Share, Don't Steal (Why We Copy)

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Share, Don’t Steal (why we copy)Share, Don’t Steal (why we copy)

I’m totally guilty on this one Your Honor. I have copied si tes before, b ut I have learned my

lesson and I will never do it again. I promise.

Why do we do it?Why do we do it?

As designers w e have all done it, we have all blatantly copied somebody’s design. Why

do we do this? Are w e not brilliant visual composers? Can’t w e create our ow n w eb

masterpieces? I believe w e do this for one of three reasons:

We are just starting out in the w eb design wor ld – design immaturity .

We think successf ul or popular w ebsites have great design – design popularity.

We are told to from the client or management w hat to design – design pressure.

The first reason, design immaturity, is a natural thing. When w e first start out w e really

w ant to impress our managers and/or clients. We tend to look for divine interw eb

inspiration only to wind up ripping someone’s design off . We don’t really know how to

properly f ind inspiration so we default back to mimicry. Hopefully w e all go through this

phase quickly in our careers. But designing for popularity and design pressure are

battles that w e w ill fight through out the remainder of our careers.

Taking on a new design project can be a daunting task if you have no ideas and you have

no inspiration to draw from. When you can’t f ind inspiration and ideas are just not coming

to you, its easy to take a popular w ebsite and copy it in order to get the project rolling. This

kind of thing always leads me dow n the path of self doubt, w here I question my w orth as

a designer. I get stuck not knowing where to start and if nothing stops my self loathing I

start feeling the itch to copy.

But sometimes as designers w e have brilliant ideas but due to pressure f rom management,

partners, or any other stake holders w e are forced to copy. This recently happened on a

project I was w orking on. Our client w anted me to straight up copy a really popular design

of our competitor, font-for-font, color-for-color. I felt I had some great original ideas, but I

knew the fight wasn’t w orth it so I threw in the tow el and w ent for the direct copy.

WEB DESIGN January 7, 2011 by Patrick Cox 8 Comments8 Comments

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Since that experience I have come to realize the damage copying another design can do.

Picasso said that a bad artist copies and a great artist steals. This phrase has often been

used in the design world as w ell. I don’t think this is true in all cases, I believe great

designers are original thinkers w ho don’t determine a design’s success on its popularity or

how it’s received by a mainstream audience.

Great de signers have an uncanny ability to ignore everyone and do what is best for the

project, they let the design guide them. This kind of originality pushes the rest of us lackies

to the next level, hopefully, unless w e keep copying from them.

Why it’s badWhy it’s bad

You’ll never know whyYou’ll never know why

It’s like cheating on a test. When you cheat on a test you don’t know w hy the answ er

is w hat it is, and chances are you’re not going to take the time to find out, cause if you

w anted to know you w ould have done it in the first place. Copying design or copying

answ ers to an exam are not any different.

The designer you are copying made his or her choices for a reason and you’ll never know

that reason. Worst case, the designer you are copying, copied their design. When you

copy f rom someone else you don’t know w hy they used the design pattern they did or

w hy they used a particular font or even w hy they used a gradient. This not only hurts the

original designer, but it hurts you even more. Next time when you are designing a site, you

may not know how to fit in that cool gradient eff ect or f ont choice correc tly.

Design is subjective and knowing w hy choices are made is one of the most valuable toolsyou have. Know ing why a composition is so engaging or w hy a color scheme works so

w ell is never learned through copying, its learned through criticism, evaluation,

experimentation, and tes ting… but never copying.

You’ll get stuckYou’ll get stuck

If you copy a design you w ill inevitably get stuck. Getting stuck in a design is like getting

lost in a maze . Let’s say you show up at the client design meeting with your copied

design to show to the client. They see the design and love it, but like all great clients, they

w ant you to make a handful of changes. When you start w orking on the revisions you

can’t quite figure out how to make the new changes feel like they belong. Its not so easy to

make changes to an already f inished product w hen you have no idea w here to begin.


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You’re stuck in the middle of the maze and you don’t even know how you got in. I know

this feeling w ell, I’ve been there a few times.

When you create designs based upon your ow n ideas you why the design works or

doesn’t work. You know the genesis of the concept and you know w here and how the

concept can be altered w ithout losing its appeal. When you ow n the design, you own the

map to the maze, you know w here you are at no matter w here you are. By ow ning the

design you have the know ledge to better discuss the clients revis ions right there in the

initial design meeting.

