Journal
Alter Ego, Guru Design
28 June 2006 › 23 comments
Update: The logo in question has been removed, but will remain here for posterity. Thanks to all those who turned out to show their appreciation.
Many of you might not be aware that I have a doppelgänger on the loose. Not unlike the sinister alter ego of Spiderman, he seeks to thwart my efforts to better the web (get it, web – ha). While I thrive on doing original work, he thrives on taking original work, claiming it as his own. In a very poetic coincidence, he also lives half a world away, which is probably why we never had the pleasure of meeting and conversing over coffee and biscotti.
I heartily thank those of you who took the time to email me upon learning of his existence. Otherwise, I would have never known that I had a long lost evil twin living in Norway. I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt, and assume that he doesn’t read English very well. It’s the only way he could’ve taken my tutorial on how to draw a logo to mean: “Hey, take this logo.”
Good:
Evil:
As you can see, our methods of thinking and styles of logo design bear striking similarities, even if he does get things a bit backwards. However, he’s doing his best, and that’s really what counts. He clearly shows that he is a Guru by following a step-by-step writeup of how to re-create what I have done. But here’s the kicker: He was ingenious enough to flip it on the Y axis, creating a mirror image! Awesome. Oh, and he also changed the color.
I am sure that you are eager to learn the identity of my mysterious brother, so I won’t hold you in suspense any longer. In fact, I would encourage you to get in touch with him and let him know how much you admire his parrot-esque abilities. He also does great candid impressions of political personalities.
Without futher ado, here is his website info for all you soon-to-be fans…
Name / Site:
Bjørn Opheim
GuruDesign.no
Well, I won’t belabor the point any longer. I know you are all probably just dying to give him the praise that’s due him. Just make sure to let him know that I sent you, and if you speak Norwegian please do tell him I’d be happy to collaborte on projects in the future. In fact, I’d love to meet him in person and be able to go toe to toe talk face to face, so pass that along too. Thanks!
Discussion + Dissension
Comments closed after 2 weeks.
#1 Ben Gray
That’s disgusting. Sorry, but it is. How do people live with themselves when they do that? And by “that” I mean stealing designs.
#2 Natalie Jost
Doppleganger! ROTFLOL! I haven’t heard that term in years but boy does it fit. They say the doppleganger is your evil twin and a ‘mirror image’ (ha ha ha). And his name is Johnny to boot, that’s so cool. I don’t know why that so tickles me. I really am sorry for your evil twin. I hope you can shake him.
And I totally missed that tutorial… nice! You know I NEVER noticed the ‘b’ until just now? Great work, Nathan!
#3 Dennis
I think his URL sums it up Guru Design No.
#4 Nathan Smith
Ben: Exactly my point. How can you have a website that caters to design needs when you yourself cannot do original design? It’s mind-boggling.
Natalie: Yep, there’s a “G” and a “b” – Johnny doesn’t seem to realize that in his version, there is no “G.” Not sure why he picked it.
Dennis: Those were my thoughts exactly. Very succinctly put.
#5 Elliot Swan
I wonder how many of these people really “get it”?
#6 Jon
Wow. I’ve run out of negative adjectives to use for “professionals” such as him. It’s infuriating to come across something like this—but as you said, you’re lucky to have so many supporters to let you know the instant they find anything like this. The trouble is, people such as him will probably never come around to professional practice and continute to gangle on others dopples until the end of time.
I honestly hope your readers take a second to write and let him know what they think of the situation.
#7 Nathan Smith
Actually, it looks like he does know English, since he asks for feedback on this forum post. So much for the benefit of the doubt. I guess this kid is just an out-right thief. The web’s a small world man, found this just by Googling…
http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=450300
#8 Derek Punsalan
Now that’s mad skill. See that logo flipped horizontally?! Whoa. Great minds must think alike. ;) Seriously though, when are “designers” going to realize that the design world is not that large of a place. Reminds me of the kid who decided that because code was sitting on my servers, the fact that I nore my client had used it, it was free for the taking.
#9 Larry Tomlinson
Well, at least he removed the logo… from the forum:
“I have removed the logo. I will take the time to make something original.”
Sure. Who you gonna rip off next?
#10 Ben Carlson
At least he seemed very compliant in taking it down. We all make mistakes, we all make blatant mistakes, I for one would be honored if someone copied a logo I made (unless they were making money off it!).
#11 beth
Don’t worry, one look at that guys’ stuff and no one will hire him. The sad part is he probably ripped all that off too :P
#12 Brent O'Connor
How sad!
#13 Tim Bednar
It is the highest form of flattery.
#14 Christian
Nathan, no offense, but sticking the URL up for all to see and essentially saying to your readers, “Go get ‘em” isn’t a very professional—or neighbor-loving—way to handle this situation.
First and foremost, realize that when you put [good] stuff on the Web, it’s almost certainly going to get stolen; it’s the unfortunate nature of the medium.
When it does happen, it’s best to calmly contact the infringer, notify them of relevant copyright/trademark violations, and kindly request that they take the offending material down.
