The Big Eyed Girl

I'm sure many people are aware of the big eyed girl manifesto, cliche, call it what you want. You'll know the drill - cutesy gothic girls, lolita'd to the nines and slapped all over merchandise, faved on deviantart, liked on facebook. Notable artists of the big eyed girl include Jasmine Beckett Griffith, Mark Ryden, Junko Mizuno, Camille Rose Garcia, etc with heroes such as Ruby Gloom and Emily the Strange, even Alice in Wonderland.

The big eyed girl may be cliche, but don't hold that against it. Cliches are cliches for a reason - they work.
At the design school I currently attend, a couple of tutors always slam what they call the "Big eyed girl craze" denoting it for the doe-eyed gothic girls, both uninspiring and unimaginative. Mainstream. We're encouraged to break the rules (but not too much) and think outside the box (but not too far), because that is what designers do.
Now allow me to say that the big eyed girl manifesto is one that I would be proud to contribute to. *gasp*.
Coining the "I liked them before they were cool" or "you're just jumping on the bandwagon" phrases is a cliche in itself. Sure, all designers want to be the beginning of something that explodes, to be imitated by millions of admiring new designers. And who doesn't want to be a rock star? But lets be realistic here. While its always good to draw inspiration from everywhere and aim for maximum diversity in one's art, the big eyed girl is hyped and sold because it's what a lot of people want - and if I can contribute to that, It will earn me my bread and butter.