We are not that flattered, really… but it made us laugh!
November 24th, 2006 by VassiliosWe have come across an interesting page on Flickr with pirated sites and lo and behold, it seems we have been the victims of plagarism! Very funny indeed, considering that the offenders are describing themselves as an “award winning multi-discipline creative agency specialising in ideas-led solutions for print, web and interactive design”. Well guys, here are another 15 minutes of fame ; as Malcolm MacLaren has always mainitained, there is no such thing as “bad press”.
Ours: www.sonjamueller.org
Theirs: www.viewcreative.co.uk
November 27th, 2006 at 6:26 pm
We are not sure we have been the vistims of plagiarism - we only assume. We are happy to admit we were not.
But in terms of supporting the plagiarism case, here is my opinion:
Our site has been in the 2006 Creative Review Annual, which is read by most creative agencies in the country. It was produced in May 2005 - which we assume it is before the View Creative site was produced - the first news item in the View Creative site dates from Nov 2005.
Also, the similarities do not end with the trees. The animations of vectors graphics coming out of the trees are also similar. Same goes for the background colour.
You are right, we do not own the woodland themed style. This is silly. And i will feel sorry for these guys if it turns out their site was produced before us. But we have been victims of plagiarism before and the least we could do this time was blog the news and let the public decide.
Honestly, I do not think our post will result on View Creative loosing work, even if it turns out it was plagiarism. I think they are pretty good at what they do and their clients sure know it.
November 28th, 2006 at 1:46 am
Vassilios, you’re right: I was being ironic when I suggested that there might be any such thing as “woodland-themed web design” or (even better!) that it might be someone’s IP. All silliness strictly intentional and strictly for dramatic effect.
My only real point was that it’s easy to pull the trigger in cases like this, but that the consequences for the supposed transgressor can be harsh if the person levelling the accusation is influential… say for example they’re featured in magazines read by most creative agencies in the country.
I dunno really. I don’t think that the sites bear much comparison (I vastly prefer the Sonja Mueller site both aesthetically and technically) and you may well be right about the minimal effect being busted for plagiarism might have… I guess I was just imagining the horror of being accused of ripping other people’s work off without being able to do much about it if it were mere coincidence.