Copycat design, Inc.

How to define the boundary between inspiration and mere copy? The question, though asked many times, is still left unanswered. I do believe there is simply inspiration when the general feeling of website A can be found on website B, whereas there is blatant copy when the whole structure of website A is reproduced on website B.

Case 1: Inspiration

Let’s take an example. Today in my RSS aggregator I fell upon this website. First thing I thought was “Hell dude, that’s pretty much the kind of design you find on Nick La’s Web Designer Wall!”.

Have a look at the screenshots below:

Here we are rather in a case of inspiration: as you can see, Michael Coyle’s website can be compared to Webdesignerwall when it comes to floral backgrounds, color tones and big bold font. The structure of these two websites, however, is different: Michael’s website is a typical freelancer website with a large header, a portfolio on the right and a horizontal design whereas Webdesignerwall keeps the traditional vertical structure of a blog starring the famous sidebar on the right and much scrolling hidden under the visible part.

Case 2: Copycat

Now let’s have a look at (yet another) blatant copycat of Khoi Vinh’s Subtraction. Have a look at the two screenshots below (first one is the original, second one is the copycat):

As you can see here, not only the general feeling of the website is repeated (black&white design, big picture on the header, orange menu links etc.) but also the whole structure:

Conclusion

Distinguishing between inspiration and copycat is essential in our designers’ jobs. I believe that structure is one thing and painting is another one: as long as the structure is different, the painting can be the same (that’s inspiration). But if both structure and painting match, then one is falling into the easy trap of copycat.