I am currently trying to copy NASA’s website and I think I learn a lot this way, because I look often in their code too. I know that I do this mostly to learn, but can I include these copies in my portofolio? Is it legal? Is it a bad practice?
I think it is good that you are trying to learn by examining other websites. But when you copy a website, it does not become your work and so no, you should definitely not put it in your portfolio for three main reasons:
- People want to see what you can produce, not what you can copy.
- It probably is not legal to publish a copied website (copyright laws, etc).
- Even if it were legal, it is definitely not ethical IMHO.
Your portfolio is for showing off your own work so that potential clients can see what you are capable of, not the work of others.
3 Likes
Though if you acknowledge on it that it is a sample redesign and/or an exercise in “real life work”, then that is typically OK. It will not get you the returns that paid work will, but it can be an effective tool for building business up - though as soon as you get the paid business, those prototypes need to go away.
1 Like
Not even on github? I mean, 90% of the code is my own I copy just the design and look in dev tools just for things like font sizes or padding
If your job is website designing, then no! Show the client that you are able to design websites that fit their needs, not ones that copy what someone else has done. Looks like you need to go over design considerations. You already know how to push pixels. Now you need to learn design theory and approaches to solving customer problems. I recommend you spend a lot of time reading posts on this site in Design & UX, and Business. (Beware of those who think learning design for the web means learning Photoshop [rolls eyes]).
This topic was automatically closed 91 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.