PLAGIARISM.
This article makes me feel a whole lot less guilty about the poster I designed for my Undergrad Show at Utah State University last year (right). In my opinion I think I definitely turned it into my own by using the layout created by the ever so inspiring Aesthetic Appartus (left). I used Picasso drawings of bulls (my school’s mascot) instead of blind contoured horses. After reading the World Famous Design Junkies article on design plagerism, give me your 2 cents. Am I bad a person? Not once did I claim this piece to be fully original. And I don’t want to say that everyone should copy or that it’s ok. There’s a difference into what you make into your own and what you copy exact. Most pieces shown in the article are ridiculous. I repeat, RI-DIC-U-LOUS!
As many compliments I have received on that poster and how many design friends have told me, the best artists steal, I am more proud of this poster, above, which I did for the Graphic Design BFA show because the entire layout, concept, and idea is original.
2 Comments
It’s an interesting dilemna. I just heard a piece on NPR’s “On the Media” about this yesterday. The idea of plagarism is fairly new, as stories, art, etc. were traditionally passed around, copied, and repeated without permission from the original artist (Shakespeare, Homer…) I think there is a case to be made for artists using pieces of another’s work to re-create something new. It then becomes your art with inspiration from another artist’s work. However, if the piece somehow claims to be original, or is being used for the same purpose without the majority of it being original, then there is a problem. I suppose I would consider it from the perspective tof “If I saw this somewhere would I question whether it was an original work, or inspired by an original work. AND if it was my work, how would I feel seeing it?” That being said, if you are unsure or feeling slighty guilty, maybe more modifications, or credit to the original artist are in order (on your piece). I hope this makes sense!
Yeah Beth! I definitely credit Aesthetic Apparatus on the featured poster, or else I wouldn’t dare write about it! This kind of topic holds numerous opinions so how “guilty” I feel usually depends on the person I’m talking to and their standpoint.