mechanisms that help us discover trends can also homogenize them. The ease of access to designs often leads to the repetition of concepts, forms, and materials. Algorithms push the most popular aesthetics to the front, where certain styles dominate while others fade. It’s also crucial to understand that even though recommendation algorithms claim to be personalized, they present similar results to people with similar demographic backgrounds. As design students with similar education, habits and project processes, our inspiration sources naturally converge, leading to unconscious similarities in our work — especially when working on the same project briefs. So, when platforms reward similarity over originality, do we risk designing for the algorithm rather than innovating?
Following the trend feels like the safe choice—both creatively and professionally—but at what cost? If we’re all designing for what’s trending, are we really designing for innovation? Creativity thrives on diversity, but monoculture stifles it. When originality takes a backseat to social validation, the design industry risks becoming a loop of recycled ideas rather than a space for new possibilities. It is our responsibility as young designers to not only follow what we see online but interpret it. The question of whether drawing inspiration from digital design media kills our creativity is subjective, and being honest in answering this question can be the first step toward developing the habit of using online design media responsibly.
Developing a unique design voice means staying original while being inspired. This comes from practicing creativity and the support we receive from peers and educators. Below are some tips from members of the 2023-2025 Young Designers Circle on what we do when we feel overwhelmed by the influence of information from digital platforms:
Now is the time to reflect on your practices and perspectives on responsible inspiration in design. How can design media platforms be used responsibly?
