Fellow designers (not just specific to biscuits/cookies), let’s have a chat about ‘taking inspiration’ versus ‘copying’ others work.
If we take a look at the definitions, this is what we know:
Inspiration is ‘a person, experience, place etc that gives you new ideas for something you do’.
And copying is ‘something that is made to be exactly like another thing’.
To put it into context here is an example of ‘taking inspiration’:
My inspiration:
vs my final design:
Here is an example of ‘copying’:
My designs from July:
vs another 'designer' in September:
We all get our inspiration from somewhere. It comes from what we see in our day-to-day life, the advertisements put in front of us and seeing fellow designers work. Inspiration is what keeps each of us ticking over, letting our creative minds grow and experimenting with new ideas.
Copying takes every element of being a ‘designer’ away. Copying is not creative in any way, no matter if you’ve made it with your own hands or not. Copying hurts other brands. Copying is not okay, no matter what industry you are in.
Next time you decide recreate someone else’s design, think about what you can do to make it your own. How great it will be to call it your own. And how proud you will feel when it is complete, knowing that it is only yours.