Posting other designers’ work to your social media feed as “inspiration”
I’m sure we have all had the experience of scrolling through instagram, only to be stopped dead in our tracks by a breathtaking image of an interior or exterior space.
If you’re anything like me, often I’ll then click on the profile of the designer who posted the image, and many times I come to realize that although the image is posted to their feed, it’s the work of another designer. While it is typical that the original designer will be credited in the caption and tagged (which is great), there are a few red flags here. My unpopular opinion is that designers should not share images of projects they have not personally worked on in their main feed AND if they do so, there needs to be more clarity on the front end that it is not their work.
Here are my reasons why:
It can be misleading:
The very first visual impression that someone gets when visiting a social media profile is the main grid, making it a great place to showcase portfolio images. BUT if a designer's grid is full of “inspiration images”, however inspiring they may be, viewers are not actually getting an honest preview or sample of that designer’s work - rather a sample of work that the designer likes or admires.
It can be unfair to the original designer:
As I hinted at on the first slide, one thing I’ve noticed is that generally in an “inspiration post” the original designer is usually tagged or credited in the caption - this is great. However, I’ve ALSO noticed that with this style of post the captions are lengthy, and the designer is not tagged or even mentioned until the very end of the paragraph. In other words, the credit tag is buried. Some people may take the time to read the long caption, but more often than not people tend to associate a post with the person who posted it, which may or may not be the responsible party for the work.
It is an easy way to grow a following:
This one feels like the least important of my reasons, but still relevant. It’s pretty common knowledge that a curated social media profile is more prone to popularity - again, not a bad thing. However, when the success of a designer profile is built on the work of others, that feels like an issue to me. This trend could be a deeper issue that lies in the competitive nature of the design industry. There is plenty of work to go around, and if the intention is really to share the work of others, why not just share the link to the original post"?
SO, what could be done?
I have a few ideas.
First, try posting “inspiration posts” to your stories instead, by sharing the original post from the original designer’s page with the share button. This honors the appropriate designer in an honest way.
Next, if you are a designer who posts others’ work to your feed and will continue to do so, think about reformatting your captions. The first words of the caption should clearly call out the fact that it’s someone else’s work.
Finally, add a disclaimer to your bio that lets visitors know that “not all work shown is yours” as a heads up so they know what to expect when scrolling your grid.
