You found it. The website.
Maybe it's a designer in Copenhagen. A bakery in Lisbon. A perfume brand you'll never afford. You keep going back to it. You screenshot it. You think: I want mine to feel like that.
Good. That feeling is the most useful thing you'll find in your whole website journey. Here's how to use it, the right way.
First: is it OK to be inspired by another website?
Yes. Completely. It's how every designer, artist and brand in the world works.
Painters copied the masters in museums. Fashion designers fill walls with moodboards. Every great website you've ever seen was inspired by something else. Looking, collecting, borrowing a feeling: that's not cheating. That's craft.
What matters is what you take.
What you can take, and what you can't
Here's the simple version. (General information, not legal advice.)
You can't take:
- their words (texts, slogans, headlines)
- their photos, illustrations and videos
- their logo, brand name or anything that makes people think you're them
- their code
Those belong to their creators. Copyright and trademark law protect them.
You can take:
- the feeling: calm, bold, playful, luxurious, raw
- a general style: lots of white space, big serif titles, black and white photos, a warm palette
- the proportions: a huge title next to a small text, a photo that fills the screen, generous margins
- the structure ideas: a big story at the top, a short list of offers, a quote in the middle
Ideas and general styles are free for everyone. That's why there are thousands of minimalist websites, and they're all different.
The test: if someone saw both sites side by side, would they think one is a copy of the other? If yes, you've gone too far. If they'd think "these two have similar taste", you're right where you should be.
How to turn "I love that site" into your site
1. Collect more than one
One site you love is a crush. Five sites you love is a pattern. Save them on a Pinterest board or a folder. Add things from outside the web too: a magazine page, a hotel lobby, a book cover.
2. Name what you love
Look at your collection and write down what keeps coming back. Be specific:
- "The title is HUGE and thin."
- "There's so much empty space, it feels expensive."
- "The photos look like film, a bit grainy."
- "Only black, white and one colour."
That list is your design brief. Designers charge a lot to write it. You just did it for free.
3. Keep your own content
Your words, your photos, your offers, your story. The feeling comes from them. The content comes from you. That's what makes it yours, not theirs.
4. Match the proportions, not the pixels
The secret of why a site feels the way it does is mostly proportions: how big the title is compared to the text, how much space between sections, how big the photos are. Copy those relationships, not the exact layout. That's how you get the feeling without the copy.
5. Make one thing that's only yours
Something the inspiration site doesn't have. Your handwriting on a photo. A colour from your city. A sentence only you would say. One signature detail turns "inspired by" into "this is me".
The fast way: let Big Cat do steps 2 to 4
This is literally why Big Cat exists.
Big Cat is the authentic AI website builder that starts from a design you love. You paste the link, a screenshot, or your Pinterest board. Big Cat:
- reads its “feeling”: the proportions, the type, the space, the mood
- never takes its words, photos, logo or code
- builds your site in that feeling, with your words and your offers, in minutes
- writes your copy in the tone you choose (a brand strategist inside, not a template)
- lets you finish it your way: talk to the cat, or move things yourself
Inspired, not generated. And definitely not copied.
Price: €12 a month, or €60 every 6 months (€10 a month). 7-day free trial, no card. Your own domain.
Keep reading
- A Framer alternative for people who aren't designers
- Website for coaches: what you really need
- The best AI website builders in 2026, ranked
- Why your website looks like everyone else's
- I accidentally built an AI website builder
Questions people ask
Is it legal to copy a website design?
Copying a site's text, photos, logo or code is not OK: they're protected. Being inspired by its general style, feeling and proportions is normal and how all design works. (General information, not legal advice.)
Can AI build a website from a website I like?
Yes. Big Cat builds your site from a website, screenshot or Pinterest board you love. It keeps the feeling and never the other site's words, photos or logo.
How do I describe the style of a website I like?
Look at four things: the type (big or small, thin or bold, serif or not), the space (crowded or airy), the colours (how many, which ones) and the photos (bright, dark, grainy, people or objects). Write one sentence about each.
What's the difference between inspiration and copying?
Inspiration takes the feeling and makes something new with your own content. Copying takes the actual content or layout so closely that people would confuse the two. Stay on the first side.