Patrick McNeil - The Web Designers Idea Book, Vol. 2: More of the Best Themes, Trends and Styles in Website Design

As with the first Web Designer's Idea Book, I can't imagine how I could thank anyone for making this second volume without first acknowledging the countless designers who worked so hard to make the designs presented in this book. It is the work of others that inspires me to obsess over web design, and I truly appreciate the passion you pour into your work. I also owe many thanks to the readers and fans of Design Meltdown and the first book; your response far exceeded my expectations and I am grateful for your support. While many people at F+W Media make a book like this possible, I particularly appreciate Amy and Grace's efforts to help push this book to be the best it can be. And as always, my wife Angela is my biggest supporter: She encourages me to chase my dreams and sacrifices countless hours as I stay up late writing.

01 / using inspiration in the design process

inspiration

One of the questions I get asked most is how to leverage inspiration without plagiarizing or stealing someone else's ideas. In some ways, this is a really easy question, simply answered. Don't steal ideas. The nuance of this is the hard part. At what point does inspiration become theft? The lines are blurry, especially when we consider the fact that no one operates in a bubble. All design is influenced by the previously created works we are surrounded by. Marko Prljic is a web designer who has also written on this very topic. This chapter, penned by Marko, takes us step-by-step through the creation of a new design. More importantly, it demonstrates how various ideas, approaches and design elements can be found elsewhere and merged together to create a new design. I am excited for this book to inspire you and challenge you to borrow ideas without ripping them off.

01 / inspiration

using inspiration in the design process

using inspiration in the design process

By Marko Prljic

Get inspired, but don't copy. There is a thin line between inspiration and copying one that is further blurred as we are surrounded with designs and art in our everyday lives. Finding inspiration for a design is an easy task these days, having so many valuable resources to leverage. The web has been inundated with web design showcases. There is no exact formula for how to use inspiration and not copy someone else's work, but there are some straightforward ways to avoid it. Here, I will take you through my design process for a web site I recently created. Through examples of inspiration, I will demonstrate how I created a fresh and new design while leveraging various sources of inspiration. But before we step through an example, let's look at some core concepts when it comes to using inspiration.