Original - it's the only way to go

Original - it's the only way to go

 

The winners of our Intellectual Property IP Design competition believe taking inspiration from others is okay but copying is a sin.

 

Yang Gan is rapt - not only has he scored a laptop for his winning pop-art style design for the Intellectual Property: Respecting Creativity design competition in our last issue, but his design may be used on television and DVD to promote the 'Don't Abuse Copyright' message. "That's pretty good," said Yang, who is 17 and has just left Hutt International School, bound for Massey University's design course in Wellington. To get the striking mural shown on the copy-room walls, Yang photoshopped an image of his school's copy-room, adding in his pop-art design which says: 'Something has been stolen'.

 

His inspiration for both his striking blue 'copyright' logo and the copy-room with a message was the work of The Designer's Republic; a group of international designers who use pop-art images and bright colours to create a modern, futuristic style.

 

"I like their style, so I used it for the project. They do designs for Coca Cola," says Yang. His inspiration also neatly shows the difference between being creative but inspired by others' work and just ripping it off by copying it. The former is okay, the latter just isn't. "A lot of people are doing it (ripping-off music) and millions and billions of dollars are being lost to copyright (thieves)," said Yang. Which was one of the reasons he entered the competition, he said: "Just to get the awareness".

 

Alex Austin, who came third in the competition, designed the 'Original - it's the only way' t-shirts shown. These may also be used and produced commercially. Actv8 agrees: original is definitely best. It's your imagination at work, no one else's. Alex is also from Hutt International School, as was the second runner-up, Michael Botros, who was commended for his very visual Anti-Piracy Campaign image.

 

 

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