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My Books On Amazon[Opinion] ...But Great Artists Steal.
Everyone gets inspired when they see something cool...it just takes a rare, brazen individual to just outright rip it off. I've read and heard a lot about it online, in forums ranging from design to illustration. Having never had my design concepts ripped off, I didn't know what it was really like.
Until today.
Earlier in 2004, I developed the interaction and visual design for the Avery Creative Postage Label website with an able-bodied team from Fluid; this project is described elsewhere on this site. Well, today I learned about PhotoStamps, a.k.a. photos.stamps.com, and f.k.a. E-Stamp. Sure, with the US Postal Service allowing for custom printing of stamps, it's not at all surprising that two firms would have the same business model.
Upon closer inspection, however, they have the same type of cycling animation on the main page. But when you get into their tool for customizing your postage, they use Flash...they have all the same tools...whose icons look just like mine...even repositioning is done via dragging.
To give credit where credit is due, because their design is so simple, I think it looks better than mine; I had a number of design constraints I had to work under that made me not design it the way I would have preferred. So, kudos to you, PhotoStamps, for coming up with a nice skin. And don't get me wrong, I do take it as a complement that you're cribbing my design.
But c'mon, Stamps.com people...if y'all are indeed a big player, design your own freakin' icons.
Good artists borrow.