Pablo Picasso once said, “Good artists borrow, great artists steal.”
巴勃罗·毕加索曾言：“优秀的艺术家借鉴，伟大的艺术家剽窃。”
Every artist and writer is certainly aware of this oft-repeated bit of wisdom, and there’s a kernel of truth to it. There’s also the view that no design is original and that it’s an evolution of everything that came before it. But I also believe that there’s a difference between a design that’s been “inspired” by something versus a design that’s been downright duplicated.
每位艺术家和作家无疑都熟知这句常被提及的智慧箴言，其中确有真理的种子。还有一种观点认为，没有设计是完全原创的，它是对之前所有设计的一种演变。但我同样相信，被“启发”而来的设计与彻头彻尾的复制之间存在差异。
And maybe that’s the question we really need to start asking—what’s the difference between a tribute, a reference, and a direct copy?
或许，这才是我们真正需要开始思考的问题——致敬、引用与直接抄袭之间，究竟有何区别？
It’s much harder to quantify in practice. It can be subtle, but the distinction is crucial. For me, a tribute honors a specific style or design element, often incorporating recognizable features as an homage while maintaining enough distinction to stand as its own creation.
在实践中量化这一点要困难得多。它可能很微妙，但这种区别至关重要。对我而言，致敬是对特定风格或设计元素的赞颂，通常会融入可识别的特征以示敬意，同时保持足够的独特性，使其能独立成作。
Something like David versus the gold-wrapped PowerBars of yesteryear feels appropriate as a tribute—a reference that draws inspiration from an existing design. But it also adapts to fit a new context, integrating familiar elements in a way that respects the original while creating something fresh. You can see the same idea at play with Olipop’s Doctor Goodwin and Dr. Pepper.
类似于大卫对抗昨日金箔包裹的 PowerBars，这样的设计作为致敬恰如其分——它借鉴了现有设计，同时又适应新语境，以一种既尊重原作又创造新意的方式整合熟悉元素。你能在 Olipop 的 Doctor Goodwin 和 Dr. Pepper 中看到同样的理念。
A copy, however, reproduces critical aspects of the original design with minimal alteration, crossing over into a world of straight imitation without adding meaningful innovation or differentiation. Ugly Vodka and Dirty Water is a recent example of a copy. TWYG and Cecred is another. There’s also Dalci versus Ruani, or Laurel’s and Jibby. Unfortunately, we can go on and on.
然而，复制品在最小程度改动下再现了原设计的精髓，跨越至纯粹模仿的境域，未注入实质性的创新或差异化。Ugly Vodka 与 Dirty Water 便是近期一例。TWYG 与 Cecred 亦是如此。还有 Dalci 对垒 Ruani，或是 Laurel’s 与 Jibby 的案例。遗憾的是，此类例子不胜枚举。
Packaging design can sometimes balance paying homage to historical aesthetics and pushing boundaries to create something new, keeping the industry in a constant cycle of reinvention (and maybe even stagnation). While borrowing elements from past eras and different spaces (fashion, music, theater, etc.) is encouraged and expected, lifting entire concepts is an issue for many creatives.
包装设计有时能在向历史美学致敬与突破界限创造新事物之间取得平衡，使行业处于不断革新（甚至可能停滞）的循环中。尽管借鉴过往时代和不同领域（如时尚、音乐、戏剧等）的元素是被鼓励且预期的，但完全照搬整个概念却成为许多创意人士的难题。
Candy Brophy is a creative director and graphic designer based in Melbourne, Australia, and is known for her concept work based on existing designs. “I started designing just to create products I wished existed out of frustration. Many existing brands I love have updates that I would have done differently, led by boardrooms, not creatives, usually, which led me to make parodies of those updates as if I were the boardroom table dictating the brief.”
