Why You’ll Never Be David Hill or Innovation Will Never Die

If you visited Scott Kelby’s blog you know that yesterday he revisited the “Dave Hill” technique, and today’s post was part II. I was surprised to read the disclaimer on the top of Scott’s blog, yet another reminder that people can be idiots. First of all, it’s disappointing that anyone–let alone a man who devotes his time to educating people–would get insulted and personally attacked for a blog entry. What’s worse, the topic wasn’t even a controversial one. You don’t like the David Hill style? Fine. Is it really necessary to rant incessantly in blog comments about being sick & tired? Frankly, I’m sick & tired of all the whining. On the surface, the arguments appear to be about the widespread use of the “Dave Hill” look, cheating your art by using plugins, or talentless folks taking money away from professionals.

I have to ask, “Why are YOU so angry?”

So what if somebody else makes more money than you, and has less talent. They obviously did something right. So what if the client asks you to reproduce the “Dave Hill” look. Either make a compelling argument as to why that look isn’t appropriate for your client, do what they ask, or pass the job to someone else. Who cares if that person isn’t a real artist? Obsessing about everything that is wrong about something, doesn’t produce anything productive either.

I have to say I’m intrigued whenever I stumble upon a debate about a topic where the passion on each side is so great & the opinions are so entrenched that really the movement becomes circular. Round & round we go, the bile, spit & anger, with an occasional rational point thrown in–usually by a passer-by who mistakenly thinks he/she can instill a measure of calm–and does anyone walk away learning anything?

I say kudos to Dave Hill for coming up with a look that everyone wants to imitate. Kudos to the masses who learned something from his style, made it their own, or even made a buck or two. To the whiners, stop worrying about everyone else is doing. Take all that nervous energy, and focus on bettering yourself for a change. You see innovation will never die, and the ones who are looking to innovate will succeed quicker than those standing idly by complaining about the lack of innovation.