: Redesigning foreign website for my portfolio and offer it? I've had an interest in web design for a long time and am constantly trying to learn something new. I do not have any references

@Murphy175

Personally, I don't think this is a very good idea, for a number of reasons.

First, a company has invested time and money into their website, perhaps quite a lot of either or both. Most won't appreciate somebody essentially telling them that their design is "wrong," which is what you would be implying.

Next, by including it in your portfolio, you are automatically implying that you created or worked on the website, even if you give credit otherwise. At best, this may be considered bad taste; at worst, you could be infringing on copyright laws. Think about it this way - when you do become a successful web designer, do you want somebody taking a website you've spent many hours and creative energy on, and claiming it as his/her own?

There is really nothing wrong with using a company's website for inspiration, although you may want to use a number of websites for that. You can see what kinds of things (products and/or services) are found on that kind of website.

What you will want to do is to make something more generic for a portfolio, until you get actual clients that you have designed yourself. Come up with a company name and create a logo, etc.

There are plenty of ideas out there, and room for innovation, that you don't have to steal another site. Creativity is a hallmark of web design.

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@Harper822

No, it isn't a bad practice to use another site, as long as you don't try to pretend that you came up with the concept; meaning give credit, and as Melanie said you could run into some issues with the law, just make sure that the law doesn't win. Ask the local company if you can use a redesigned version of their website for something on your portfolio.

A great idea to kick-start your portfolio is to design an innovative website to hold your all of your work. Even in the beginning the customer can see what you're capable of. The website would be a great way for our customer to learn how you work and your specific skill set through a bio page. With the portal open, you can give them a lot more than just a few website designs you've done all in one go.

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@Welton855

If you use a local company's website for your portfolio, you could run into some copyright issues even if you totally redesign the site. The company has full rights to their name, their logo, and even the text on their page. If you use this as your portfolio, you could have some problems.

That said, there's nothing wrong with doing a redesign of their site and then offering it to them. You would want permission to use it for your portfolio and if you want that, offer them the redesign free of charge in return for permission to use the site as a part of your portfolio. I doubt the company would see anything wrong with this. But, again, only use it in your portfolio with the company's permission.

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