I think that good first word art requires a special kind of person to create. It's difficult to move away from the norm and create something completely groundbreaking. While I would be interested in creating this kind of art, I simply don't think that I have the ability. Maybe this is an overly defeatist way of thinking, but considering just the number of people on Earth, the probability of a good original thought is really small, and I don't think I'm creative enough.
Instead, I find it easier to focus on concepts that already exist. I think that expanding on and combining existing ideas create really successful works of art that last through time. I often hear the Picasso quote "Good artists copy, great artists steal". To me, this means that you should take inspiration from other people's work, but make it your own in some way. I appreciate this quote because it reminds me that ownership and personality are more important than 100% originality. I think that this places me in between first and old word art, since I don't necessarily pursue complete originality, but I'm also not trying to follow any well established model (at least consciously).