Original ideas?

In the realm of creativity, it is often thought that the role of the designer is to come up with original ideas, that is, ideas that are created personally to be genuine, novel, true, real, actual, or pioneering; in  short, not copies. But whereas the word original suggests the origin or beginning of something, that is, not comparable with what has preceded it, design ideas must also be useful or effective to be creative. Moreover, most design ideas build on what is already there in order to improve existing situations, and whether in product, service or building design. Ideas, then, conjure up change, transformation or variation aiming at making something better or at least making something good. Or, as Robert Venturi, the architect, put it: "It's harder to be good than original".