I was recently over at Will Bryant's website and blog after Poppytalk spotlighted his amazing interactive magazine cover. On his blog, I noticed a post about a rip off of his "Nice People.." design a friend saw while at home in India. This was his response:

Typically when your work gets ripped, you’re upset by it. My immediate reaction to seeing this was, “whoaaa rad!,” which shortly turned into “whoaaa, wait a minute.” This bootleg version of “Nice People” is extremely well done. In fact, so well done that I’m kinda jealous I didn’t overlay a pattern and print the type in in majik foil ink!

So what’s next? Well, Deepak was swift enough to get her email address and I’ve contacted the wearer of the shirt to inquire more about it’s origin. I think I might request to have 100 shirts to sell of my own, haha.

I thought his response was really beautiful and in light of the message of the design, quite fitting. Of course we should all strive to respect the creative work of others by not copying and of course there are measures to take when your work is in fact ripped off, but it's fantastic to see someone so utterly in love with making things himself and the creativity of others that his ego becomes secondary. I'd like to live with that kind of passion more. To see the bootleg version of his design, check out his blog, or for loads of other inspiring work, his website. (which, btw, leads with his mission statement of sorts: "I make stuff because I get sad if I don't")