Is it ethical to copy the work of other designers?

Question

I am not a graphic designer. I do not consider myself one. I have no grasp of color theory, nor the means or sense of style to create harmonious and tasteful designs. I do, however, possess a good sense of what looks good and what does not. This is regardless of my inability to create something visually appealing.

Of course, I find myself frustrated because of both my inability to create good design and my love for the web.

It recently became apparent to me that I am also good at recreating things in Photoshop. I felt like a child with a new toy. I saw a wonderful website and set about creating my very first serious effort using said site as a template.

I asked the site owner for permission to use his backgrounds, and he granted to me upon the condition that I show him the finished product.

I'm rather ashamed to do so. The sites will look uncomfortably similar. I am using the same font, the same backgrounds, and the same heading style. The layout is a little different, along with a few details I added or removed. But the similarities in style will be great.

Since I'm not good enough to come up with my own style and ideas, is it ethical to copy the work of others?

Answer 1

I think you've copied too much, and so no, it's not ethical. Using one or two elements of someone else's idea is one thing, but when your site is essentially Same Song, Different Verse of the other guy's, then no.

To fix this, change things up. Use a different font of similar style — if it's Helvetica, use Franklin Gothic or Stone Sans; if it's Times, use Garamond or Caslon. If it's blue and yellow, use gray and bright red. And what the hell, ask him if he has any suggestions for how to improve yours.

This may also help you to understand why the other guy's site works.

Answer 2

I asked the site owner for permission to use his backgrounds, and he granted to me upon the condition that I show him the finished product.

I'm rather ashamed to do so. The sites will look uncomfortably similar.

It sounds like you answered your own question. If there was no ethical problem with what you did, why would you feel shame? Why would you be uncomfortable? The person said to show them what you've done.

You're quite right to be concerned about these issues. There's a difference between inspiration and plagiarism. My advice is to change the design until you no longer feel ashamed or uncomfortable to show it to the person who inspired you.

I'm impressed you had the good sense to ask them for permission first, this is an extra step most people ignore.

Answer 3

There is a difference between Copying and Creating a Derived Work.

The first rule of ethics is, "is it ok for others to this to me?", considering one is not too far away from the norms of the society, then if you think it is ok to do something to you/your work then you can have a clean conscious.

See if you see your work taken and turned into something different than you intended, or for a purpose you did not intend. E.g. if you are against militarism, smoking etc. and see your work used to promote such things, how would you feel?

Also the first steps into creativity is imitation, look at the work you find appealing to you and try to understand what elements from it you can take away. Use the elements in your own work, and slowly but surely you will be developing your own creative style.

If the original artist can look at your work and recognize that is his/her work being used as a base, then try to get their permission. Otherwise if it unrecognizable it is not a copy.

Regards

Answer 4

Simple answer to your question: NO

As a creative type, I'd never answer with, "it's OK - go for it." But as a creative type, it's getting more and more difficult to be original...truly original.

HOWEVER, grabbing a design that you like, just to swap colors, fonts, and logos is about as close to plagiarism as you can get - IMHO.

The funny thing is, I agree with @Lauren and @whatsisname on most points. It's frustrating. The "smaller" our world gets, the more obvious it is that we're all very similar beings with similar ideas (drag, right?).

My advice is this: Try to figure out WHAT it is that you like about the design in question. WHY do you like it? When you determine those things, rather than using a copy/paste approach, find some inspiration and roll your own.

There are sites out there that cater to creative-block: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/category/inspiration

See what got people's attention last year (and prior): http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?season=14

Google: "web design trends for 2011", or "web design inspiration" (20+ million sites to peruse - give or take).

Good luck. Kudos for caring about originality.

Answer 5

Since you've asked for permission, it's up to him to decide. If he's ok with it, then it's perfectly ethical in my book.

Answer 6

Others have said what I'd like to say, but I want to cover an additional point.

Do you really want to copy this person's work, even down to the font? Chances are you're not running the same kind of website as this person, so try to think of how your topics differ from each other. If you're making a corporate business website, you don't want to use the same warm colors that his floral arrangement shop's website uses.

That being said, if you're in the same or similar category of what's delivered by this website, you probably shouldn't copy his design so similarly.

Answer 7

It depends, nothing is original. Everyone had their inspiration from someone previous. Either another designer, a work of art, something in nature, etc.

On one hand do not just copy their work and take credit for it.

On the other hand, using general formatting, font styles, and color combinations is not really bad. Often better to go with what others are already accustomed to seeing to increase the user experience. Oftentimes, A designer tries too hard to be "different" and it damages the useability of a product.

It is greedy to just try to claim exclusive as yours. We owe where we are to many people before us and the support of other designers.

Answer 8

The guy you are copying from copied 98% of the design from other stuff he saw, and his source material was copied from other people, who copied it from someone else, going back since to the dawn of time.

Nobody has learned everything they know from within a cave without looking at and copying the work of others.

Basically, as long as it is obviously not plagiarism, don't sweat it.