The subject of woe

So, onto their site I went, and imagine my nervous disappointment when I saw their baroque-style frame on their homepage and from WAY last year at the same time (it’s dated 03/08). Now, I have a similar type of frame on my homepage.

Would you say that I copied Information Architects?

Is it even a close call? Probably not. But then, when IS it copying?

There has been a lot of debate on the copying of web designs recently. The most famous one is for Made by Elephant maker, Max Voltar. He created this cute little website as a little contact form.

Soon there were those ripping off his site so blatantly, that they actually left his email address in the contact details, changed none of the code etc (I can’t find the site copied version anymore… maybe it’s been taken down? If someone knows it, can you add it to the comments? I’d be very grateful). Others have written that they are inspired by other people’s web work but there still seems to be a thin line.

Picasso says, “Good artists copy. Great artists steal.”. Those who copied Tim’s website as well as another who copied others’ style were dealt swift retribution on twitter and were asked to take their sites down. Some who were merely inspired were embarrassed into removing their content.

Is it, Isn’t it? Where is the line?

But what happens when you legitimately have a similar idea? There are examples abound about people coming up with VERY similar things at the same time.   If there is such a thing as collective intelligence, how can we say with certainty that it is stealing, especially if the idea is well executed and thought out?  As in every stylistic era, there are methods and treatments that get used over and over again. And with web trends and styles running so close together, can we, with certainty, say that we were the first to come up with something? Some say “Nothing is new anymore.”  I am getting to the point where I really think things have all been done before.

So… am I a copier??

When I decided to use the gilded frame on safetygoat, I had a vision of an old-fashioned circus (and the music… na, na dadedam nadam nam noah! *that’s circus music, fyi).

I wanted a mixture between old, decorative and circus-like, and new-funky. I even think I’m still in the process of refining it. In this case, Information Architects was using it to make the point that we glorify everything we do on the web and think we’re so great.  In a way, that’s what my frame does too, I guess.

So, where’s the line? Even though I claim I didn’t see it, have I ‘copied’ information Architects because we’ve used the exact same element? Even if I DID see it, can I stand accused of plagiarizing their idea? Some companies have trademarked a certain pantone colour as their own, and using a certain sort of treatment on a website is just as distinctive!

What do you think? Have I copied? Where IS the line?