DISQUS

JoanVinallCox · 4 months ago

Great story - loved reading it and learned from it. I think your "own thing" description communicates more clearly than the original. I like it. I might copy it. ;->

JoanVinallCox · 4 months ago

And your wife took a great photo!

johncuthell · 4 months ago

I have to say, Doug, that I really like your re-design. It's clear, colourf and accessible.

Which is not to say that the content isn't good, either ...

brynn · 4 months ago

Great writeup! I'm glad to see your story out there (honestly) cause I'm sure this happens to lots of other people. And your new site really does look great!

Chris Messina · 4 months ago

Thanks for the write up — all in all, I think the results speak for themselves. I'm always flattered when people find inspiration from my work (it's happened before) but part of the point of design is to communicate something originally, and to really consider what the colors, shapes and words all mean when put together.

Simply taking someone else's design is kind of like putting on their clothes and thinking that you're still yourself! You really want to make your own homepage and blog represent you — and your vision of the world. It's perfectly reasonable to start with ideas and designs that you like and use for inspiration, but it really gets interesting (for you and other people!) once you add your own aesthetic style to the mix.