You’ll homogenize everyone elseYou’ll homogenize everyone elseThis happens in the music industry every few years . One great example is the mighty

grunge era of the early 1990′s. You can debate all day w ho w as the f irst real ‘grunge’

band, but Nirvana w as by the f ar the trend maker. Af ter Cobain’s music became so

popular you had this onslaught of other bands from the Seattle area that looked and

sounded very s imilar. By the time Cobain had killed himself in 1994, grunge music w as no

more original than it was good. The copy cat bands of the day had taken every original

lyric and chord out of the grunge movement. Copy cat design creates the same effect. If a

particular look or design element becomes trendy, no matter how innovative, pretty soon all

the websites that copy it will eventually blend together.

Take the Web 2.0 movement as a case study. The real substance of the Web 2.0

movement was about dynamic sites, user-centered design and open communities. But

w hat do we all remember about Web 2.0? Rounded corners. Why did this design

element become so ingrained in our minds? Because it w as popular. Rounded cornersw ere innovative at the time and so designers started adding this new design element to

their w ebsites. Then one day, all the w ebsites looked the same and no particular w ebsite

stood out. Now , every time w e see a rounded corner we think “Ugh, Web 2.0. Blech!”

You’ll devalue yourself, me, and the rest of the communityYou’ll devalue yourself, me, and the rest of the community

If I spend thirty hours in Photoshop designing a mockup that looks identical to iTunes for a

new w eb app project, w ouldn’t it just be easier for me to screen shot iTunes and send it

over to the developer? When you copy, this is actually w hat you are doing. Do yourself

and everybody at the company a favor and take a screen shot, it saves them a lot of

design time and you can get back to w hat you do best, playing Angry Birds. When w e

copy designs w e are essentially devaluing the craf t. At some point, someone is going to

question w hy they have designers if all they do is w aste time copying. A lot of managers

and clients already think design is over rated but w hen you copy it just proves them right.

This can be hard if you w ork for a company that doesn’t understand the relevance of

design. They may w ant you to copy everybody else. If that’s the case my suggestion

w ould be to run, run fast and never look back . You don’t need to spend your time as a

designer copying others, there are plenty of other companies that appreciate original

thought and design.

You’ll devalue the productYou’ll devalue the product

Most importantly, w hen you copy designs, you devalue your site. The real value of any

pow erful site or app is its originality. Copy cat design only cheapens the site, it makes the

site feel dirty on some level. Its like when you take an hour picking out a rad shirt to w ear

to a concert and your f riend shows up in the same shirt, now the shirt doesn’t mean

anything. Okay, bad example, but you get the point. When your site looks identical to other

sites, it has lost its pow er. The value of Amazon.com is its originality. They are the w eb’s

marketplace leader because they continually want to be better and more innovative than

the others.

Original sites w ork because they are original, they are designed for and around their ow n

ideas. Sites that are truly created mean more, not only to you but the user. They have

deeper value, they have meaning and they have a life of their ow n. Copied designs are

just that, copies, they are meaningless representations of other ideas and concepts. When

a design is copied, you not only copy the good elements you copy the w eak elements.

Share, don’t stealShare, don’t steal


11/01/20



The web design community is such a great source for sharing ideas. That is the

greatest part of the interwebs, designers can share ideas, concepts, patterns, elementsand graphics in a very open environment. Copying breaks down these open channels and

forces designers to blockade their ideas. Lets keep these channels open and respect the

designs of others so that w e can continue to steal inspiration from them.

Related Articles:Related Articles:

http://w w w .useit.com/alertbox/copy-big-sites.html

http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/copy-great-designers-steal

http://52weeksofux.com/post/1014189735/copycat-design

Jack Black on Piracy

TAGGED WITH:TAGGED WITH: COPYINGCOPYING,, WEB DESIGN WEB DESIGN

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Patrick Cox is a UX enthusiast, w eb designer and front-end developer Patrick Cox is a UX enthusiast, w eb designer and front-end developer

for for PMA Media GroupPMA Media Group . Besides being passionate about all things. Besides being passionate about all things

interw ebs he's also a musician, snowboarder, and f ootball fanatic.interw ebs he's also a musician, snowboarder, and f ootball fanatic.

Follow him on tw itter Follow him on tw itter @pcridesagain@pcridesagain..

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JOIN THE DISCUSSIONJOIN THE DISCUSSIONDISCUSSIONDISCUSSION88

JANUARY 7TH, 2011 AT 17:38JANUARY 7TH, 2011 AT 17:38

TRULY AGREE WITH YOUR STATEMENT, I AM ALSO WITH YOUTRULY AGREE WITH YOUR STATEMENT, I AM ALSO WITH YOU

GUYS. AS FAR AS I SEEN, MANY FREELANCE DEVELOPERS ANDGUYS. AS FAR AS I SEEN, MANY FREELANCE DEVELOPERS AND

DESIGNERS JUST STEALING STUFF FORM OTHERS AND SHOWINGDESIGNERS JUST STEALING STUFF FORM OTHERS AND SHOWINGAND SELLING AS THAT THEY MADE….AND SELLING AS THAT THEY MADE….

