I spent some time with my friend Airy, a lolita fashion lover living in Japan to teach! She is super sweet~
Today, we enjoyed bubble tea at The Alley (The Alley is also in Canada haha! But hey I love bubble tea!!) and a conveyor belt dessert buffet called Cafe Ron Ron. (located in Harajuku)
There was a good selection of desserts! However, you only have 40 minutes to sit down and theyre pretty strict on the time limit. I ate many plates LOL At first, we thought they only had sweets coming along, but then we noticed a couple savory options like mini meatball hamburgers, glazed potatos, mini hot gods, quiche, and mini steam buns! They even had some salty snacks like potato chips and popcorn.
When you get in, you can pick your drink from their little fridge area and then take a seat. Heres a couple of photos!
We got into a discussion about copying and intellectual properties.
Any art it a form of intellectual property. If there is a piece of work you like or find inspiration from, all you need to do is "change 30% of an existing design" in order to call it your own. Did you know that? I personally think that it can be a very bad thing. 30% isn't a lot and that's why, for example, these fake designer bags look so real...its because minor, unseen changes were made (for example, changing a zipper, inner lining, and handle/strap shape. I DO NOT SUPPORT people who steal art ever. This includes random shops that "just find a photo on the internet and slap it on a t-shirt". There are many artists out here who get their art stolen and IT AINT GOOD AT ALL!!!! As an independent artist and to many independent artists out there, it REALLY hurts us when someone steals our art or design. When big brands have fakes made of their products, it doesn't hurt them because they are already making so much money that essentially it doesn't have an effect. Their customers know how to tell the differences between a real and a fake. Us little artists, there is only so much we can do to really call it out own (brand names on our products, tags, etc.) But when our design gets stolen by, lets say a bigger brand, we cant do anything because they have more power than us. We can definitely take it to social media, post about it, tell people about it, try contacting. But that's about it. It's ok if you use the inspiration or "flavour" of a piece in order for you to create your own piece. You just need to be aware of how exactly you are making it your own and not copying. I am not really much of a fan of people using popular characters and/or designs in their work and trying to market off something that isn't their own. I love and appreciate seeing people's art styles that are original, coming up with art that is their own creation as apposed to fan art. Here in Japan, people really appreciate art more (I had mentioned this in my Design Festa blog as well). Back home, people dont see art the same way and, at conventions, would probably prefer to buy a poster with an anime character they like than original art. Also in Japan, there are a lot of shops that do not allow photos inside the store. This includes clothing stores. I think this is because a lot of these brands are exclusively in Japan and I think they do not want people to copy their designs. Airy shared a story about someone who created a design using band-aids (for a yami kawaii accessory). Apparently someone had found their design and claimed it to be a copy of their own. In a situation like that, the person who was claiming they were copied also needs to understand they didnt create band-aids and even they probably got inspired by something before planning it out. When people area following a trend, they should realize they're also following along with many other people. There are many common designs and shapes for everyone all over the world. Heck, its been many MANY years that art and fashion has been created, same with music. Somewhere down the line you may see something similar. But just look at it as how did this person interpret the idea and how did I do it?
Also, ALWAYS JUST ASK PERMISSION if you wanna post anything that doesnt belong to you. Any photos of sorts or artwork, doesnt matter. Just shoot a short, simple message asking and thats that!
Ill wrap it up there for now~ Its nice to have these in depth conversations with people!