We all know that a good source of design inspiration is to browse around the net and see what others have done with their own work. It’s a good way of identifying new and developing trends, working with new techniques, and pushing your design limits. With that being said, however, it’s also important to use this inspiration in the proper way.

The important thing here is to remember what inspiration is in its simplest form…

inspiration
–noun

An inspiring or animating action or resource.

In essence, it’s the act of forming new ideas from viewing, reading, or interacting with something or someone. Inspiration comes in many forms, and it doesn’t have to be limited to viewing other designers’ work either – you can get it from anything including nature, vehicles, astronomy, whatever you think will help you do what you do best. For this article, however, we’re focusing mainly on getting inspiration from other design work.

Any original work that you develop and publish (either physically or to the web) is legally yours. Therefore, it is illegal to copy someone else’s work. Being inspired by someone’s work isn’t illegal, but copying it word-for-word, graphic-for-graphic, and idea-for-idea is illegal. It’s important to recognize that you’re not trying to get carbon copy ideas from someone else’s work, you’re trying to gain perspective into the current design industry and what’s happening. You’re seeing what techniques you can employ in your own work and define what ideas will work best with your design. When getting inspiration from another’s work, try and define what makes their design pop – what makes it effective? Probe into the thought process of the designer and make sense of it all in your own mind. The best part of doing this is the product of all of the thought you put into it. You start seeing unique techniques and subtle details that could really go a long way in making your own work outstanding. Is it the subtle gradients and drop shadows? How about the typography? Colours? It could be any number of things. It’s also a great idea to practice this technique when you’re simply browsing the web (not necessarily looking for inspiration). If you stumble upon a site that makes you say “wow,” try and identify what makes it that attractive. If you continue doing this, you’ll start to develop a habit. With enough time and thought put into it, it will become second nature. You’ll really start to see the subtle nuances of every quality-designed website and, to put it simply, you’ll become a better designer.

There are many times where you might think “Well, it’s all been done anyway…what’s the harm in copying?” While not only illegal, copying someone’s work is an infringement on design standards in general and very bad practice. It could always come back to bite you later on down the road and will even expose you as an unethical designer. It’s key to respect everyone else’s work and maintain an ethical standard in our industry. Inspiration is a big part of design – you just have to use it the right way.