If a round or three of this doesn’t work, then you might add something like, “If I cannot persuade you to take the offending material down, I will feel obligated to point out your violation on my [widely-read] weblog, where potential clients of yours may easily come across it. This is a situation probably neither of us wants, so I again request that you take the material down.”
In general, I’m uncomfortable with the shoot-first-ask-questions-later approach. It sure feels good, but once the bullet has left the gun, there’s no bringing it back. James talks a bit about this, as you know.
#15 Nathan Smith
Christian: I had just edited the article as you were posting this, I think. After he took the logo down and replaced his header, I removed his contact information. There have been numerous occasions of being ripped off by others which didn’t make it to my blog.
For example, one was a church that had used my previous design, and another was a European cafe which was developing the site on a sub-domain. In both cases, they’d forgotten to remove the links to my site, so I saw it in my referral logs. Since the cafe site wasn’t live, and the church didn’t know their designer had stolen, I handled those situations privately.
In this case though, and perhaps because I was running a little low on patience, I felt the need to “expose” the theft. He attested to getting 17,000 page hits from Digg recently, in which case that really dilutes the Godbit brand if people would start associating it with his site instead. I feel my actions were proportional to the amount of exposure he had recieved. I do want to thank you for voicing your concern, and helping to keep me accountable.
#16 Bjørn Opheim
Well, I want to appologise in person for using you’re logo on my website. I don’t have any excuse. I change my designs frequently, also the logo. If I should guess, I have been using this logo for maybe a month. To be honest, I didn’t even remember where I had gotten it from. I had taken a printscreen and saved it in photoshop. When I started getting hits from digg.com, several people told me that I had a similar logo to Godbit.com – so I removed it. My website is, as you now know, in Norwegian. I have 50+ hits a month, so i figured, why not. Now I know why not, and it will not happen again. I made a bluntant mistake, in the heat of the moment.
It’s not a company website, just something I have as a hobby, and I only make websites for people I know, and their friends. Who would think our paths would even cross?
Sincerally you’re evil twin from Norway! (PS: Sorry for my bad english)
#17 Screwlewse
Nice of you to fess up Bjorn.
We web designers take our designs very seriously as I guess you found out.
You made the mistake and now you have publicly apologized.. I think that is really good of you. Looks to me that you did a good enough job with your own work, that you really dont need to use anyone elses work.
Just take some time with a pencil and paper and work some stuff yerself…
;)
Take care.
#18 Mark Priestap
I once wrote this sweet song. Then, after playing it in public for a while realized that it was just like a Pretenders greatest hit. Fortunately nobody was listening.
#19 Josh Byers
I feel so warm and fuzzy! If you haven’t read Cameron Moll’s article Good Designers Copy, Great Designers Steal, it is definetely worth a read – though this guy maybe pushed it a bit far…
I look forward to the day when someone likes my stuff enough to rip it!
#20 G Money
Let him who is without sin cast the first stone …
I’m willing to bet that this site isn’t 100% pure and original. I’m sure something here has been borrowed and modified. So why is it ok for you to do it and no one else.
IMHO, he didn’t steal anything … He took a design and modified it to be his own. I’m a developer and this happens all the time. We all have been inspired by something and that something helps bring out our inner creativity. Google wasn’t the first search engine ever invented and Mozilla wasn’t the first web browser either. So are they theives?
You should feel proud and honored that someone appreicates and admires your work instead of blasting them (sarcastically) on your website.
Guess I should be honest and say that I borrowed your yellow warning bar idea … Sorry
#21 Nathan Smith
G Money: I see your point, and am glad you had the guts enough to make it. I probably was a little too harsh, but I just get weary of seeing poorly done ripoffs of both my and friends’ work. Making a competing product, such as a browser or search engine, is a far cry from taking another’s creative work, emblem or likeness and then misappropriating it as your own. Basically, there is a fine line between inspiration and theft, which was crossed over here.
Also, the warning bar that IE users see when visiting my site is obviously a parody. That’s different than me taking the Microsoft name or IE logo, and using it as my own. Parody / satire is protected under fair use, and you are of course well within your rights to re-use such an idea on your own site, since we’re both making fun of Microsoft in so doing.
#22 G Money
Nathan: You really bring up a good point about there being a fine line between inspiration and theft. I would love to hear more of your thoughts on this …
Suppose somebody else comes along and wants to use that same logo, can you explain what steps they should take in order to avoid any possible conflicts?
I think it’s a good idea to point the right way of handling these kinds of situations.
ps. Sorry if I came off a bit harsh … I’m really a big fan of your work and was just a little surprised by the post. I do understand your frustation, but I think you’re missing the bigger picture. Your work is inspired by others all across the world :)
#23 WD Milner
A logo is be definition a symbol to help people recognize you, your brand your company. I would think one would therefore strive to be as unique as possible in order to differentiate oneself. I don’t understand why anyone would either take someone else’s logo, or even use a close variant unless they were trying to benefit by the confusion between the two. No, I am not saying this is what was done in this case – just that it’s the only reason I can think of why someone would want to do so.
It could have been worse; I have seen entire sites “ripped” and not just for personal use, but commerical use. That’s when it becomes more than an annoyance.