Well... this is kind of like the lounge..., Exept you talk about graphic design. Options

[*Uronacid*]

Before posting realize that I am only referring to the Graphics Showcase section, thank you.

I don't waste my time the graphic showcase section anymore because I rarely see anything original graphics. It seems as just about every piece of "artwork" is a/an:

• Blend
• Icon
• Signature
• Vector-overlay
• Photo-manipulation
• Collage
• (note: I am leaving out colorization, because copyrighted images are generally needed to do this)

made using copyright images. I'm not saying that it doesn't take great skill or effort to create these pieces, but I am saying that it limits your creativity. I hate seeing people create a collage of copywrited images and call it their own work, yet I see it all the time. I upsets me. If I ever saw someone take my work, create a blend, and seriously call it their own, I would be furious.

Alright, to be fair, I know that even I occasionally create things based upon the copyrighted work of others, but the majority of my artwork is original. I rarely see completely original artwork found in the showcase forum. It seems as if 99.9% of the creations seen on Createblog are made using copyrighted images. I have a better chance at getting someone pregnant while wearing a condom than seeing a completely original piece of artwork on this site.

Many of you may think I'm complaining, but I'm not. I'm only stating the truth. This is createblog.com. A place that was supposedly grounded on creativity, and the only thing I see is copyrighted images being claimed by impostors as artwork. Do you think that this is creative? This wouldn't be such a problem if it wasn't such a frequent thing. Look at the first page:

http://www.createblog.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=168267
http://www.createblog.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=168121
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/6287/danfu4.jpg
http://www.createblog.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=167545
http://www.createblog.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=167584

*sigh*

What are your thoughts?

[*mona lisa*]

I remember making many, many wallpapers and avatars with images of famous people. They were all removed from deviantART. I understand why that happened though. It just annoys when me when I see others doing the same and their works have been left untouched. I now tend to make things starting with a blank canvas.

However, I have to disagree with the photomanipulation you gave as an example. Those photos were taken from deviantART stock accounts. These stock providers actually want others to use their photos and get creative with them. Yes, people use copyrighted images in photomanipulations, but it isn't in this case.