As the old adage goes:
This is definitely true, mostly because great programmers have learned to do some research before writing anything at all. However, even great programmers tend to be absolutely terrible at graphic design, even though the solution is exactly the same: never design what you can steal.
Also, I think it was Harry Chapin who wrote the folk song “Cats in the Cradle” said
Good artists borrow music… great artists steal them
Good luck with your graphics, I am not worth a damn at it.
Mathew NOlton
Well, my point was that you don’t have to be good at graphics – you just need to be good at COPYING.
For example, I think this website has a fantastic, simple layout. If I was developing a web app that had similar functions, I’d copy the hell out of it: http://www.basecamphq.com
It was actually Steve Jobs that said “Good artists borrow, great artists steal.”
interesting comment jeff:
For example, I think this website http://www.basecamphq.com has a fantastic, simple layout. If I was developing a web app that had similar functions, I’d copy the hell out of it
two years later… and thousands have.
OW! I actually subjected myself to http://www.designbyfire.com/000094.html
Why does a page full of people claiming to have uber design skills have a gigantic gray bar across the bottom that leaps and lurches all over the place when you scroll? That’s excruciatingly annoying - especially given that the bar is a completely useless vanity. And that fog effect at the borders of the screen is a blatant reduction in usability.
I did think step 2 (as linked above) of their process was great. The redesigned text was far superior. But once they started adding all those vaugue icons and the strange numbering scheme, I found it a lot less compelling.
Developers might suck at designing, but designers trying to show off are at least as bad for the user experience.
Not Chapin, not Jobs, but a great Russian composer:
“A good composer does not imitate; he steals.” - Igor Stravinsky
good programmers write good code; great programmers steal great code.
If good programmers write good code, whose code are great programmers stealing from? 
Perhaps it should be …
Good programmers write good code; great programmers steal them … and make them great!"
This September I had the pleasure of listening to Jeff Veen (of Adaptive Path - now Google - fame) talk at the dConstruct conference in Brighton. His talk was mostly to do with interface design choices on the web, but a lot of it is universally applicable, even outside of the web.
One of the great things about Jeff is he’s able to bring in seemingly unrelated subjects and demonstrate how they are metaphors for the decisions and problems we face on a daily basis. So when he started talking about one of his favourite book - “Sea Kayaker: Deep Trouble”, it might initially have seemed like he was digressing in a big way, but it actually contained a very pertinent message.
The book is a collection of stories from sea kayakers who’ve gotten into life-threatening situations, so as to help you learn from their mistakes. Jeff quoted one important line from this book:
“Obeying rules without an understanding of the reasons behind them creates an approximation of competence which leaves one vulnerable to the exceptions.”
The point I’m somewhat laboriously trying to make here is that simply copying a good design from somewhere else won’t necessarily solve the problem. In fact, it’s only likely to work if what you’re creating is actually identical to whatever you’re copying. If you’re making an online bookstore then copying Amazon makes sense, but that doesn’t mean it’s even remotely sensible for a website selling cars.
Unfortunately, programmers who copy design patterns for UI from programs they like aren’t necessarily even choosing the good stuff. They’re more likely to copy features which suit their own needs (as how else are they likely to appreciate them?) rather than those their end users will find of benefit.
So, to cut a long story short: don’t just copy. Find out what works best for your specific users, and do that instead.
I very much agree about http://www.designbyfire.com/000094.html
But yippee for web standards: I can make it (and, indeed, their whole website) legible, simply by Use Style–None.
Is it ok to copy elements on a website are there any legal implications
I believe that if you use someone’s code and you improve on it there is an obligation to give them something in return. A blog review, a link, whatever.
Karma is pretty strong on the Internet.
Actually, it was Picasso (too):
Good artists copy. Great artists steal.
And T. S. Eliot
Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.
The one I like goes like: Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself, and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others. It leads to sterility.
Finally, paraphrasing:
A programmer is a man who programs what he sells. A developer, however, is a man who sells what he programs.
It’s what I do! I make really crappy, basic HTML layouts. Then I fool myself into believing crappy, basic HTML layout is a good thing because it’s, you know, lightweight. Like Google!.
No! Lies! My HTML layouts ARE good! Because they are lightweight… bah, who am I kidding?
This September I had the pleasure of listening to Jeff Veen (of Adaptive Path - now Google - fame) talk at the dConstruct conference in Brighton. His talk was mostly to do with interface design choices on the web, but a lot of it is universally applicable, even outside of the web.
http://sudostock.ru
This thread, and the subsequent comments sound like a designer’s version of this beautiful quote:
Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought. – Matsuo Basho
uggg agreed, i cant stand flash sites.
The only reason why you do not like Flash is because there are too many marketers telling good programmers what they want rather than asking them what would be best. Flash used for the correct reason - i.e. to add high performance ‘pizzaz’ without ‘in your face’ crap is really good.
Are there any truely original ideas left? Thanks for a thought-provoking post 
Eric Raymond has this similar quote in the influential book of his, “The Cathedral and the Bazaar”
Good programmers know what to write. Great ones know what to rewrite (and reuse)."
I think it fits perfectly.