CHEERS AND HAV E A GREAT WEEKENDCHEERS AND HAV E A GREAT WEEKEND

YOOSUFYOOSUF

HTTP://MAGPIELABS.CO.UKHTTP://MAGPIELABS.CO.UK

YOOSUF YOOSUF


That’s the disease this days. But some manage to break the habitThat’s the disease this days. But some manage to break the habit

and eventually came out w ith something similar, but much moreand eventually came out w ith something similar, but much more

brilliant. That’s what w e call improvise.brilliant. That’s what w e call improvise.

IDRAKIIDRAKI


sharing is caring but copying others material is not acceptable..sharing is caring but copying others material is not acceptable..

thanks for the info… :) just sharing what we ow ned..thanks for the info… :) just sharing what we ow ned..

LAZAACLAZAAC


I never copy a full website…. but I definitely grab elements thatI never copy a full website…. but I definitely grab elements that

stand out to me, manipulate them to my liking, and piece them allstand out to me, manipulate them to my liking, and piece them all

together into one big collage of “stolen” elements. Obviously… I addtogether into one big collage of “stolen” elements. Obviously… I add

my ow n touch and creativity to the entire project as w ell.my ow n touch and creativity to the entire project as w ell.

Nonetheless… I never just steal a whole site.Nonetheless… I never just steal a whole site.

I like to look at the best designs, and try to make something better or I like to look at the best designs, and try to make something better or

atleast as good as them. I went to the “college of Google” andatleast as good as them. I went to the “college of Google” and

learned everything I know f rom forums and tutorials. I have beenlearned everything I know f rom forums and tutorials. I have been

designing for 7 years now am I am making around $50,000 per year.designing for 7 years now am I am making around $50,000 per year.

I think looking at good design… and taking a little mini bite out of it,I think looking at good design… and taking a little mini bite out of it,

and making it better or making it your ow n to help a project you areand making it better or making it your ow n to help a project you are

w orking on… doesn’t hurt. As long as w hen you compare w hat youw orking on… doesn’t hurt. As long as w hen you compare w hat you

took from another design to your ow n, it isn’t a blatant rip off .took from another design to your ow n, it isn’t a blatant rip off .

Great article though!!!!!! I do agree w ith 95% of w hat w as said! :-)Great article though!!!!!! I do agree w ith 95% of w hat w as said! :-)

JB


Lol, is this for me ? :DLol, is this for me ? :D

Thank youThank you

DESIGN CAVERNDESIGN CAVERN


If I copy something then it is NOT the design itself, only functionsIf I copy something then it is NOT the design itself, only functions

and/or the layout (w here is w hat).and/or the layout (w here is w hat).

I am not sure if that is “stealing”. I do not like copies of competitorsI am not sure if that is “stealing”. I do not like copies of competitors

sites.sites.

MICHAEL PEHLMICHAEL PEHL


11/01/20



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Well, I w anted to say that I am identified w ith Patric at several thingsWell, I w anted to say that I am identified w ith Patric at several things

described in the article. I copied over and felt pretty stuck and mixingdescribed in the article. I copied over and felt pretty stuck and mixing

rusulting nothing but nonsense. But now I think it’s better to stayrusulting nothing but nonsense. But now I think it’s better to stay

w ith my ow n original ideas, because as Patrick says, I know thew ith my ow n original ideas, because as Patrick says, I know the

roots and complete anatomy of design, and then i know how to takeroots and complete anatomy of design, and then i know how to take

better steps.better steps.

MARCELO MIRAMARCELO MIRA


Nice article Patrick!. But let me tell all of you something, having totallyNice article Patrick!. But let me tell all of you something, having totally

against to copy entire w ebsite as it is and call it your ow n, shouldagainst to copy entire w ebsite as it is and call it your ow n, should

not stop ‘sneaking’ their codes and see how it is done, and inspirednot stop ‘sneaking’ their codes and see how it is done, and inspired

w ith it, and come up better site that can be completely original. Howw ith it, and come up better site that can be completely original. How

many of you have not click “View source”!? and please don’t tell memany of you have not click “View source”!? and please don’t tell me

that you did not copied piece of code (css, jquery, etc.) from the sitethat you did not copied piece of code (css, jquery, etc.) from the site

and implemented your site. In my opinion, a good designer shouldand implemented your site. In my opinion, a good designer should

have curious mind, who goes beyond the original, but inspired byhave curious mind, who goes beyond the original, but inspired by

others.others.

DKMDKM

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Share, Don't Steal (Why We Copy)