“Good artists copy, great artists steal.”
Since Picasso’s death, many people have attributed those words to him. But why would an outstanding artist say something like this? Because it’s true! There have actually been quite a few articles written on the above saying and why borrowing ideas is important for all aspects of art and design — us xiik geeks included.
Since there’s much truth to this saying, I’d like to turn this into a sort of case study between our much beloved Apple Inc. and a trendy music accessory company named Behringer. Both are well respected companies that specialize in very different niches. If we compare their websites, we see a striking resemblance between the two. Go ahead and click on those links above — I’ll wait.
Woah! Almost too close for comfort, right?
Yes, way too close. In fact, Behringer has taken Picasso’s quote and abused it. Obviously, Apple had their website design live on the “interwebs” first and has firmly established that sort of look and feel with their company’s brand over a period of time. It is very likely that Behringer looked online and searched many sources of inspiration based on what they thought was cool and hip. What better site to turn to than Apple? That process continued and the end product — their current website — was launched regardless of how uncannily similar it looks to Apple’s.
To be honest, I’m finding it hard to remain nice here because I believe there is a plagiarism line that must not be crossed, where a design can copy the inspiration for reference, but never the final product. In this case, Behringer has done just that! For the record, this happens all the time. The creative world can be a bloodbath sometimes. We tend to keep that quiet, though.
There are many ways to ethically “steal” from outside sources, but the main thing to take away is this: Make it your own. A concept like this may be hard to grasp from a business perspective and rightfully so: often, a business owner simply wants what works, period. The concept is, however, more or less accepted by the creative world, just as long as the design makes an obvious departure from the original. In the end, it’s just not right to claim someone else’s work as your own. I mean, we’re going back to preschool life lessons now. I believe Behringer would have to sit in the corner and miss nap time for this one.
