Thanks for your constructive criticism.

A trend is a term for whatever blahblahblah… What are stylists… lack the knowledge of the design process but have the tools.

Eh, WTF ARE YOU BLABBERING ABOUT?

Every profession has tools. Stylists, Designers, Carpenters, Doctors, Lawyers… etc. You can give anyone of these professionals a tool to aid in the completion of their job but if they lack the knowledge of how to effectively apply the tool they will fail at completing the task properly.

Next to your ineffective ability to critique design and web trends (dare I use the word trends!) it might be smart for you to seek out an editor before publishing your ‘thoughts’ online.

“When you create something along the lines of the Web 2.0 look, or a hand drawn look for example, you are assigning attributes to whatever the content happens to be that may or may not be appropriate. Design communicates a visual message to a viewer, and when you communicate the wrong thing, you are failing your client.”

Your thoughts are not clear when you’ve used words such as something, along the lines, attributes, whatever, happens to be, may or may not be appropriate to formulate/express a thought.
Basically what I’m saying is, wtf are you talking about? Where was the wrong thing that failed to communicate to the client? I am so confused of the point of that paragraph.

And… “Design communicates a visual message to a viewer… “
duh… who would have thought? Thanks for stating the obvious!

Sorry to be rude, but I didnt bother to finish the rest of the article cause I couldn’t comprehend/believe the idiocy of the first two paragraphs.

p.s.
Good designers copy, great designers steal.

I think all the points raised are quite valid, however, it misses the evolutionary aspect of design and creativity in general… we all learn from each other… people who copy/plagiarise are called pirates/cheaters, people who mimic are either children or hair-stylists…

good stuff… good read

By the way keep up your great article.
I’m Jonathan Concepcion 23yrs old from Manila.

I think, though, that some design is – shock horror – just about ‘looking pretty’ rather than answering a brief or offering a solution to a problem. Take the background image to my site, for example. if someone emulates (or even just steals it), they’re not being original – of course not – but in a sense they’re not necessarily lacking in relevance to their own brief. It might be, for instance, that the background image from my site is actually better suited to somebody else’s site. After all, I created it as an image that was pleasing to – and somewhat representative of – me, and although they’d lack that relevance or context by emulating or stealing it, it’s possible that they might gain it in another way.

Oh god, why have I just shot myself in the foot? I guess I’m just playing devil’s advocate. Admittedly, this situation is rare, 99% of thoughtless copying and theft is unjustified, and… I’ll still kill ya if you steal my graphics.

Great article, as always!

I do believe there are general aesthetic trends which go beyond webdesign. It’s a combinatinon of fashion, advertising, architecture, graphic design, product design, traditional art…I don’t think one of those fields of knowledge pull the wagon, it’s a reciprocal thing. Everyone is inspired by everyone. When you look at a telephone made in the 60’s, you don’t have to know it was made back then to know it is a 60’s design.

From Wikipedia
A trend is something that somehow becomes popular within mainstream society over a long period of time. It is the direction of a sequence of events that has some momentum and durability.