Remember that video I posted about where good ideas come from? I recently watched a four-part video series that examines the same ideas but through the lens of the “remix.” The four videos in “Everything is a Remix” get progressively longer (and better)—you might watch them in a few sittings—but watch the entire series. By the end, you get a very satisfying “So that’s where he was going with this!”

Relevance to Web Design

The pop culture side of these videos makes it relevant to just about everything, but the ideas also gave me some good perspective on web design. The fact that website layouts, color schemes, and code snippets are mostly uncopyrightable and unpatentable has been a boon for the industry. There’s very little shame in reappropriating others’ work, and alternative licenses like Creative Commons and GPL (which WordPress licenses under) have allowed “remixing” of plugins, themes, graphics, user interfaces, and more.

My plugin started as a copy of some code from WordPress StackExchange. The code is barely recognizable at this point, but I haves no doubt that my plugin wouldn’t exist without it. To use the framework from the video, I copied a snippet, transformed it to meet my needs, and will be happy if it’s ever combined with someone else’s ideas for a WordPress site or new plugin.

Everything is a Remix

Part 1: The Song Remains the Same

http://vimeo.com/14912890

Part 2: Remix Inc.

http://vimeo.com/19447662

Part 3: The Elements of Creativity

http://vimeo.com/25380454

Part 4: System Failure

http://vimeo.com/36881035

Talk Back

What was your favorite remix in the series? What have you recently remixed in your life?