Originality

[Showmun]

I just joined this forum yesterday and have been looking around at numerous topics.  The board seems great, just lacks original designs.

All I see is people changing colors on logos and adding different striping patterns.  Hate to let anyone know but in the literary world its called plagarism.  And when an original design does pop up, some users shoot it down.

Yes I am the new guy and probably shouldnt run my mouth, but it had to be said.  Bring back Originality.

[Nesi427]

Well said...your reasons must be a reason that my work never gets commented on...it's original...start posting your stuff...i'm sure it'll be pretty good stuff...ttyl

[Reaper98]

All I see is people changing colors on logos and adding different striping patterns.  Hate to let anyone know but in the literary world its called plagarism.

The people who change colours in logos aren't guilty of plagarism unless they are claiming that they drew the logo in the first place.

As far as striping patterns go, most uniforms tend to run in a traditional vein so it's only natural that you'd see some commonality in uniforms.

In terms of people shooting down modern designs, I think most people are being honest if they don't like a design.  It doesn't matter if you don't agree with them.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion and sometimes a bad design is just a bad design.  Poor execution in the drawing stages and lack of attention to detail can really turn some people off some designs that have potential.

[Showmun]

So if it isnt Plagiarism then what is it: presenting a new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.  

I wasnt writing to shoot down anyone, i was writing to try and convince people, instead of using the hurricanes jersey and changing the colors, go a step further and do a new logo even a new font.  That is what Makes it original, not going from red and black to blue and coloumbia blue.  It gets boring seeing the same jersey with 40 differnt stripe patterns.

As in every opinion board users will hate the design and love it.  If u dare hate it though, give some constructive critisim.  Saying I hate brown, and all that is brown is evil doesnt make this board better.

Like I said I am the new guy but it just popped out at me reading each topic posted.  Just wante dto make thsi baord a little better by sharing my opinion.

[yh]

First of all, welcome to the board.  As I am sure you are learning, this is a forum for the exchange of ideas, not necessarily an incubator for strictly original designs.  Changing the colors and striping patterns for sports uniforms and logos is an expression of creativity and a chance to play "what if."  We're here to speak of and in some cases express artistically the things that they would like to see changed about various teams' logos, uniforms, whatever.  

Most art critics would not consider the work of Andy Warhol plagiarism (and many consider him a genius and pioneer in his field) however in many cases he did nothing more than reproduce existing visual images, adding or changing colors along the way.

There are a lot of original designs and formats expressed by posters on this board.  Some of them are met with majority approval and some are not, but all should be encouraged and criticism or approval or recommendations should also be encouraged.  For the most part, the frequent posters here are respectful of other posters' efforts and offer commentary that emulates that respect.  If you want to "run your mouth off" as you say, by all means do so, but keep in mind that you will only receive respect (and recognition) if you are respectful yourself.  It looks to me as if you are trying to be respectful so shine on.  And if you've got original designs to share, by all means do so.  I'm sure they will be a good contribution to the board.

[Phil]

Very well put, yhollander.

Often the work many of us do would be guilty of plagiarism and copyright violations IF we claimed they are completely original designs. When writing essays or papers, one can put quotation marks around quotes and other borrowed texts, however that is not possible in logos. Most of the time folks can recognize when a logo or part of it has been taken from an existing source, and so they understand the level of originality and seriousness the logo was made in. For instance, if I marketed my Winnipeg WinterHawks primary logo as an original work by me, then I would have to be ready to get my woopin'.

Also, in response to another frequent occurence that you mentioned, occasionally people make updated jerseys for teams, and in doing that use logos that are not their own. I have no problem with this, as in most cases the logo being used is the property of the team that the jersey was created for.

That being said, I like seeing original designs as well more than I like seeing reworked jerseys, but that is my personal opinion, and I won't complain. I admire those who are able to take that which exists and improve upon, where I would prefer to start over.

[TheNewbie]

Well new guy, I'm gonna say what everyone else was thinking.  Who do you think you are to come in here with a post like that without showing us what you have on the table?  Thing is, in the sports world, jerseys  will have similar striping patterns, or concepts to them because anything else may be too extreme to be seen in professional sports.  I'm guessing you're the kind of guy who like the Mighty Ducks 3rd's huh?  As for logos, it's common to keep a logo even with chagning designs.  The teams' logos could very well stick with them even if they actually change their jerseys.  What I'm saying is, before you run your mouth, show us what you got.  Then we'll see who should criticise who.

[quantum]

Showmun, welcome.  I have one piece of advise if you are going to post original material:  Make your designs as professional looking as possible.

What does this mean?  If its original by your standards, use illustrator or another vector-based program.  Unique designs have a better chance of acceptance when given the professional touch.  Designs using existing logos done in Paint or Photoshop are well received in part because of logo familiarity.  But let's face it, the images themselves more often than not are crude.  But they still get the point across.  Of course, if you're serious about design, you're already using a vector-based program.

Just my 2 cents.