Question for designers/builder.. content creators over all

When you get an idea for something new, do you check to see what is already out there, or do you just make it?

I never used to worry that something I make will be similar to something someone else made

But with all the stealing and copying and such that is happening I now fear that if I make something similar to someone elses that ppl will think I too am copying someone...


so... lately I have started to look around before I jump into photoshop and start on my next idea, and lo and behold, usually someone has already done something similar or pretty much just like it...

I then have to ask myself, do I want to continue with my idea, or not bother

usually I just don't bother... which is sad cuz then it stifles me and makes me not want to bother at all...

being that it is mainly clothing I make, it is hard to not come up with an idea that has not already been done...

for instance, I have been thinking of making more pantyhose/kneehighs, and, (I think they are called tights, but only past the knee, usually with a little lace trim) pants things.. not sure what exactly they are called, but I see RL girls wear them under shorts and skirts and think they are cute... so thought about making them in SL...

but.. as I said seems like they are already being done...

so... in a situation such as that, do you even bother looking around, or just go and make whatever your idea is..
Do you worry if it is already being made or do you see it as... a pair of pants is a pair of pants, and I will make mine and if mine look similar to someone elses then so be it...

No I don't ever give it a thought that it may already exist. I don't even think of a target market to be honest. I will give you a run through of what a typical design class is like for me. I am going into my last year of my BFA in design and advertising. We generally get a fake company to develop. Then we do the logo, letter head, business cards, that sort. And we spend a few weeks developing a corporate identity. Now most classes when we present we almost always get identified as another logo, company, what have you. That is either identical or similar enough to be considered to be problematic. And that is the real world. It is impossable to not be inspired by another influence. To the point that most artists would argue that everything is begged, borrowed, and stolen, that there are no original thoughts out there.

Even the Secondlife logo itself, is based in really identifiable religious iconography. There are dozens of companies that use this symbology. Is that theft? No it is just reimagining the same concept. Theft is when you steal one's actual work. Not just coincidentally make a similar product, usually based on a real world product or building anyway.

I think Winterlude was a great example of this. The idea was certainly nothing original or groundbreaking, but the execution was unique, beautiful and meticulous.

Actually Winderlude is an annual festival in Ottawa, so once again copying a real life event or influence. But nice that somebody remembers years back, wow.

i def do NOT look around to decide what not to make. i DO look around to see what is out there and maybe what i can improve upon. But i use my research for ideas, not to exclude. For instance, there are a ton of cuddle rugs out there, but i wanted to make them with bits n bobs couples poses that are my favs and also in really nice textures. Most cuddle rugs i see just dont suit me, so i make ones that i DO like. Everything i sell is already out there somewhere. I also made a convertible couch at a lower price and with many less features based on one i saw that was around 4000L and absolutely beautiful. But, there were none at that time in the price range i thought needed to be addressed. So, i made one and sell it. I feel like being inspired by someone else's work is a compliment to the designer...not "stealing." In fact, ive had conversations with some folks who come to my store and then said...oh maybe i could add a script to this and sell it myself....and i encouraged them to do so! If i didnt think of that version and they got the idea from seeing my work...GOOD FOR THEM!

Please, please dont let the existance of things stifle your creativity...you may add a little something that no one else is doing or make just that perfect item that folks are looking for. Again, i believe creators in SL are FAR too possessive of what they believe to be their exclusive right to their "ideas." If we all worked to help and encourage each other, i believe there would be much LESS real stealing and much more satisfaction for those who are creating. It would eliminate the element of stressing about whether or not someone is going to accuse us of stealing. Why can't we "seek first to understand" when we see something similar to what another person creates? This witch hunt crap is NOT good for anyone in any way.

I just make it. Period. If someone else has something similar, good on them, but my ideas are my ideas. Plain and simple. Even if they turn out only a prim different, I do not steal ideas, I come up with them, so I'm not breaking any rules of law or society.

I do, however, occasionally start a build with someone else's idea. I go around to shops, look at things, and go "I'd like to make that.'. But during the process, it becomes my idea, because I can't stick to a design. It will be added to, changed around....the basic principle is still there, but the design is no longer recognizable as having intended to be the same.



Anyhow, I don't care if it's been created. I just make it. And occasionally, I WILL copy an idea completely, but I don't sell it, I just see if I can do it and move on.

Have fun, and don't worry. Your ideas are your ideas.

