I wrote an article on Ideate a while back about originality, and how it was impossible to create something truly original. This is a semantic argument, and your conclusion will differ depending on your interpretation of the word ‘original’.
Let’s face it, all designers steal ideas. Even the most original artists are influenced heavily by some genre, art form or peer’s work. Most ordinary designers will start the creative process by accessing their resource libraries and looking for something to inspire them. All designers are aware that there is a line that you can cross. That line runs between ‘taking inspiration from’ and ‘blatantly ripping off’.
Here’s an example where one of World Wide Creative’s web marketing clients have been brutally savaged and put out to dry. This is the equivalent of Dave Hasselhof doing a cover of ‘Ring of Fire’ by Johnny Cash, in German. It’s just wrong.
World Wide Creative’s client.
The original layout was designed by Sue, who shared our old studio with us: http://www.africangameskin.co.za/
johnny cash
The David Hasselhof version: http://www.fellart.de/
david hasselhof
- Fred
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