Posted on September 28, 2010
When I first started in floral design my mentor said to me – nothing is original, it’s all be done before. I was startled my the comment and as a young and impressionable designer I really took the comment to heart and have thought about it often.
Lately when I’m reading through tweets on twitter I notice many people saying – I got copied! Someone copied my original idea, how could they do that?
I think to myself, well, there are a lot of reasons the work was copied. We choose to put our work on blogs in the hope that a bride will see our creation and hire us. Perhaps not taking into consideration that people around the world are looking at this post. Brides do like it, they print it off and take the photo to be replicated by their florist, cake baker, photographer, wedding designer, you name it. Perhaps the work wasn’t copied by another vendor on purpose but was given to the vendor by a client and they replicated it. Perhaps the original vendor was booked so the bride finds another vendor and asks if they can replicate some of the designs.
Has this happened to me? Yes, of course!
A few years ago I worked with a couple here in Denver and we came up with this design for their ceremony:
As many of you know we own a sister company, Bella Rents. About a month ago I decided to drive along with Chad and the Bella Rents crew to setup a ceremony site. Imagine my surprise when I see the aisle setup almost identical to the design I had on my website from years past:
My first thought was – how could someone copy my design? How could they hire Bella Rents and not Bella Fiori? Then I did some thinking and accepted that I choose to post the design on my website & blog therefor making it open for anyone to copy. Chad later pointed out that a family friend had offered to do the flowers for this wedding, how can I fault a family friend for offering their services? They were giving a gift to a bride and saving her money. It is what it is.
(To tell you the truth, this happened to me twice this year when I tagged along w/ Bella Rents. In another situation one of my centerpiece ideas had been copied).
My thoughts for the vendors who are concerned about having their precious ideas copied. If this is a major fear, then don’t post your treasured ideas online. Keep the photos at your studio, show them to clients in person. If you do post them online, then don’t complain when it gets copied.
In hip-hop its called “Biting” someone’s style, almost a sideways approach at a compliment. One day you’ve got the newest kicks, and the next week you see them everywhere. All you get in acknowledgment is the “nod.” But you can know, Alicia, just like Run-DMC did with their Adidas, that you were the original. Anything else is a copy; and that copy is a sign that your fabulousness is copy-worthy.
In all seriousness, design styles are cyclical. And we’ve made it back to the 70s. Now if we can all just bi-pass the awful 80s design, we’ll all be better off.
I love your post!! There have been many times, when I thought my design was an original only to find it on someone else’s site. We actually created a photo shoot this year for a submission, two weeks before our post came out on the blog, another designer was posted, with the exact same basic concept, down to the ribbon on the bouquet. We all were states apart, but we all thought of the same thing and submitted it to the same blog. It was truly insane. I remember the planner, photographer and myself almost fell off of our chairs. I truly do believe that “great minds think alike”. I am flattered when people find inspiration on my site and quite frankly I love finding inspiration on other designers sites as well. In fact I have an Ak Haydon bouquet on my desktop, just because it makes me happy! Being able to share our work with others by way of blogging, and twittering has only made me enjoy my career more. I love to share!!!!
Thank you for reposting this post. Yep, I feel the same way. You don’t want to see yourself copied then don’t post the design because couples are looking to the web for inspiration and if they like your design they will print and bring it over to another designer to replicate. it is what it is. I’m just praying our brides in the midwest get a little bit bolder with their choices and colors.
When we all have similar inputs – i.e. container vendors, and flowers at market, designs may be similar. Like brides who think their color scheme is unique when in fact many designers are putting out dresses in the same colors. They choose from the same pool of what’s available as other brides. Does anyone design in a vacuum with no influence from the work of others? Someone once said – “Steal my idea and make it better, so I can steal it back!” Love it.