Thanks for the input

One thing I have made in SL that I have yet to see anyone else do is my piercings done on the clothing layer

sold some, but not a great amount, personally I think they are kick ass hehe, but that is me
I lack the knowledge of how to market to specific audiences

I also did not have my blog then either, which keeps getting new hits each day, so that is a good thing

maybe I will make another design and release it (or release the as of yet, unreleased one I made hehe)

I think from now on, when I get an idea I am just gonna do it and not worry about it

(I was much happier and more productive when I did not worry about "0h someone might think I am stealing someone's ideas"

anywho off to kill stuff in everquest hehe

Answering now without looking at the above responses. I don't want to see if someone has said the same as me But in all seriousness I made an avatar I thought was so wack nobody else would have done it. Then the other day I actually saw a somewhat related avatar. We did different takes on it, but it did bring me up short for a second. In answer to your question, I looked around before I launched my avatar line and saw nothing even close to it. Haven't checked that lately and I still have at least three in the works that I hope to release some day.

Now, back to read the other responses.

well...

I got (had for awhile) an idea for something, that is already in the world, so.. tonight , I decided to go ahead and throw caution to the wind and create what was in my head....

here is the result so far...
*grins*



(you can see a larger better detailed pic on my blog (linked in my sig)

i just make stuff and don't worry about whether or not someone else did. i make wierd stuff anyway (clothing-wise), so not too likely that anyone would be so similar.

i do also get inspired by things i see around. while that's sort of a reversal of what you asked, perhaps it still counts.

When I get an idea I run with it. If someone else has made something similar either whole or in part ... good on them.

I'm not in competition with them. I'm not out to sell my creations.

My goal is to see the idea take form. Some other person making it doesn't give me the satisfaction or the knowledge that I gain for doing it myself.

As the saying goes "There is nothing new under the sun." Tossing in my agreement with the above posters - I make something when I get an idea which is generally a variation on something else as Jojogirl mentioned with the cuddle rugs. But SL is such a large place, and people shop at different places that I think there is enough room for similar types of items.

I don't make clothes, but honestly, as someone who really doesn't clothes shop that much on SL, when I do find myself in a clothing shop (not talking about your's Rha - just "in general" unless it's a very distinctive shop, many outfits look like others I've seen elsewhere. I think new "twists" on something instead of something never done before is what many creators do.

I'm going to answer this before reading the replies (unusual for me), because it's quite interesting and timely. I ran into this idea recently.

My short answer is no I don't check to see what is out there.

If I'm inspired to make something, I just make it. I go for broke and have fun. I create for fun first, certainly not for profit. My style is NOT realistic and nowhere near as nice as most of what's on the grid, but it's whimsical and may appeal to someone now and again.

I DID recently fall upon a certain style of furniture in world (while researching something else) and almost gave up on my own stuff when I was hit with the realization that theirs was way better and I sucked. But then I thought, "No, hang on, Lu, you enjoy creating, and that should be enough. Keep putting it out there and keep having fun."

You may some day create something similar to another person, but honestly, we can't worry about it. Hopefully yours will still have a broad appeal. So much in SL has been done -- and done well and poorly and everything in between.

However, from a marketing standpoint, one should know what's out there.

If you're building for enjoyment, do your thing and don't worry about it.

And finally, the real heart of your question -- inadvertent copyright infringement -- well, there's only so many ways to bend and texture prims and clothes, so depending on the item, there may be some accidental copying. Worry about that when it happens, I say, because you honestly were NOT copying if you came up with your item on your own.

The day of my store's Shiraz's opening I realized just how much further I need to go to actually think my clothes are GOOD- right now I think they're pretty good and in my head I have compared my self with some others - some of whom beat me hands down and others I just figure haven't found their flow yet.

Point though is- if I didn't look around, I wouldn't have a sort of goal to shoot for- like, "Yeah, I wanna be that good!". Certainly sometimes what I see inspires me, makes me wonder, how did they get that prim to do that? Wow- what an inspired use of that texture-- that sort of thing. But what comes out in the end, is me- good, bad or just ho-hum - it is me.

Rha- run with it- go, go, go!

Nothing wrong with taking an idea and improving upon it.