Candy Brophy 是一位驻澳大利亚墨尔本的创意总监兼平面设计师，以其基于现有设计的概念作品而闻名。“我开始设计只是为了创造那些因失望而希望存在的产品。我喜爱的许多现有品牌都有更新，而这些更新我本会以不同方式处理，通常这些决策由董事会而非创意人员主导，这促使我以自己作为董事会桌前发号施令者的身份，对那些更新进行讽刺性模仿。”
When asked if brands have been upset by her work, she stated that there have been mixed reviews. “I had 7/11 remove my work from Behance, but they were bought out recently, and I guess I have a new legal team that has to justify their wage,” she jokingly shares. “On the other end of the spectrum, I was contacted by an art director at Coca-Cola because he liked my concepts and wanted to work together, so it’s surprising how many people see my work, given I keep my following low. I’ve had nasty messages and comments now disabled from incredibly opinionated male “branding bros,” but I block and move on; I don’t need to ask the world’s permission to imagine.”
当被问及品牌是否对她的作品感到不满时，她表示评价褒贬不一。“7/11 曾要求我从 Behance 上撤下作品，但最近他们被收购了，我想我有了新的法务团队需要证明他们的价值，”她打趣道。“另一方面，可口可乐的艺术总监联系了我，因为他喜欢我的概念并希望合作，这令人惊讶，考虑到我保持低调的粉丝群体。我收到了一些极具偏见的男性‘品牌兄弟’的恶意信息和评论，现在这些已被禁言，但我选择屏蔽并继续前行；我不需要向世界请求许可来构思。”
Pressure from clients, brands, and founders can set designers up for failure from the beginning. Over-reliance on mood boards may also lead to unintentional visual copying. When combined with tight deadlines, this often results in a design that feels too close to the original inspiration.
来自客户、品牌和创始人的压力，从一开始就可能将设计师推向失败。过度依赖情绪板也可能导致无意中的视觉抄袭。当与紧迫的截止日期相结合时，这往往导致设计过于接近原始灵感，缺乏创新。
When brands get too close for comfort, it dilutes creativity and stifles innovation. As designers and companies opt for familiar aesthetics that have already proven successful rather than taking risks on original ideas, the shelves become overrun with sameness. Over time, this leads to a saturation of same-ish designs and homogenization, reducing the diversity of visual expression and making it harder for once distinctive packaging to stand out. Instead of fostering a competitive landscape of creative packaging, the market becomes cluttered. Suppose you’re copying another brand (or think you’re finding inspiration from another brand), hoping for the same virality or consumer support and love. In that case, you really end up just cannibalizing the entire market and asking for trouble.
当品牌过于接近，舒适区被侵蚀，创意被稀释，创新被扼杀。设计师和企业选择已验证成功、熟悉的美学而非冒险原创，货架上充斥着千篇一律。久而久之，设计趋同饱和，视觉表达多样性锐减，独特包装难以突围。市场非但未孕育创意包装的竞争环境，反倒杂乱无章。若你模仿他牌（或自以为寻得灵感），寄望同样的热度、消费者支持与喜爱，实则不过自相残杀，自寻烦恼。
Haylee Jordan, Creative Director and Co-Founder of Supercult and thought leader within the CPG design space, shared her thoughts. “Copying just sucks—the more designers copy, the more the creative industry feels homogeneous. The whole point of design is to design, isn’t it? That means making something original, no matter how hard that process truly is,” Jordan shares. “The more designers copy, the more the truly innovative creatives will shine. That becomes very apparent when looking at an original design—it just has more soul. You can spot a copy from a mile away because the soul has been sucked right out of it. It’s quick and cheap, and the viewer can sense that.”
Haylee Jordan，Supercult 的创意总监兼联合创始人，同时也是 CPG 设计领域的思想领袖，分享了她的见解。“抄袭真是糟糕透顶——设计师们越抄袭，创意产业就越显得千篇一律。设计的全部意义不就在于设计本身吗？这意味着无论过程多么艰难，都要创造出原创作品。”Jordan 说道，“设计师们越抄袭，真正具有创新精神的创意人就越能脱颖而出。这一点在审视原创设计时尤为明显——它更具灵魂。你一眼就能看出抄袭之作，因为它的灵魂已被抽离。抄袭既快捷又廉价，观众能感受到这一点。”
On the other hand, consumers can inadvertently encourage copycat design by naturally gravitating toward packaging that feels familiar or recognizable. When faced with a variety of products, many shoppers tend to choose a design they’ve seen before. Brands recognize this preference and may opt to imitate these familiar aesthetics, believing it will increase the chances of capturing consumer attention and boosting sales.
