AOkay so I am an at home decorator and I don't do many cakes. My customers are mostly family and friends and sometimes referrals. I am a very visual person so when I can see a picture I can almost duplicate it. Then if someone wants me to do a cake with no picture I don't do very well. I really want to do more of my own ideas but I have to see a picture to do a good job. I feel bad that I am always using someone else's ideas and work! Obviously people realize they are not my ideas, but I don't know what to do. Is it a big deal that i use others ideas as long as i am clear they are not my own. Where do you get your ideas from??? Do you create your own ideas everytime. Thanks for the help and words of wisdom.

similar to you, I can do a great job if someone shows me what they want but I lack the vision to plan something out on my own.  I do understand why cake designers (someone who actually takes the time and skill to plan out a vision) could be bothered by people like us straight copying their work.  Generally, when someone brings me a picture of something and says "I want exactly this", I explain that I can give them something similar but not 100% exact.  And then I go on to put my own twist on whatever the design was so that it's not a complete replication of someone else's work.

AI guess I am "small potatoes" but I think it's a compliment that someone would want to copy a cake I have done!!

y'know if you compare copyright dates on earlier cake books to some latter day cake books

you will notice that so & so1 did this certain type cake before so & so2 and the latter is rather famous for it and so on and so on

so tons of the cakes are inspired by lots of other cakes

and those were inspired by nature and products we use and things we do and the people we are

wilton built an entire business on people copying wilton stuff someone recently reminded me

decopak and those kinds of cake decorator products companies produce cake books that stores have to copy exactly

so there ain't no copyright on a rose or a purse or a gift box or a border or a design

mr lambeth ain't gonna sue anybody for infringement

i have several copied/inspired by others and i had them noted as such when i had an online presence/s

that's part of being a good artist is to replicate what you can see and feel into your drug of choice, cake/sugar

but tons of cakes are produced that we can't even remember who to credit with the design

clearly you are not alone ~ welcome to the world of caking

Just yesterday I found a close replica of a cake I did a few years back for our state fair. At first I was a little peeved but then I go thinking that is is quite a compliment to have someone like your design well enough to have someone else make my cake for them. (Yes, it would be nice to at least get a little credit for it :-)

Hope you have a good day and as they say "Imitation is the greatest form of flattery".

I am very visual too. I see a picture of a cake and I know I can make it. But, I usually change something in the design, perhaps the colour or the border design or the type of flowers. I someone would copy an original design from me, I would be flattered too that someone else actually wants the same ideas.

I got over that "feeling bad for copying" feeling because we share our ideas, otherwise we wouldn't be here on Cake Central sharing and showing.