Good Designers Copy, Great Designers Steal

Oh man what an article. For anyone who has not read this article you need to! The address is:

http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/copy-great-designers-steal

The crazy thing is I don't think this was the first time I've read this article. I believe I read it in my interaction design class, and we even had a lecture centered around the possibilities that are available through the idea of molding another persons idea into something new and fresh. I remember liking the article as much then as I do now.

This article was written in 2003 but I think most of it is still really useful in 2010. There are always going to be a few points of falloff when there is 7 years of space in technology and design, but there really wasn't much on this article that I felt like wasn't relevant.

A quick summary of the article for those who haven't read it and are too stubborn to click the link and do so:

There are three levels of design:
1- Copy don't create
2- Steal from yourself
3- Steal from discrete sources

Obviously from those three levels you are thinking, where is the creativity if all you do is copy. I think the article really meant to show the creativity that can develop when you start off with a great design that someone else has created and you take it further. In the end, the design is not the original work that it started out as it has morphed and developed into something of your own. The author talks about discrete sources in that taking designs that are well known and copying those is hardly what he was trying to explain. You don't want to take apple.com and through your product on it and call it complete. Instead you need to find inspiration from designs that are lesser known. Go to a craft store, a bargain house somewhere with some really crazy off the wall stuff and say how could I incorporate that into my design. As you begin to do so you will see it changing before your very eyes.

If you haven't read the article yet, scroll up, hit the link and read it. You'll be doing yourself a favor. Trust me!