Inspiration vs. Stealing Have you ever been told your work “inspired” someone when you know they stole it? There is a fine line between inspiration and stealing. On one hand, your design can inspire someone to create a completely unique piece. Yet, in other cases, a fellow web designer may borrow elements of your design and “change it up” into a different graphic. The offender may cite inspiration as the main reason and defend the fact that it is different from the original.
Regardless of what the person says, you will know the truth. This is a common occurrence with designers who are not skilled enough to complete a job. They swipe elements from existing designs hoping the client won’t notice. You know this is stealing even though it can be misconstrued as inspiration.
