On Copying and Stealing Designs

The notion on the great artist, Pablo Picasso's quote, "Bad artists copy. Good artists steal" is lost on many. And revolving around the graphic designer circles is the quote "Good artists copy, great artists steal" known as Picasso's quote, still. Anyway, it might just be safe to assume that Picasso have not quoted this words exactly but he did have an "expert's assessment and statement" regarding copying and stealing art styles and techniques.

The artistic world was widely influenced by Picasso, being the first living artist to be featured in the Louvre. Many have their own opinion and interpretation as to what he really meant on the quote. With the onset of digital technology and digital art, it is understandable that the modern Web graphic design also has an interpretation for it.

In an article by Cameron Moll, the Creative Director for IDI at http://www.sitepoint.com/article/copy-great-designers-steal he had endeavored to uncover a possible explanation in three levels of design. These three levels involves some aspect of copying or stealing, shows increasing design maturity, adapts Picasso's quote to modern graphic design. The interpretation by Moll was segmented in such a way that do not imply that they are the only levels of design. it is but a guide to assist the improvement of designers' design and lead to their maturity with regards to copying and stealing designs.

The first level explains a well-imparted principle of starting out by copying other well-created designs. Web designing could relate this principle from the advice of Web copywriting guru, Gerry McGovern for writers: having a model for the kind of article that they need to do, dissect and analyze them and copy.

Copying, not creating have surprising positive effect, too, that of maintaining conventionality. There's a familiar and intuitive effect for the users when most sites have essentially the same layout and information architecture by most sites. A Web designing career involve time constraints and budget limitations so much so that copying is almost mandatory.

The second level explains that the best resources where designers can steal are from themselves. They can tap into loads of their past designs that were never used or completed, or from their designs that have already been successful in order to reinvent a new design. This kind of stealing is quite helpful in molding their own distinctive design style to use as a selling point for clients.

The third level involves stealing from discreet sources. Albert Einstein is noted for quoting, "The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." For designers the easiest way to do this is to use sources already hidden. Even great artists can't be accused of stealing if their rare jewels of inspiration are from lost, bypassed, forgotten ideas which they have successfully incorporated with their own distinctive style. To graphic designers, they have to really research and rummage for the necessary unused and forgotten ideas applicable for their design.

One must be careful in copying from well-known sources, though. It is best to copy the inspiration and not the exact output. To fully summarize, all graphid designers out there, there's no problem in copying, even Picasso, in one of his quotes told about the necessity of copying. However, it is best to be careful in what you copy and how you copy it.

Lala C. Ballatan is a 26 year-old Communication Arts graduate, with a major in Journalism. Right after graduating last 1999, she worked for one year as a clerk then became a Research, Publication and Documentation Program Director at a non-government organization, which focuses on the rights, interests and welfare of workers for about four years.

Book reading has always been her greatest passion -- mysteries, horrors, psycho-thrillers, historical documentaries and classics. She got hooked into it way back when she was but a shy kid.

Her writing prowess began as early as she was 10 years old in girlish diaries. With writing, she felt freedom ? to express her viewpoints and assert it, to bring out all concerns -- imagined and observed, to bear witness.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.ucreative.com

In The News:

---

PR Web (press release)
Bruce Clay Australia Announces SEO Copywriting Training Courses for Sydney
PR Web (press release)
Bruce Clay Australia has introduced a new Copywriting for the Web and SEO training course to debut on the 25th of August in Sydney. ...
Searchengineoptimisation.com Add New Content To SEO Video Resource CentrePR Web (press release)

all 2 news articles »

AP, Yahoo release style bibles for lingo gringos'
Kansas City Star
A lot of it is Copywriting 101-level fare; a far cry from AP's no-nonsense journalism, but even the most recalcitrant newshound will admit that writing for ...

and more »

VistaPrint Down for the Count (VPRT)
Benzinga
... invitations and announcements, holiday cards, calendars, creative design services, copywriting services, direct mail services, promotional gifts, ...

and more »

AWAI Helps Ensure Member Success with Copywriting Course
PR-USA.net (press release)
“Freelance copywriters are in big demand right now, so we want to help people taking our copywriting course to get up and running as quickly as possible so ...

and more »

Search Engine Journal
Algorithms: The Cure for Copywriter's Block
Search Engine Journal
Tools like Google's Adwords KeyWord Tool, BlogPulse and Wordtracker are good for discovering what topics are trending for Copywriting inspiration. ...

AWAI Helps Ensure Member Success with Copywriting Course
PR.com (press release)
After great success, AWAI has decided to do a second Companion Series starting August 12th to once again walk aspiring copywriters through the company's ...

Learn to Make Money Writing at AWAI's Fast Track to Copywriting Success Bootcamp
PR Web (press release)
American Writers & Artists Inc. to provide copywriting institute and job fair in Delray Beach, FL, November 3-6, 2010 “I landed my first paid copywriting ...

Busy Copywriting Firm Cuts Proofreading Costs in Half by Using Proof-Reading.com
PR-CANADA.net (press release)
A Boston-based copywriting firm, The Hired Pens, reduced proofreading costs and increased its ability to meet the tightest of deadlines by relying on the ...

