The Importance of Being Original

I recalled an interview with Heidi Klum, discussing a necklace she loved and wondered if this was her own brand. During a google search, I came across this story: Heidi Klum Law Suit. Although most handmade jewellery artists are truly small fry, every business has the potential to take off, imagine if your design took off then you had to end it all. Design is a funny thing, not unlike academic writing, ideas are merely a conversion of a collection of inspirations and experiences. However, most designers have experienced the customer's request for a knock off. Some design concepts are so popular or generic that this doesn't matter. Although, most of us will take a style of popular jewellery and change it to suit our own signature. Isn't it more meaningful and special to own an original or one of a kind than something everyone else is wearing.