Design thread .... v.2

Yeah, I thought it was kind of strange when he gave it to me. But I'm not the artist. Still a stinkin' sweet shot, though.

 

Really? Because it bears a striking resemblance to another shot/layout of yours, which bears a striking resemblance to a shot/layout done in the Daily Herald a few months ago.

 

Documentation?

 

I was saying it was strange that our photog cropped it the way he did, not the photo itself. Both photos were for stories I did, so I obviously knew what he was doing.

I know the layout is similar ... I layed out the other page, too. I used the "artist" reference for the photo, not the layout.

As far as the Daily Herald page, I've never seen it. I don't even know what Daily Herald you're talking about. That's God's honest truth. Our photog approached me both times about the fire shot. They weren't my idea. He wasn't even supposed to shoot the photo of the baseball player. He came and told me his idea, and I said go for it.

The picture ideas are obviously similar, but like I said, they weren't my idea. And the layout is nothing close, but I've never seen that page before now. Looks great, though.

 

I was saying the layout looks almost exactly like your layout from a few months ago, and the pictures look pretty damned close. Tell your photographer to come up with an original idea.

Also, aren't you the one who copied Luke Knox a few months ago?

 

And, like I said, I know it looks similar. I know the two things are on fire, but a baseball on fire and a golf club on fire with a circle of fire completely around the guy look different to me. The ideas are the same, yes, but I'll let you tell him since it offends you so much. We've gotten great feedback on both.

Yes, I used his idea for a cover of a special section. His credit is on News Page Designer and I have actually talked to Luke since then and everything was cleared up fine with no problems. It was my fault for not crediting him ahead of time, but I wasn't trying to sneak my way around it.

I'm sorry if it gives you a bad picture of me as a designer, a person or a professional, but I hope it doesn't. It was a mistake, but Luke's design was fantastic and we were able to take the main idea from it, and I changed up a couple of things. Like I said, it was my fault for not crediting him when I first put the page on here, but he's credited on NPD.

 

The Luke Knox thing, no. You seemed contrite in your apology, and it seemed like an innocent mistake. But things are starting to add up. If it's your photographer, and not you, then I'll be happy to tell him what I think and to apologize to you.

An isolated occurence wouldn't bother me much, but it seems it's becoming a trend at your paper to "borrow," if not steal outright, other people's ideas.

EDIT: My advice would be this: Be careful. Word about these things tends to travel. Feel free to pass that advice to your photog.

 

I can tell you that he didn't "borrow" the fire idea. He explained to me that he learned of the idea when he was in photography school. He told me about how to use rubber cement and explained it all to me more than I wanted to hear, honestly. Unless he lied to me, which I doubt, I don't know what else to say.

It was his idea to do it. I'm sure plenty of photographers have done it. He used it twice close together, yes, but the technical aspects of the pictures are extremely different.

Thanks for your feedback, though. I do appreciate it.

 

Since this thread is ostensibly to discuss design, I'll weigh in on the Daily Herald front that The Good Doctor just posted. The photo is great, no question about that. The design is great ... for a tab. I'm not a big fan of designing a page that way and asking the reader to tip it on its side to read the story. Unique idea? Sure. I'm just not sure it translates all that well.

And as far as our little plagiarism case, I don't think it's that similar. Pressboxrambling's pages are similar, obviously, because of the box/border on the centerpiece. But that's his call if he wants to use the same idea twice. Frankly, I kind of like it. But I don't think it looks much like the Daily Herald page.

P.S. - The Daily Herald baseball photo is much better than the other baseball photo. Maybe that kid was scared of fire or something, but you need more rubber cement on that ball to get the desired effect.

 

Wow. Way too much is being made about the "stealing" thing. The kid borrowed an idea, realized he forgot to give credit, and gave credit. Done and done.

I don't see a problem with anyone borrowing design ideas, so long as proper credit is given. Give the kid a break. Plus, if Luke Knox is fine with it, everyone should be. Not sure why people are so picky and protective when it comes to design. It's not like readers in [insert state here] get the newspaper in [insert another state here].

I do agree, however, with the idea that multiple fire-related CPs in such a short span of time is a little weird, but not overly. Maybe there needs to be some new ideas thrown around in that newsroom.

The golf photo was a fantastic idea, although the cropping was awful. And, as others have said, the frame took away from the shot, which would have been just as effective without the bells and whistles.

It's obvious this kid is talented. I'm guessing he'll have a pretty bright future. He's already learning valuable lessons.

 

Hey! I did this cover in 1997! Where's my apology, thief????? [/sarcasm]