Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal

Good Artists Copy Great Artists Steal

New advertising campaign for Animaster animation school looks incredibly similar to the 2006 campaign for Macacolandia design studio.

Inspiration or Theft? You decide…

Animaster Animation School Campaign 2009

Advertising Agency: Rediffusion DYR, Bangalore, India

Animaster Animation School Advertisement

Animaster Animation School Advertisement 2

Animaster Animation School Advertisement 3

Animaster Animation School Advertisement 4

Animaster Animation School Advertisement 5

Macacolandia Design Studio Campaign 2006

Advertising Agency: Fischer America Comunicacao Total, Brazil

Macacolandia Design Studio Advertisement

Macacolandia Design Studio Advertisement 2

Macacolandia Design Studio Advertisement 3

Macacolandia Design Studio Advertisement 4

Also check out: Drawings on Dirty Trucks

  1. Jim

    They stole the idea, but the art is different. I would say they were “inspired”. :)

  2. Sol

    Plagiarism.

  3. jcrain

    there’s nothing new under the sun…whose rippedoff who?…its all homage to MC Escher I cite

    “Drawing Hands-1948 Lithograph”

  4. Nick

    I agree with JCRain. ….didn’t the Simpsons do something like this too?

  5. JAPONfan

    MC Escher live forever. The only sad thing is that some “creative director” don’t know that someone had “his” idea first so now they ad look like ripoff.

  6. Mr Kuzio

    Ok, maybe there is a copy if the idea, but i like both of them.

  7. deekomoose

    I personally think the Looney Tunes, Duck Amuck episode is relevant and is where everything began…ever.

  8. gary

    Hasn’t everything been done, copied and imitated in the art world.

  9. J.R.

    Stealing, ripped off, plagiarism?????????
    It’s freaking great stuff!!!! I applaud the idea of being inspired to another great or greater place…

  10. Scott Robison

    The idea of the artwork interacting with the hands was obviously taken, but I think they took it to the next level where the art is actually coming to life. Every piece of art inspires another. Power to them!

  11. Pablinho

    Theft or not they both look great.

  12. KindMindDesign

    They say jealousy is the best form of flattery…The team from India clearly saw inspiration in the Brazil work – however, inspiration doesnt mean theft. The cats from Brazil better get there game back up…the studio from India is clearly running away with the IDEA.

  13. Jack

    OR, how about the third possibility: coincidental creativity? The concept here isn’t really that much of a stretch: drawings come alive and the artist interacts. A million kids have that daydream every day.

    Beyond that, in science, entirely independent researchers come up with the same or similar ideas all the time, there’s no reason why art & design are any different. I myself have developed creative innovations only to discover later someone already did it before or around the time I did. People automatically jump on the attack that it was plagiarism, but perhaps that is simply because it is more frightening for us to consider that our creativity isn’t so absolutely unique; criticism of personal integrity is more palatable than facing the huge unknown of chance, coincidence, and synchronicity. Seriously, this day and age, who would steal so blatantly and not expect that the internet would catch up with them sooner or later? That to me is far more difficult to believe.

  14. wendell

    This kind of post is a shame. Pure sensacionalism.

  15. Fili Campos

    Everything inspires everything, but they do almost look alike. I think they should at least tried to do something else. Instead of drawing on a table, example (maybe had a painting on canvas coming alive) Anyways they did the same thing in this video from the 80’s:

    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=379399441132904905

  16. sardar

    that’s really intersting.

  17. Alexius G

    nice video=) i remember the song, but i didn’t know who sang it until now

  18. Miguel Alho

    I’d say plagarismo, from the latest to the previous. The brazilian campain could easily be considered inspired the the concept of drawing and artist interacting and I say it is easily acceptable.

    But the most recent campain is just toooooooo similar. I mean, both are black and white sketches on white open backgrounds, both have a cut pencil, both have a hand holding a chain or similar, both have and animal grabing the artists left hand/wrist (consider the chef an animal…) and, well, both have a logo in the same exact place… Looks like plagarism to me.

    Not to say that the artwork is bad, though , cause its amazing in both, But it’s just to similar. I mean, twist it around with color, add more hands interacting.. I don’t know… When your inspired by something, you’d kinda expect to create something new and diferent, even if with the same concept… not the exact same thing..

  19. Yecats

    What about the Take Me On video from AHA where the girl is dragged into a comic? It’s the same concept… but moving!

  20. andre

    http://kevinboyko.com/Resume/escher-hands.jpg

    Escher did the same a looooooooooong time ago.

    Sorry

  21. Colleen Marie

    So everyone who paints a portrait of a woman is really just ripping of Da Vinci? Anyone who builds a house that is at peace with it’s surroundings is ripping of Frank Lloyd Wright?

    Have you never seen a piece of art or a craft and thought of how you could recreate it to make it your own? This website is full of objects paying homage to other great ideas.

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