Vent : 2 : Belief : Website and graphic design being vented in Southampton, out to Hampshire and across the UK and parts of the world, optimisation, online marketing, logo design, brand comms, advertising, printwork, corporate branding, stationary, multimedia, design consultants, marketing consultant, databases, website management, ecommerce

vent : 2 : plagiarism

Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus - Cite This Source
Main Entry: plagiarism
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: copying
Synonyms: appropriation, borrowing, counterfeiting, cribbing, falsification, fraud, infringement, lifting, literary theft, piracy, stealing, theft
Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1)
Copyright © 2006 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Where do I start, plagiarism and design of course, now I was once told by my creative director at the time that there is no such thing as new design, just old design regurgitated in an original way?

Discuss!!

I can understand what was trying to be explained to me as a young designer but I don’t necessarily have to agree with the concept. The thought that more often troubles me is that we are all influenced by a bombardment of visual messages every day and no matter who you are it will effect your taste and perception of what you as an individual deems good or bad design. And this is where I believe designers are starting to run into problems.

It was nowhere near as bad when it was primarily all print design although I did run into it now and again. But now that so much effort is being put into website design and everyone’s friends, mothers, brothers, uncle can design a website, not to mention every child under the age of 14; it is cropping up on a far more daily basis.

I find it hard to believe that any graphic / web designer who reads this article has never had a client say to them;

“I want a website, I have seen this site online that I really like and I want it to look like that”,

“My competitor’s new site is really nice, can you design me a site that is similar, I like the way his buttons work, and can I have the same style.”

By no means are the majority this bad and it is not necessarily plagiarism, or is it? Either way what can come out of this is if not dealt with at the beginning of work is either a watered down somewhat like version of someone else’s site or just a site that you might have been proud of as part of a BTEC project back when you where a wide eyed change design as we know it renegade design student, otherwise known as not having a clue yet!

There are so many factors that go into a good piece of website design;

The specified industry
The existing brand
The client’s requirements
The client’s ideas
Usability
Budgets
Etc
And then a few more!

This is not an article about design and what goes into a good website so before any designers say what about this or what about that!

The point is that all clients whether they are paying a couple of hundred pounds or £50000+ for a website that will do everything including making a cup of tea in the morning, picking the kids up from school and cleaning the hard to reach areas behind the freezer deserve the best possible “bang for their buck”. I am not saying that they should not be allowed to be influenced by other sites, just advised properly against just blatantly trying to copy someone else’s.

The reason they came to see a qualified designer with a proven track record is because they wanted the best website for there company or organisation. The best way to achieve this is with an open mind to all ideas and with an understanding of what will best suit the necessary requirements and importantly progress and enhance the existing brand of the company or organisation.

Clients should not stop looking for design they like and should certainly keep showing designers what styles they envisage for their website. Designers should however clearly and honestly explain each step and outline the reasons for all parts of the design and the effects on the final piece of work. This way when the client signs off on the work and pays the bill, he or she does so knowing that the finished article is exactly what they wanted and even though it does not necessarily look like what they expected at the beginning of the work, they have the confidence that it is right for them and not just a copy of someone else’s.

NB. Just a quick note to say I have never designed a website that makes tea, collects kids or cleans hard to reach areas, nor even though liking Americans do I condone the use of Americanisms like bang for you buck.