Inspiration or Stealing?

I am new to designing websites (professional ones at least) and I sometimes have a hard time trying to create a website. In this case I usually go to different site's like TemplateBox and TemplateMonster to get "inspiration" and idea's for websites but sometimes I tend to make a template that similarly resembles the one I had in mind... my question is: Would this be considered stealing and would it at all de-grade my selling point? Like, would it be grounds for somebody to want to pay cheap because the template is somewhat a re-make of one already made?

Thanks for the help?

yes.

it's one thing to look at a design and have it spark an idea, but when you just copy the design, and change it just so it'll be 'different' you're still just ripping off the design.

some things are harder to prove than others - some things just aren't the unique - but when you reverse engineer a design you shouldn't be paid at all. in actuality, it'd probably destroy your practice. it probably wouldn't be as big a deal if you knocked off one no-name template for another. it's still ethically wrong, but the time/money needed to peruse these isn't worth it to some kid who wants his $200 back - that might buy you a simple meeting with a lawyer.

if you're dealing with established business where their name is vulnerable to your actions, if you screw up, they'll come down on you as hard as they possibly can to keep their name clean of you.

Not technically considered "ripping" but I would just use those designs as practice, keep to yourself and not try to sell.

actually, it would be. you don't have to be down to the t to be considered ripping.

I see things that I think oooo and then it gets jumbled in my head over time and I might do my own version but it never even looks like what I saw. I tend to only like little parts of designs rather than a whole site.

Also I get A LOT of inspiration outside, more so than online. There is a wealth of unique inspiration out there, you just have to see it.

Derek, even though I was the one who asked the question... in my opinion I don't believe its ripping off the design. If I designed the layout from scratch but created a different "feel" for it, I don't believe it could be considered ripping the template off.

The fact of the matter is that any website designer could say that it is hard to be creative in making a template, thats why I know lots of them instead look at templates and as Sulcalibur said, take bits and pieces off every template they look at and construct their own. If this was considered ripping off I would think that a major part of the template industry would fall apart in my opinion.

Either way, just my .02 cents... but I do appreciate your comments.

It's not a case of ripping or stealing it's a case of copying and if you copy a design, to answer your original question, will it harm you from a selling point of view then yes it will greatly harm your chances of making a sale and it will greatly harm the price you can sell your services for. More importantly it will also greatly harm your reputation and reputation is something you only get one shot at.

Now if your being inspired by something and go on and create your own work thats fine but you have to determine the difference between copying and inspiration. Way too many people put blatant copying down as 'inspiration' when it's obviously just not the case.

^ Thank you Bazza for your answer, that's exactly what I was thinking. Now... if I could just ask another questions:

With me becoming an upcoming designer (and I haven't sold a single design yet in the Marketplace, I agree their not the best designs) --- what ways can I be creative and get in the state of mind a regular designer would be to create a great design?

In short, what are some inspirations some professional designer's use that could help me?

I've been told once that ripping or stealing ideas from graphic design or web design is a great way to learn tricks and techniques. But thats idea's, not "tracing out" the design of course. If your new to web design, i think its a great way to boost your quality of layout or design. If your building these templates and selling them, i'd have to say bad plan.. but if lets say your working with a client that really wants their site to resemble one they like, I think thats ok to a point.

For inspiration i look at other websites (not templates) similar to what i am looking to make. I may find a colour scheme i like on one site and a layout on another. Sometimes i will just take bits and pieces from different sites and not 80% from one site alone.. Its more fun to create something thats "your own" anyways

^^ That's what I do me myself... but sometimes I have trouble trying to create a website. I sit down, draw concepts on a sheet of paper and I am never satisfied with none of them, and I even have a hard time designing a website whenever I try and look at one for inspiration so I just copy a template (not to sell but to get my mind into a creative mode.)

My question was, how can I get out of this so I don't end up making a complete replica? (Sorry if I worded it wrong.) But how do I get my creative mode in my mind working, what do other professional template designers seek? How do you all get your creative juices flowing and what errors do you watch out for, I know clutter should stay at a minimum but what other things should I look for that will boost my template sale?