Recently I was asked by a young designer, what could she do to get an edge. My response was simple, – consume, consume and consume some more. Really pay attention to what others are doing, dissect how they do it, and emulate often to develop an eye that understands the small details that make a given direction successful. With time, and lots of practice, your own unique style emerges and can be readily seen weather it is an original design or the result of work that has been inspired by others.
One of the greatest wonders of the Internet, is the ability to “View Source” thus giving anyone the ability to determine how “something they like” really works. I do it religiously, and am confident that anyone who designs beyond Photoshop does as well. However, when does learning or being inspired by others cross the line to become plagiarism or more simply put – stealing an other’s work and claiming it as your own?
This morning while on the train, I received an email indicating that I had some new followers on Twitter. Whenever someone new follows me, I always visit their twitter page to determine if I know them, or if they have a site I can check out to get a feel for what they are about and if there is merit to follow in return. Looking at my new follower’s site “Digital Wombat Studios” – I could not help but notice that it looked oddly familiar. I could not place it immediately (mind you I was looking from my iPhone) – but it bugged me enough to take a closer look once I got to my office. Upon closer review – I recognized it immediately as copy of Derek Herman’s Valen Designs. I knew this, because I read his blog and we follow one an other’s tweets.
The copy literally draws little to no distinction from the original other then some minor details such as its altered logo, slightly modified primary navigation and a masthead that extends about 40 pixels taller from the top. Beyond that, colors, background images, site structure and page grids are literally identical. In fact they even went so far as to mirror not simply the display, but the function Valen’s featured image carousel.
Compare for yourself
Seeing both – It sure looks like a copy, what do you think? Now the truth of the matter, I really did not think much of this… It is bad tact… and I would not like it done to me, but what can you really do, perhaps it should be seen as flattery. I sent Derek a Direct Message that read “I suppose imitation is a form of flattery? you be the judge”. In response, Derek indicated that not only had DWS taken his design, (or hybrid of his new and old one) but that they had also taken parts of his content, writings and even his twitter posts! Now that is just creepy.
It is creepy because they are claiming lot of someone else’s original “work” and “thoughts” as their own. Emulating work is not by itself a bad thing. I actually encourage it, as I think it is a fantastic learning exercise and way to develop your own style through following the steps of things that excite or inspire you. This is not new to the digital world – this practice dates back to old master painters who would often do copies of works by their predecessors in honor of… or to learn from them. But when publishing works that lay claim to them as original – you had better modify well enough to genuinely make your own. Otherwise, not only do you look like a copy cat – but you take the age old process of learning from others and put a bad taste on it.
Just my .02$
I am an avid student and evangelist of user-centered design principles - I have created or overhauled some of the world's largest online Business & Technology properties. My focus has always been on building functional design systems that creatively solve business problems. Solutions that convey brand & messaging, but more importantly, are intuitive to maximize the possibilities of an interactive medium. 