另一方面，消费者可能会在不经意间通过自然地倾向于选择感觉熟悉或可识别的包装，从而鼓励模仿设计。面对众多产品时，许多购物者往往倾向于选择他们之前见过的设计。品牌识别到这种偏好，并可能选择模仿这些熟悉的审美，认为这将增加吸引消费者注意力和提升销售的机会。
This behavior can create a feedback loop. As a result, originality takes a backseat to familiarity, reinforcing the cycle of copycat design and further discouraging brands from exploring more innovative or unique packaging solutions. At the end of the day, though, as Jordan shared, the duplicate design often lacks soul, which consumers do notice. Whether or not it might be subconscious is another question.
这种行为可能形成反馈循环。因此，原创性让位于熟悉感，强化了模仿设计的循环，进一步阻碍品牌探索更具创新性或独特性的包装解决方案。然而，正如乔丹所分享的，抄袭设计往往缺乏灵魂，消费者确实能察觉到这一点。至于这是否是潜意识的，则是另一个问题。
When I asked Jordan for examples of packaging designs that look like direct knockoffs, she thoughtfully stated, “I think the copy-call-out culture has gotten a little insane, so I don’t subscribe to calling out too many of these copies. I think Goldi Olive Oil is a little too close to Graza. There are dozens of examples like this in CPG. Many brands have copied elements. We see the Kin (full gradient can) aesthetic everywhere. Kin still did it better, and they’ve built a brand around their package design, which is what many copycats fail to do.”
当我向乔丹询问那些看起来像是直接仿冒的包装设计例子时，她深思熟虑地表示：“我认为这种‘抄袭指认’文化已经有点失控了，所以我并不倾向于指认太多这类抄袭行为。我觉得 Goldi 橄榄油与 Graza 过于相似。在消费品领域，这样的例子不胜枚举。许多品牌都抄袭了某些元素。我们随处可见 Kin（全渐变罐）的美学风格。尽管如此，Kin 依然做得更好，他们围绕包装设计打造了品牌，而这正是众多抄袭者未能做到的。”
To tread ethically, designers should ensure they’re building upon existing designs rather than duplicating them. That means thoroughly understanding and transforming the inspiration source to fit the new brand’s voice, audience, and purpose. It’s also about pulling inspiration outside of the CPG space.
为了践行道德，设计师应确保他们是在现有设计的基础上进行构建，而非简单复制。这意味着要深入理解和转化灵感来源，以适应新品牌的声音、受众和目的。同时，这也涉及从消费品领域之外汲取灵感。
“Fashion and interior design are such fun ways to approach brand design. Good brands are built in layers, which is also how fashion, styling, and interior design work. I love to look at interior design because great interior designers mash up styles and create conceptual designs in their work,” notes Jordan. “They use texture, paintings, lighting, and patterns, layering them to create a new room and ultimately a feeling. You could get inspired by a piece of fabric, a vintage dresser in your grandma’s house, or even how an oblong pothole was filled in the street during your walk. Inspiration is everywhere; never take it from just one place.”
“时尚与室内设计是品牌设计的趣味途径。优质品牌是层层构建的，这与时尚、造型和室内设计的工作方式如出一辙。我喜欢观察室内设计，因为出色的室内设计师会在作品中融合各种风格，创造出概念性设计，”乔丹指出。“他们运用质感、绘画、灯光和图案，层层叠加，打造出全新的空间，最终营造出一种氛围。你可以从一块布料、祖母家中的古董梳妆台，甚至是你散步时看到的路面上修补的长形坑洞中获得灵感。灵感无处不在；切勿仅从一处汲取。”
Adding unique elements or a modern twist can differentiate the design while maintaining respect for the original work. Transparency about inspiration, crediting original creators, and ensuring that the new design contributes something distinct to the market are essential to ethical design practices.
融入独特元素或现代风格可以区分设计，同时保持对原作的尊重。明确灵感来源、尊重原创者并确保新设计为市场带来独特贡献，是践行道德设计实践的关键。
Shaming the dupe or copy often becomes more viral than the copycat design. Take, for example, the way Graza’s founder, Andrew Benin, went viral for calling out a competitor for using a squeeze bottle. Of course, Benin 100% didn’t invent the squeeze bottle; he simply created something influenced by professional chefs and kitchens and imagined how that could inspire the packaging he sold. Of course, unless you’re deep in the CPG space, you likely don’t remember that he was calling out Brightland’s Pizza Oil.
