Where do you guys draw the line on copying site design?

Just curious.

I've seen a lot of sites over the last few months that are very close as far as design and what not...

These are not mine, and I mean no offense to the people that made these sites...looks like they did a great job of putting it togehter, however the layout is very similar....and I think identical to CLUB-01 in Los Angeles...which is no longer online.

http://www.bullpix.com/
http://www.wildcatlounge.com/

(Heehee, also click on the fueled by link on the wildcat site....remind you of anything starting with a 2ad?)

It seems impossible to me that two independent designers came up with such similar designs....So where do you guys draw the line? If you use different colors, graphics, etc and the layout looks very similar is that cool? Or is that still a no-no?

I mean, I'm the last person to talk here...I've ripped a few transitions, and ideas from numerous sites on the net, I'm just curious on all your thoughts....

As far as I can tell, web design in like fashion. Its all about whats trendy. I think on some level everybody is ripping something from somewhere. In my opinion creating something similar is the biggest compliment. Not to mention sites like 2advanced being a huge inspiration!

2advanced makes me angry.

you now what I find not so nice about 2advanced? - while it is a great site and certainly an inspiration - all their work is like - carbon copied from parts of it... It's like they came up with a great design and then they got stuck on that style - no more ideas....

the thing with 2A, as I can imagine, is that clients look at their site and go "we want that for our company too!". And of course they make what sells.

1. i don't fault designers for working in one style. particularly, if they do it well. people who want THAT will go to them. its all about making a name for yourself and creating a niche.

2. i don't have a problem with other people working in the same style as popular designers. think of it as a movent in art (such as impressionism in late 1880s france... but not really). NOTE: 'working in the same style' does not mean copying exactly or stealing.

3. if you want slick, gradient-filled flash, you hire designer x. if you want stripped-down html and css, you hire designer y. if you want bold and illustrated, you hire me... *wink*

Speaking of trends and whatnot.

I remember back in the day when the 'grunge' look was in. Just about everyone had a grungy site. At the time, I was into clean, smooth design. Plain colors. Easy to read text. Intuitive navigation.

Now more people are moving towards clean design and I have moved to grunge...and hardly anyone does grunge anymore.

I was grunge, when grunge wasn't cool.

I am a firm believer in designing for the way you feel. A specific peice or site will develop itself over time, depending on the mood I am in when I work on it. Sadly, I am never truly satisfied with anything I ever do and end up scraping the layout or the peice and putting down my pen for a while.

Right now, I stare at a photoshop canvas and think "why do I even have this installed?" "I should just sell my copy of photoshop to someone and give em my cd key".