I'll start with a quote.

Creativity is communicated in our work. Our design, engineering and architectural choices are a representation of who we are and what we value. Work we are satisfied with enough to present reveals the things we deem beautiful and worth sharing. I've noticed, many times, how that people tend to copy others. A unique re-implementation inspired by someone's work, rather than a direct reproduction. There are paradigms that are tried and tested and, hence, are a baseline in many works. In an effort to narrow down the scope of this essay, I should state that I am mainly considering web design. Progressive enhancement would allow for a certain amount of copying or imitation to be done for baseline functionality.

Innovation, not imitation

On the other hand, there are those that advocate being original.

It makes for good inspiration and taste development when you learn from others. I like to say copy quickly and creatively. Ofcourse, it is not a good idea to imitate to the point of losing your originality and identity, but fundamentally, we stand on the shoulders of great people. We build on what others have done.

I personally draw lots of inspiration from what I see. Study how people created their work. What makes it nice? What makes it work? How can I make it better? As Emil said in a related post, The things you'll create probably won't be good at first, but that's a good sign. Your taste is good enough to tell that your work is not on par yet. This phase is normal. Don't quit, it'll get better overtime.

Building my site

My personal site is heavily inspired by paco.me and rauno.me. I'm happy with what I've built for now. I'll redesign as I find new inspiration and keep learning.

PS: I have felt very indecisive releasing this post ;( . It constantly felt unpolished and unfinished. I trust my writing to get better with time. Hope you enjoyed it!