Really, PRC?

Look, we get it. Designing a website is hard. Any kind of work that entails creativity is a total drag sometimes, so there’s a big chance that some designers want to take shortcuts and liberally lift designs from other websites and incorporate it into their own.

While that may work for a mom and pop operation (or a college kid’s weekend project) that’s totally unacceptable if a big corporation or government does it. That’s why today we’re calling out the management of the Professional Regulation Commission for their Licensure Examination and Registration Information System (LERIS v2) website. While some blame can be pointed at the developers of the site, ultimately it’s up to the management of the PRC to make sure that the design passes muster.

If you don’t immediately recognize the log-in page for the service, let us help you jog your memory. Below is the login page for Facebook. Notice anything, similar?

It’s really saddening to see a government agency’s lack of respect for intellectual property rights, considering that there’s another since there’s also a government agency that deals with enforcing exactly that. Come on PRC. Don’t be lazy – find a good designer and pay them to make an original design. Or if you’re going to rip off a website, try to find one that everybody hasn’t heard of yet, won’t you?

EDIT: It seems like the PRC has heard comments on the design and have taken steps to change……the color to a very, very bright shade of orange. The design and layout however, has not changed.