the only word of caution i have regarding this article and design thievery in general is: make sure you’re stealing from the very best. if you’re going to steal, it might as well be the design most worthy of theft.
i am in general agreement with this article although i think the term “stealing” should be appended with “sponging.” outright stealing is plagiarsm and a big fat letter F on your transcript and possible expulsion and a lifetime of shame etc. but sponging is soaking up everything you like and wringing it out in your own special way. three year olds are masters at verbal sponging. thats why you can’t swear around them because they pick those words up and start peppering their limited speech with them. it’s the same for young designers. i think you have to find a bunch of design ideas that you like and want to emulate before you can start peeling back the layers of your own personal style.
another important aspect of the stealing/sponging process is that while casing the internet for stuff you want to steal/sponge you invariably encounter a lot of “oh wow that sucks thank god i’ll never try anything like that” examples. so while looking for what you want to steal you can also find a lot of good examples of what doesn’t work and what you should never try to replicate.
February 14, 2008 at 6:25 am
I like your thoughts and approach here, and I don’t think everyone falls into these categories . My interest in the article is that we have students very new to design and discouragement, and I think discussion this aspect of using other work is good to get out into the open and discussed. I think you can learn a lot by designing a website based on some sites you admire, and eventually you can learn enough to begin thinking your own ideas.
I really liked your seeing value in sponging and the “oh wow that sucks…” stuff as another type of learning that can occur. Perhaps that point is the best of all?
February 14, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I got pretty much the same impression from the article. Don’t steal outright; instead use other sites to brainstorm, and form a similar design for your own idea. I like your idea of using other sites as a basis for what NOT to do as well though. That’s also a good thing to keep in mind when using other sites for ideas.