April 1, 2021

Great minds think alike

A few days ago I stumbled upon an article about FCP monkey business that was remarkably similar to an article I had written just five months ago. I confronted the author with this. ‘Great minds think alike’, he replied.

A day later I found a post about the new website of Formafantasma, designed and built by Studio Blanco. They built a website that is quite similar to mine: same colors, also lightweight, also for a company in Amsterdam and they also used Times New Roman as their main font. I really like their design, especially the typography and the color scheme(s). Their design is based on the concept that lightweight websites are greener. To support that claim they also link to the solar powered website. They did not mention the absence of form and the historical reference of their design, which (I think) is a missed chance. Their technical execution could also have been better (their homepage is 10 times as heavy). However, the essence and feel of their website is similar.

I do not know if this is another example of ‘copying’ or just another coincidence, but frankly, I do not really care. You know what they say about designers: The good ones copy and the great ones steal. I think that art should not be copied, but great design should.

Design is not art. ‘Great minds think alike’, is a reassuring and helpful thought.

()  Joost van der Schee