Thoughts on Copying and Inspiration

Most often in the business of running this whole shebang, I stay blissfully unaware of what others are doing. I really try hard to keep my head down and create with my heart and hands. I even make sure to not follow people who are doing something similar to me, as I really don’t want to be inspired by what they’re already doing. If I’m already following an artist, I’ll make sure to mute their posts if the direction we’re going feels too similar. I really value respecting other people‘s craft and ideas + not stepping over that dreaded fine line of inspiration and copying. I may have in the past and I just don’t want to do that. When you know better, you do better.

That brings me to today:

I know nothing is new under the sun and sometimes your design is not that unique, but sometimes it is. Every few years I’ll reverse image search my own images and someone else that’s been a little too inspired by my work pops up - that’s when you know somethin is afoot.

Another scenario: my sweet stockists, customers or fellow business owners send me links of folks’ work that feel eerily similar. I’m never surprised when they’re following me on Instagram or their website has exact descriptions pulled from my website - word.for.word.

Of course, other makers and businesses can do what feels right to them, but I’ve never been into the “calling out“ on social media business or even directly emailing them. I prefer to take the advice of a fashion designer that I heard years ago say something along the lines of “people will always copy and find a little bit too much inspiration from your work, but if you keep creating with your unique voice, you’ll always stay a couple steps ahead of them” (please let me know if this sounds familiar - I’d like to quote them!)

Plus, they don’t get the pure joy of coming up with ideas in the moment while shifting shapes around and experimenting with new patinas. They stay riding on other folks’ coattails, finding images on Pinterest, following you on Instagram or even directly going to your website to glean what they can. They have to live with that lack of creative integrity.

In addition to that mindset, I love a block button on Instagram. I’ll intentionally find their business that is following me + their personal account. Maybe it won’t do anything and maybe they’ll never notice, but maybe they will. In an ideal scenario: they’ll feel a little bit of shame knowing that I’ve seen their shenanigans and they’re not welcome on my page.

“Go do your own thing!” is what I hope it communicates.

In trying to find the original designer that I loosely quoted above, I found this perfect quote by Apparel Entrepreneurship:

“Be one step ahead. Remember that if someone copies you, they’re doing what you had already done. They are one step behind and you were one step ahead. If it’s a style – change the color, or a detail, or scrap that entire design. But keep moving.“

And so, I do what’s actually in my control and I move on – constantly trying to evolve, never standing still. That’s where the addition of patina work came in about seven years ago (thank you, Trent Dean, for introducing me to it!).

I felt like the original brass kinetic pieces and wall sculptures that I started with were getting over-saturated, plus I noticed direct copying - shape for shape - of some designs. I decided to take on the new challenge of patina work, to set my work apart — and I’ll continue in that same vein as time goes on.

This last quote from Apparel Entrepreneurship is a good humble-pie reminder and caveat for the designs we create:
“How original is your design or product in the first place? Trends happen, there are cultural phenomenons happening, and you might get a brilliant design idea at the same time as another designer. That can actually happen and it happens all the time because that’s how ideas work. They are influenced by what’s going on in the world.”

This is probably why I don’t feel the need to confront folks who are doing driftwood work incredibly close to mine — maybe they arrived to that idea entirely on their own (after all driftwood and brass are gorgeous together) orrrrrr maybe they’re intentionally following me like the silly gooses they are.

…that’s where the block button comes in handy. (wink)

The article I found the two amazing Apparel Entrepreneurship quotes from:

https://www.apparelentrepreneurship.com/protecting-your-designs-from-plagiarism-in-the-fashion-industry/