The Ship of Theseus is a thought experiment that raises questions about identity and change. It poses the scenario of a ship whose every part is gradually replaced over time. The question then becomes whether the "new" ship is still the same as the original "old" ship, or if it is now a completely different ship. This paradox highlights the philosophical puzzle of how we define the identity of an object over time, and whether it is possible for something to remain the same despite undergoing continuous change.
Okay, so why all this philosophy? Usually, when you're a beginner in design, making design choices can be difficult. Which typeface should you use? What colors? Where should you place everything? And when you're starting from scratch, mood boards can only help you so much. The concept of the Ship of Theseus can be applied to improve upon an existing design and eventually convert it into your own original solution.
Let's see how.
We will break the process into 3 phases.
Identify , Clone, Replace.
Phase 1: Identify
Choose a design you want to use as a base. In this example, i took this webpage from pinterest.
Phase 2: Clone
Using your design tool and available images rebuild the design exactly as the original one.
Phase 3: Replace.
This is the phase where you are carefully changing the design elements on the duplicate. Changing the typeface to something else, change the image style, change the color , change the shapes. Take as many copies as you want in the process and go easy on it.
As you’ve started building and rebuilding from a base design, at any point, the design will have a discipline. And by the end of the process — you will have a design which is completely new.
Thank you for reading.