羞辱模仿者或抄袭者往往比抄袭设计本身传播得更广。以 Graza 创始人 Andrew Benin 为例，他因指责竞争对手使用挤压瓶而走红网络。当然，Benin 100%没有发明挤压瓶；他只是受到专业厨师和厨房的启发，构思了如何将这种灵感融入他所销售的包装中。当然，除非你深入消费品领域，否则你可能不记得他是在指责 Brightland 的披萨油。
Similarly, I recently shared a new designer’s work on an exploratory packaging design concept for a non-alcoholic spritz. I loved the color palettes she shared and seeing the first stages of a new design. Yet, when I shared it via social, it snowballed into people publicly shaming the designer for copying Ghia. However, the designer made it clear that the images she shared were part of an initial exploration and nothing was final.
同样，我最近分享了一位新设计师为无酒精气泡酒探索性包装设计概念的作品。我非常喜欢她分享的色彩搭配，并看到了新设计的初期阶段。然而，当我通过社交媒体分享时，事情迅速发酵，人们开始公开指责设计师抄袭 Ghia。但设计师明确表示，她分享的图片只是初步探索的一部分，并非最终成品。
But was it something that needed calling out? Brands sink countless dollars into launching their companies, and I understand they have become their babies. When founders care about their brand (as they should), they want to protect everything they’ve built. That makes sense.
但这真的需要特别指出吗？品牌投入无数资金来启动公司，我理解它们已如同创始人的孩子。当创始人关心他们的品牌（理应如此），他们希望保护所建立的一切。这合情合理。
Graza has been mimicked to death, which, to me, is proof of just how incredibly strong the design is. But you could also look to the often-imitated Liquid Death; as far as I can tell, not once has a founder or a brand member called out or publicly shamed a dupe, which speaks volumes about the belief and confidence in what they’re building. The founders know what they’ve created is strong and original.
Graza 已被模仿得烂大街，这在我看来，恰恰证明了其设计之强大无比。但同样值得关注的是，经常被模仿的 Liquid Death；据我所知，从未有创始人或品牌成员公开指责或羞辱过仿冒者，这充分体现了他们对所打造品牌的信念与自信。创始人们深知，他们创造的是强大且原创的作品。
When Ghia launched its new Le Fizz product this past week, the marketing collateral and photography around the drop was undeniably Ghia. Everything, down to the Instagram stories, was built upon the easily recognizable brand identity. THAT is where original brands thrive and rise above.
上周，Ghia 推出其新款 Le Fizz 产品时，围绕新品发布的营销宣传资料和摄影作品无不彰显着 Ghia 的独特风格。从 Instagram 故事到每一个细节，都构建在易于辨识的品牌标识之上。这正是原创品牌得以蓬勃发展并脱颖而出的关键所在。
Calling out a dupe might be wasted energy that could instead be spent building a unique, innovative branding system. When founders hone in on what makes their brand special and can articulate that visually across all platforms and spaces, consumers can and will notice.
揭露抄袭或许是一种浪费精力的行为，不如将这些精力用于构建一个独特且创新的标志系统。当创始人专注于品牌的独特之处，并能在所有平台和空间中以视觉方式清晰表达时，消费者定会注意到。
As Jordan mentioned, when a brand has built a solid foundation, it can use that to continue building its visual brand through marketing collateral, photography, social media, email campaigns, etc. Many people are behind what makes a brand’s creative special, and it comes to life in many ways; the packaging is just one manifestation of them. And yet, an original take of a new design will always rise to the top because of its supporting creative and the team of creatives behind it.
正如乔丹所言，当一个品牌打下坚实基础后，便可利用这一基础通过营销宣传品、摄影、社交媒体、电子邮件营销等途径持续构建其视觉品牌。众多人才共同造就了品牌的创意独特性，并通过多种形式呈现；包装仅是其中一种表现形式。然而，新设计的原创性总能脱颖而出，这得益于其背后的创意支持与创作团队。
But the real takeaway here? Just don’t copy.
但真正的要点是什么？就是不要抄袭。