Time to Panic

May 5, 2006 8:37 AM

Panic -- makers of "Shockingly Good Mac Software" and visually appealing marketing collateral (including their website) -- have documented the various places their branding has been honored flatteringly borrowed ripped-off on the internets. My favorite is the site selling one of their original icons for $199, promising "exclusive ownership." Is imitation really the sincerest form of flattery?
posted by pmbuko (27 comments total)

Hah, that is pretty cool. The Panic.com guys are all really cool guys, too. It's fun to see that they've taken a lighthearted approach to this.
posted by drstein at 8:53 AM on May 5, 2006

I love me some Transmit.
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:57 AM on May 5, 2006

What are the chances that I would be viewing that page (via Hot Links) and then, from there, gone to check Metafilter - at the very moment that someone posted it as a FPP (with no comments, at the time). Not that remote really>

Yeah, we've got a Panic developer here somewhere. I still think their eCommerce shopping cart is the best I've ever seen.
posted by spock at 8:57 AM on May 5, 2006

makes me think of good ol' pirated-sites.com..
posted by zenzizi at 9:08 AM on May 5, 2006

Wait, what, is one of them Apple's site from Europe?
posted by phyrewerx at 9:27 AM on May 5, 2006

I like how they've recreated the Dashboard experience and made it even more annoying.
posted by cillit bang at 10:09 AM on May 5, 2006

Heh, Zenzizi, never saw that. Looks like we're on there too.
posted by Shutter at 10:15 AM on May 5, 2006

So, is Panic claiming ownership of magnet icons? Or red and silver magnet icons?

Most of the others are straight rip-offs, but I think it reaching to claim the one linked in the post is a rip-off. Is it similar? Yeah, sure but those kind of magnets are very common. Is it derivative? Maybe. Is it unique as the site claims? No. But that doesn't make it a rip-off. If this were the case, the shopping cart icon spock mentions could be considered a rip-off. That and practically every icon regarding windows, navigation, color, fonts, et cetera.
posted by effwerd at 10:15 AM on May 5, 2006

Spock: not at all remote. I did the same.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:19 AM on May 5, 2006

effwerd: Yeah, I agree that the Unison "magnet" icon copy linked in the post was more of an "inspired-off" than a "rip-off", since it's not a pixel-for-pixel copy. (I've noted that in the caption.) That said, I swear to you, most of the rest are legitimate, good-old-fashioned direct rips. (The photos of our office are particularly weird -- I can't tell you how surreal it is to go to a random website and see a picture of your desk.)
posted by cabel at 10:29 AM on May 5, 2006

Cabel, any chance of adding some previous/next buttons to the photo viewer? It's ridiculously difficult to browse.
posted by cillit bang at 10:32 AM on May 5, 2006

cillit: It's definitely on the to-do list for the ridiculous zooming-photo malarky. It was really designed for the occasional image to zoom up, not an entire gallery, so I've got some thinking to do there... anyway, absolutely noted and agreed.
posted by cabel at 10:36 AM on May 5, 2006

Wait, those are Panic's icons? Because the vCard one looks an awful lot like Apple's vCard icon. (Yeah, the design is a ripoff of Panic's, but still...)

And now Panic owns every picture of a yellow and blue truck? The Transmit icon is a truck too, so it must be a ripoff of the Transmit icon? There are a lot of blatant ripoffs on display, they don't need to go for the mildly similar.

(I say this as the world's happiest Transmit user.)
posted by revgeorge at 10:39 AM on May 5, 2006

Revgeorge: Indeed, on a page full of pixel-for-pixel rip-offs, two are more "inspired-offs", including the baby truck. I'll note that in the captions! Thanks for the feedback. Note that we're being lighthearted here: it's just fun to see where exact things and similar things show up. This is not the Lawyer Express. ;)
posted by cabel at 10:47 AM on May 5, 2006

I love the zoomy zoom thing. Especially the highlighted icon part that animates away to the full image.
posted by mathowie at 10:59 AM on May 5, 2006

Definitely, cabel. Most of those trucks are plain copied-and-pasted with a little retouch to get rid of Panic's logo (and Backyard Entertainer didn't even bother with that). The truck for the file migration software did the best at trying to be a little different.
posted by effwerd at 11:00 AM on May 5, 2006

I like the new Freeverse Software homepage.

(Disclaimer: I used to work for Freeverse. And I still love Panic.)
posted by Remy at 11:37 AM on May 5, 2006

I am still baffled by the fact that Panic sells official Katamari Damacy shirts. Wha?
Yeah, I read the story about how it happened. It's still weird!
posted by Sibrax at 12:30 PM on May 5, 2006

Bruce's write-up for that Freeverse image is pretty funny.

(Disclaimer: I do work for FV. And Panic rocks.)
posted by Mikey-San at 12:39 PM on May 5, 2006

I find it most amusing that Mac users pay enough for Usenet and FTP clients, and apparently some small apps to customize your icons, that a company can live off of it.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 3:30 PM on May 5, 2006

I don't mind paying for well-designed software that I use every single day, especially if it comes with good support. Transmit pretty much stays open all day long, and it's worth the (small) cost for the quality of the app I get in return.
posted by Mikey-San at 4:36 PM on May 5, 2006

I find it most amusing that Mac users pay enough for Usenet and FTP clients, and apparently some small apps to customize your icons, that a company can live off of it.

What, are we clowns, here for your amusement?
posted by illovich at 8:04 PM on May 5, 2006

Panic rules. Transmit and Unison are worth every penny to me.

Heck, I even bought Audion back in the day... ah, Mac app nostalgia...
posted by lovecrafty at 12:13 AM on May 6, 2006

I find it most amusing that Mac users pay enough for Usenet and FTP clients, and apparently some small apps to customize your icons, that a company can live off of it.

I imagine ringtone companies must make you piss your pants.
posted by chrismear at 12:22 PM on May 6, 2006

I can't tell you how surreal it is to go to a random website and see a picture of your desk.

cabel: It's also funny to go to the (image of the) random website, see the picture of your desk, and see our office building through your window.
posted by billder at 9:53 AM on May 7, 2006

Oh noes! Someone ripped off our designs! Please, feel bad from us and purchase our shirts. Now available: the Atari ripoff, the Macromedia ripoff and the Apple ripoff.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 2:11 PM on May 8, 2006

Re-read what Cabel said:

Note that we're being lighthearted here: it's just fun to see where exact things and similar things show up. This is not the Lawyer Express. ;)

Additionally, there's a difference between paying homage and thievery. But again, the ripoff page is in fun, meant for entertainment. Notice how each site's name has been covered up, after all. (-:
posted by Mikey-San at 2:54 PM on May 8, 2006