Just think how quickly Pepsi copies an idea Coke has come up with, and vice versa, with just enough changes to not step on any copyrights and intellectual property. Firefox put in tabbed windows, and sudden Explorer has them, too. It's how trends develop.
If one person starts wearing their shoes on their heads, it's weird. If everyone does it, it's fashion. By having more than one designer work with an idea, it becomes "the new thing".

I'd object if creators start making poorly-done knock offs of something just to cash in on a trend. That's a fast way of ruining a good idea.

With conventional/traditional clothing designed for human shaped avatars, I would think it is actually impossible to imagine something that hasn't already been done. So no, don't look around for things to avoid, but instead look around for things that inspire you.

You have already set yourself apart from thieves and cheaters, in that your own conscience required you to ask the question in the first place.

Add me to the "I don't bother to check," group. I make what I make because I like and for me, it's fun. I create because it's a part of who I am, and since I've been drawing dresses since I can remember, it almost seems natural for me to build them here.

Yes, there are an awful lot of clothing designers in SL, so I definitely can't say that I'm doing anything that is awe inspiring or completely original.

Ecclesiastes first said that around 200 BC. Think about it, relax, and then design what you want to.

I only have original ideas...

But seriously. I tended to look around, and it got me to almost produce nothing anymore. So I decided to not bother scanning the market.
The things I eventually came up with are generally still different enough from similar items out there.

And remember, if you're looking around to prevent making something that already exists, others aren't. And the item you created originally will be one of many within a few weeks anyways.
And who, while buying stuff, checks if an item was an orginal concept?

(BTW I'm talking about ideas and concepts here, not blatantly copying another persons work... let me be clear on that.)

Unless I'm looking to sell something and having a look at the market, I just make it.


Seriously. The idea may have been tried before, but the object itself can never be made in exactly the same way.

(Ditto, blatant copying disclaimer)

Count me in the minority, but before I invest a lot of work building something, I always do some market research. My goal is to have at least one unique element that is currently unavailable. Building something truly original can be rewarding both monetarily and in the satisfaction you feel.

If you were to actually take seriously what most sl creators say, think and actually believe about how everything they make/ made is an original idea, a first ever in the annals of human creations you'd think everything they sell was never made before they came out with it.

Think about it. Isn't this what's being implied here? If they didn't invent it themselves the first time around then what they put out for sale was then copied from someone else. I mean, it has to of been because you can't have it both ways. If someone else makes what they have it was stolen from them but it's not if they do it? So every single item they sell they've invented first time ever?

They feel every single item they've made is their creations and anyone who makes anything remotely similar has done so because they've copied from them. From them. Not copied, but stolen from them. And this includes simple items such as clothes, furniture and everything else.

We should be proud knowing and being so close to so many Einsteins in the world of creations. Should give us goosebumps, I know it does me.

By the way

Why hasn't the news gotten hold of this whopper of a story?

I only look after my design/conception is well under way. And then only out of curiousity. I still consider myself in the startup stages and sometimes it can be a bit deflating if you look to see how many similar items are out there. But, everyone has their own unique touch and personality, and there will be definite differences.

Once I had an idea in my head and thought "oh that would be so cool!" Well it turned out there are a bajillion of that kind of jewelry that just "came" to me one day. Both SL and RL. But I decided to make it anyway. 'Cause it's fun and mine is still going to be a bit different in execution. In any case, it is usually the subtle differences that cause one person to prefer one "thing" over another.

Sometimes I'll look if I can't think of anything to make myself.. But usually I'll just make what I need. I haven't sold anything that I've made yet, but perhaps in the future. Like I needed some walls. But I couldn't find a pre-fab that had the whole style that I wanted. Nor could I just find 'walls'. So I made them. Then I couldn't find a good single person couch, so I made that too. Granted, there are others 'better' than mine out there.. But they're so costly! Once I figure out the Torus better, I'll make things similiar to them too but with my own style.

In short - Make what YOU want, odds are there's dozen of others out there looking for that item too! So what if it's close to someone elses shirt? Go to any retail store and you'll find brands that have the EXACT same shirt. Different price, different colors and maybe different fabric. They don't sue over this stuff, so SLers shouldn't panic either. There are only so many possibilities - Go wild and try something totally crazy some time!

I'd love to see bell-bottom/flared pants that did some sort of weaving or laced texture. A shirt that has flared cuffs, medium neckline, but bare at the shoulders. I've a RL shirt that I'd love to see/make for SL, but haven't figured out how yet.

No.