Bupa Appoints bigmouthmedia to Search Marketing Account
PR Newswire (press release)
... affiliate marketing, display advertising, online pr and copywriting along with an existing client base which includes many major household brand names, ...

and more »

New York Daily News
Mad Men Season Premiere Review: Don Draper metamorphosed
Entertainment and Showbiz! (blog)
Then Peggy has a new partner-in-copywriting, Joey. And Betty has no intentions to move out of the house she and Don used to share. ...
'Mad Men' season premiere review: 'Stop telling me what to do. I know what you ...Entertainment Weekly
MAD MEN (Season Four)Multichannel News

all 588 news articles »

Google News

__________

11 Things You MUST Know Before Hiring a Copywriter!

If you're considering hiring copywriting help for your next brochure, Web site, or marketing project. Congratulations! You should get great results if you hire a pro to... Read More

Kick-Start Your Juices

Listen, consider this scenario.You have a deadline to honour. Time is pressing, tighter and tighter. You are hoping to come up with some topic for your project.....However,... Read More

Can Honest Copywriting Succeed?

I confess--I'm a marketing heretic! I've built my career on breaking all the rules--and one of the rules I break is that I don't hype.Do I put... Read More

3 Reasons why Content is Still King

Back in the late nineties, the phrase 'Content is King' was repeated and repeated and repeated by site owners and marketers alike. The belief was that the... Read More

Fill Your Readers with Confidence

Site visitors generally stay with you for as long as they feel confident that they will succeed in achieving their goal. It's a simple truth, but... Read More

The Write Way To Grow Your Business

Hone your writing skills to project a more professional business image.The sales letter you can't put down?the advertising copy that makes you want the product?the resume that... Read More

Step One for Copywriters: Understand WHAT to Say

Find a passage of poorly written copy, and chances are you will have found a copywriter who never figured out what it was that he or she... Read More

Welcome Informed Criticism of Your Work

When you come to 'know' something, there is a temptation to stop thinking about it. You put it in a box as 'known' and are happy to... Read More

Dont Be Satisfied With Your First Draft

Sometimes it's a struggle to figure out what's the best thing to say. You're writing a heading, the first sentence of an email, the introduction to... Read More

Four Things Every Web Site Headline Must Do

As you know, I'm constantly making the point that the text on web sites is not given enough attention. Which is unfortunate, because the headlines on site... Read More

3 Ways to Increase Conversion Rates

In a previous article I talked about a few similarities between writing direct mail packages and writing web sites. In short, I concluded that as online writers... Read More

How to Write Profitable Ads

Regardless of how you look at it, the most important aspect ofany successful business is its advertising. In fact,the success of any business is largely dependent on... Read More

10 Keys to Copy That Sells!

Whether you're selling a product or service, the 10 tips below are your keys to writing great copy that communicates and persuades ... to get results! These... Read More

Help, Help, Help, Sell

Here's a fundamental difference between copywriting offline and copywriting for the web... - Give or take, my job as a copywriter offline was to sell, sell, sell,... Read More

Writing Online In Two Syllables or Less

About once a month I fly off somewhere to give a one-day workshop on writing for the web. For part of the day, I invite the group... Read More

Grammatical Mistakes DONT Sell

When you receive a sales letter with typos or grammar mistakes in it, do you take it seriously? Probably not. As soon as I see a few... Read More

Some Copy Tips From An Old Hand

I have been in the ad game for a long, long time. I have trained hundreds of writers, and I've been responsible for moving of millions £... Read More

Ten Eye Popping, Jaw Dropping Ad Copy Secrets

In order to make more sales and get more profits for your business, fist of all, you should have a good ad copy. Once you master the... Read More

The Power of Saying You Can

If you have children, you will doubtless remember saying to them, "You can do it."It's what we say when our toddlers first struggle to their feet.It's what... Read More

3 Steps to Great Copy

Nothing irritates me more than being told that there are '3 Secrets' to great copy. Worst still are those marketing promises that say something like, "3 Secrets... Read More

Tomorrow?s Clichés Today

I went to Google and entered a couple of different search terms.The first was, to my mind, the cliché of all cliché's: "Tomorrow's Solutions Today".And yes, there... Read More

Its the Headline, Stupid! - Writing Powerful Headlines

"It's the headline, stupid," is the sign that hangs over my computer screen. It reminds me that to write effective articles, press releases, sales letters--whatever I want... Read More

7 Formulas for Articles That GET READ!

Many of us have been asked to write an article at one time or another. Maybe it's a contribution to the company newsletter. Or a promotional article... Read More

13 Steps to a Slippery Slope Online Sales Letter

Many of the solo professionals whom I coach are people who offer services. They're coaches, consultants, creatives. And many of them are also beginning to sell information... Read More

Copywriting Secrets Of Indias Mystics

Hi everyone,Been ruminating on this one for a little while now but it's probably one of the most profound discoveries of my life. It all began with... Read More