December 02, 2003 | View Comments (10) | Category: Our Thoughts
Summary: We don't need them. We don't want them. Stay true to the game.
There is a website that sells templates for websites. This site is Template Monster. I have no problem with sites like this. It is a genius business because obviously they are going to make some money. The problem I have is with "designers" who take these templates and sell them off as their own.
Am I a doctor because I gave you some aspirin? No. When I was programming and I told people I was a programmer they looked at me with awe. When you tell someone you are a web designer how many times do they just look at you trying to hold back a smile thinking that you job consists of going to the bookstore, buying a book, and going home to play on your computer. Good designers understand the knowledge and practice that it takes to become really good. In the design community people respect that. However, when you get a couple of people who just throw out templates to their clients who believe they have come up with a wonderful design then it only hurts our field.
If you take a pre-made template and offer it to someone, at least have the decency to admit you did not design it. I did not start this life as a designer and I may not finish this life as one, but in the meantime during this short period that I have been designing I have gained a newfound appreciation for the work that a designer does. Design embodies a feeling. It is a way to communicate to people like no other. Fake designers will never understand this or appreciate this. If you are someone who sells templates again understand I have no problem with that. Food on the table can trump unspoken ethics anytime. However, for the rest of us please stop pawning off these designs as your own.
We all know the power of the CSS Zen Garden and on more than one occasion the designs that people have done have been stolen by others. I get emails occasionally from people telling me to look at the design of a site I posted on the vault and compare it to another. Sure there are times when there are similarities. Look at this site and kottke's site and you will see some similarities. I used kottke's site and Signal vs. Noise as inspiration a couple times for this blog. I used their ideas of minimalism as inspiration. Taking a layout, using the ideas, and plopping it down on your domain is not inspiration. It is biting off of someone's hard work.
Fortunately my designs are not worthy of stealing (at least not that I know of) so I am safe. However, if I busted my ass and poured everything I had in a design to only see it being stolen by someone else, that would just piss me off. If you need help with a design, why not ask someone? This community is very helpful. Don't ruin your reputation before it already starts by stealing someone else's stuff. Don't claim to be a designer when the only thing you design is how to keep your site secret enough that no one recognizes that the only thing legit on it is the domain name.
The great designers of the web today took time to develop their own style. Of course it is hard to develop something of your own without being inspired by others. Take another person's design and take it to another level. Changing a couple of elements here and there only takes it backwards. If you do borrow certain elements from other people, then maybe you can say thanks. It is amazing how far that can go with a lot of people.
Designers are people who care about their craft. Yes you heard me. I called web design a craft. Frontpage is not a craft. Web design is a craft. Stealing is not a craft. Web design is a craft.
If you use tools such as the layout-o-matic to start your designs there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, I encourage it because not only does it save you time, but it gives you some compliant code at the click of a button. There are really only so many layouts you can do on the web. It will be a while before we start seeing 6 column layouts. 1,2, and 3 column layouts are the safe bet for a while. However, these layouts are like a fresh batch of clay that you need to mold to create your own design out of. If you really want to design web pages, then design them. If you just want to make money then do so, but change your title to "website uploader" or something.
I understand that at the beginning it can be difficult coming up with something original. I have been through it before and I still go through the same thing. It is not easy running the Vault when everyday I get to look at designs and wish I did something like that. I never wish I could do something like that though, because in time I know I could. That is the key. Never strive to be like someone else out there, strive to be at the same level as that person or better yet even greater. If you want to make it then you need to differentiate yourself. Do you think your client will be happy when he gets a 1000 emails from loyal bloggers because their site bites of someone else's like hivelogic? Probably not.
Thanks to Derek for the idea for this post.
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hold on... are these people you're complaining about reselling the templates as templates or selling websites they used the templates to make? There's a difference, after all.
Doing websites using templates, well, that's what the templates are for. The client doesn't need to know that you're modifying a predesigned template for them instead of designing the whole site from scratch, unless they are for some reason requesting that. It's not like you just dump a template to a website and it's done, you have to customize it for that business, which is usually more than sticking their logo up there.
I've done PHP-Nuke sites for clients. I didn't write PHP Nuke and I didn't write the Oddessey template I used on it, but I customized both for them (colors, some layout, lots of grammar). I mentioned it was a template, but they're not technical, they don't know what that means, really.
I don't see anything wrong with either purchasing or designing a few stock templates of your own to use as bases for client websites, as long as you don't get locked into them so much that you won't custom design a site that really needs it. And I don't really see any reason to tell them, as long as you're customizing it enough that it's not going to be a cookie cutter site, and you're not using something like a default frontpage/publisher template.
JC (http://www.thelionsweb.com/weblog)
and of course it goes without saying that ripping off someone else's design without permission is bad. Sometimes unavoidable, but bad. (note on contract that client accepts all responsibility for copyright violations client insisted on helps change their minds sometimes)
JC (http://www.thelionsweb.com/weblog)
Like I said in the post (several times) I have no problem with people buying templates and using them for their clients. However, it is wrong to tell you r client you have come up with a reasonable design and then charging them for the "time" it took you to design the look of the site. To me that is just ridiculous and unethical.
Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)
I agree Scrivs, it is unethical. It also takes away from the pride you get when you design and build a great website, either by yourself or as part of a team. Even if the site isn't "great" it's still yours and you tried your best.
Todd (http://www.monkeyhouselounge.com)
em... about one of your comments about a site in vault, it's in Germany, why don't you use Google Translation tool, I know it's not a better solution, but at least you'll get some picture about the content ;) is this site body padding set to zero? This terminal I'm using right now has IE 5.0/Win.
ephi (http://www.tabulas.com/~ephi)
Well I completelly agree with you that it's unethical. We always suggest to our clients (50% of them are designers and 50% are end-user customers) that our tempaltes are just a wireframe that helps to boost an imagination and save time and money.
Telling people that you created this design from scratch means - missleading customers.
David Braun (http://www.templatemonster.com)
umm JC read the post properly next time..u wrote a novel for nothing.
sinz (http://www.gomango.com)
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#1
As someone who's recently been bit by this bug:
http://www.pixelmech.com/
I've got to say I've got mixed feelings when it comes to "inspiration" and "copycat-ism" on the Web.
Part of me is pissed because I didn't get asked permission or any credit for my hard work and part of me is flattered.
I feel like it's unavoidable and like you said, it can be hard to come up with many original ideas. The Web is just too big. I just wish more folks would: A) ask permission and/or B) give credit where it's due.
That way you at least give the original designer who probably spent a whole lot of time and effort on their design at least the opportunity to endorse (or not) you're use of their hard work.
Keith (http://www.7nights.com/asterisk/)