Remember a few years ago when Johnny Cupcakes got ripped off by Urban Outfitters? So do we. That’s why it was a surprise (and a disappointment) to see such a respectable brand fall to the dark side.
As designers, we sometimes argue where the line is drawn between inspiration and theft. After the jump, you’ll see a small example of just where that line is drawn. Last year in 2007, Onetwentysix’ own Jon Contino drew a series of lettering-based illustrations. (A link to his Flickr page where they reside.) This was nothing out of the ordinary as most people recognize him for doing just that. On June 26 of this year (2008), Johnny Cupcakes made a blog post announcing the sale of their new summer line which included a shirt that seemed oddly familiar to a number of Jon’s fans. Thanks for all the emails, everyone. We appreciate it very much!
Take a look and judge for yourself.
6/30/08 #
[...] blog entry has [...]
6/30/08 #
Sadly, my bar isn’t set very high for a guy named “Johnny Cupcakes.”
6/30/08 #
..oh dip.
6/30/08 #
[...] a bit from the Onetwentysix blog; Remember a few years ago when Johnny Cupcakes got ripped off by Urban Outfitters? So do we. [...]
6/30/08 #
epic dip
6/30/08 #
uncool. :/
6/30/08 #
Up until Cupcakes’s rip, I’d never heard of the fruit basket… now he’s all over. That one rip made him a superstar. Hopefully this has the same effect.
6/30/08 #
I’m not on anyone’s side but, isn’t that shit just a font? I know its not like a standard downloaded typeface but seriously, I’m sure Jon Contino even bit his lettering from somewhere else… Overall its pretty weak to run the same program on Cupcakes team…
6/30/08 #
wow. what a dick. i had mad respect for johnny cupcakes until i saw this
6/30/08 #
just a bit too similar to see as ‘inspired by’
6/30/08 #
Hey Lifter - no it’s not a font. All of those pieces were hand-drawn for one of our clients for a project we worked on last year. My work has definitely been influenced by great tattoo artists of the past, but it’s always been just that - inspiration. I learned how to draw in that style by studying other artists’ approach. There’s a difference between biting a style and directly copying/tracing pieces of someone else’s work. That’s the real issue here.
6/30/08 #
I feel that.. I also appreciate you coming on and giving me some direct facts. I know how you feel man, and that shit is super poor if its a literal trace/bite or whatever. No disrespect at all bro. You obviously caught where I was coming from.
Thats the mess with people turned business, they forget where they come from and go bad.. or get lazy…
6/30/08 #
interesting,
i find it hard to believe that johnny cupcakes of all things would rip off another artist..
that font is a very well used tattoo font though, even i have scripted it almost identical and i’ve never heard of the artist. But its definitley a rip-off when the loops are identical.
Sad.
6/30/08 #
Lifter - I definitely agree with you and appreciate your comments. There are always many sides to a story and I think it wouldn’t be fair if they weren’t all shared. I’m hoping that whoever did it was just trying to make a deadline or something and just really liked my lettering.
WRNG - Exactly.
6/30/08 #
Who is the mystery client you designed this for Jon?
6/30/08 #
None other than The Awesome Brooklyn Circus of course!!!
6/30/08 #
Hey Jon - Johnny of Johnny Cupcakes here. All of this was brought to my attention this evening. I’m sorry the way things turned out. As you know, my brand is not a stranger to being ripped off by other companies. I can empathize with you in this situation.
Upon finding out about said situation, I immediately contacted the artist who I outsourced the “Freshly Inked” t-shirt artwork from. He posted a response on the emptees message board
http://www.emptees.com/posts/4719-manticores-assemble
This matter is still being looked into and we will be in contact soon to settle this amicably. I highly respect designers/illustrators such as yourself and I certainly do not promote unethical practices which exploit their talents by any means.
Sincerely,
Johnny Cupcakes
6/30/08 #
[...] sympathy, caught red handed ripping off TheRoot42 designer Jon Contino! What a sad, sad tale….read more | digg [...]
7/1/08 #
Looking closely at the 2 pieces there are several reasons this is undeniably a rip.
7/1/08 #
Johnny Cuppycake is shakin’ in his tins!
7/1/08 #
funny johnny cupcakes HASN’T EVEN TAKEN THE SHIRT DOWN! it’s still for sale on his site! all jc cares about is the money. he has no morals or ethics
7/1/08 #
This is ridiculous, Johnny Cupcakes should be ashamed! He definitely knows better.
Jon’s work is totally OSSS, but just because something’s good, that’s no excuse to rip it off!
What a hypocrite!
7/1/08 #
I’m happy to hear that they both worked everything out!
The newest blog post tells it all;
http://onetwentysix.com/blog/
7/1/08 #
Great to hear it is sorted- do you want to updated your post on YTWWN?
7/1/08 #
Anyone here who has done this business knows that there is a lot to go into it and its hard fuckin work. Jon has a right to be pissed and Johnny has a right to “look into things” before pulling merchandise of his site and contacting legal.. etc.. don’t act like you know something you don’t kids.
7/2/08 #
Crazy rip, Jon. Glad to hear everything is sorted out and has ended amicably.
7/2/08 #
Thank you again to everyone for all the support!
7/3/08 #
I understand both side of the story and seeing it from a designers perspective. This is a small and very competitive market so feelings will get hurt easily. I just don’t think it’s fair to throw JC or the designer “under the bus” for having similar designs that are found in very tattoo shop around the world.
It’s like if McDonalds sued Burger King for selling hamburgers.
***I say this with the assumption that JC’s designer designed this by hand and not merely trace another man’s work.
7/3/08 #
That’s true liquid, but as stated before, this wasn’t about similar designs, it was about directly tracing over letter forms. The artist stated a few days ago when this began that he started this design in a vector program whereas I drew them by hand with a pen and paper. I wish those who doubt the issue would read the entire statement before commenting.
7/12/08 #
[...] blog post announcing the sale of their new summer line which included a shirt that seemed oddly famihttp://onetwentysix.com/blog/2008/the-pot-calling-the-kettle-black/Powerline DesignzWe invite you to browse these pages and make a selection from our unique product [...]
7/13/08 #
[...] Cupcakes and Onetwentysix ONE The Pot Calling the Kettle Black and the resolution [...]
7/30/08 #
Well My opininon even though this whole ordeal is done with is Yea of course People get pissed that someone stole there design or it resembles it to the point where it seems to be theft.
Buuut….Shit happens it could have been an accident ,if it wasnt That doesnt make anyone a horrible person People do it all the timejust because someones name is so much bigger shouldnt make the same crim so much worse ya know?
9/17/08 #
this is stupid. he used a few letters to make a design people do it all the time. this accusation makes it seem like he took the Jamaica image, slapped it on a shirt and claimed it. Not only that but a lot of the details are different in comparison.