The Hook
Have you ever looked at the guy next to you in a Maths exam for the correct answer? Have you ever looked at another design for inspiration? Both these questions are simular yet the first one would lead you to being suspended and your exam not included within your final result, but the second one would see you get paid between $500-$20,000.
The Introduction
Hello, recently I found myself searching through Digg once again and came across an article called 16 Sites for Web Design Inspiration. It features 16 Design Gallery sites that present a number (sometimes thousands) of designs for people to preview.
Within this list of what seems randomly chosen Gallery Sites features a few that I personally have ventured on for “inspiration” for my own designs before I took a Multimedia and Design course.
Myself
Now first let me quickly put you in my shoes, I’m a 20 year old Graphic Designer who has been doing graphic design within school since I was 14 years young. I completed a number of tertiary units on Multimedia and Design and work for a company within Brisbane so my experience while only amateur has a solid base.
What are these Design Gallery sites?
Design Gallery sites feature a database of website designs for people to view. I love this one the most; www.cssremix.com has an extensive collection of designs that are displayed by fifty thumb nails to a page with some category options based on user opinion and the ability to keyword search.
Here is a list of some sites that are a good source for “inspiration” based on the quality and quantity of designs, categorization, gallery layout and how often they are updated:
The Twist
This article about how these Gallery sites negatively inspire designers to develop new designs strongly based on someone else’s and why gathering inspiration from any designers work is an ineffective way to design. This piece of writing is more about asking questions than being analytical and answering them based on argument simply because the topic is so detailed with legalities and copyright laws.
What is Graphic Design?
To me graphic design is a way of creating an easy way for the user to interact through a visual interface of images, text, and page layout. Please note my definition is based on Web Graphic Design.
Here is what Wikipedia said:
The term graphic design can refer to a number of artistic and professional disciplines which focus on visual communication and presentation. Various methods are used to create and combine symbols, images and/or words to create a visual representation of ideas and messages. A graphic designer may utilize typography, visual arts and page layout techniques in varying degrees to produce the final result of the project. Graphic design often refers to both the process (designing) by which the communication is created and the products (designs) which are generated.
What is Inspiration?
Inspiration is an irrational and unconscious burst of creativity to me, and I’m sure it goes the same for the people at www.2advanced.com where they dedicate day sessions to brainstorm ideas for their latest $20,000 pay check. Let me put it this way, is looking at the designer next to you for the answer to your colour scheme on your latest design any different to looking at the guy who will get an A+ in a maths exam?
Brius.com inspired by Eleven2.com
Eleven2 is a hosting provider with a very nice and original site.
Brius is a hosting provider co-owned by Bryan Le.
The amusing thing about this one is that a few days ago Bryan Le’s Portfolio site www.bryanle.net featured an error page from Eleven2. I wonder where Bryan got the inspiration for his image slider and where he gets his servers for Brius? Personally I can also tell you that version one of his design featured a very similar menu to Eleven2. Also that another design that he created has very inspired similarities however I can’t display them due to Bryan needing to pay Eleven2 some bills.
Elitechi.com inspired by 2advanced.com
This one is a huge inspiration from the famous www.2advanced.com and their latest design. To preview the inspired site go to www.elitechi.com
Game: “Fuwa” – Bejing Olympics Official Site inspired by Cadin Batrack’s “Snow Day”
Not even the Bejing Olympic Comittee can get away with it, very interesting articles from both the creator and a feature article in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Cadmin Batrack’s Personal Blog
The Sydney Morning Herald - Bejing Olympics site accused of Game Theft
stkatrineberg.se inspired by brfprastgarden.se
Ouch! This one would have to hurt in more ways than one. I found this one within the UltraShock forums, Hansen the designer was paid by the company to design stkatrineberg.se when his client ended up choosing brfprastgarden.se from another designer who got paid $15k less according to Hansen himself.
Conclusion
Is this a way of designing? Or should it be considered ripping? How do you categorize the difference between Ripping, Imitation and Inspiration? Is inspiration through other designers a good way to design? I think not, and I’m sure anyone who has gone through any professional design course will agree that using a creative design process will bring out an effective site with a great user interface and look at the same time. Gather inspiration from another designer’s artwork wasn’t a step that taught us in my Multimedia and Design course. Something else to think about, do you learn anything by copying of someone in a Maths exam? No. Do you learn anything by ripping, imitating or being inspired from another designer’s piece of work? Should we be encouraging young designers to be inspired from other designer’s artwork?
Digg It.
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