Student learns dark side of instant fame

HONG KONG — Few personal journeys can shed as much light on the age we live in as the one traveled by Jonathan Mak in the past week.
Mr. Mak, a university student in Hong Kong, went from being an unknown, aspiring graphic designer to an Internet sensation after an image he produced spread rapidly across digital platforms following the death of Steven P. Jobs, the co-founder of Apple.
Mr. Mak’s design of a silhouetted profile of Mr. Jobs in the Apple company logo was shared across the Web and reported by news media. The actor Ashton Kutcher posted the design on his Twitter account.
And then, nearly as fast, Mr. Mak found himself being vilified.
With a speed fitting for the technological age that Mr. Jobs helped usher in, Mr. Mak became the subject of derisive Internet postings and negative news media reports. His design, it turned out, closely matched one produced earlier this year by Chris Thornley, a British graphic artist.
“It’s been a very overwhelming experience,” Mr. Mak, 19, said by telephone between classes at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design. “I still attend classes and lessons as usual. But as far as following my assignments, it’s been difficult.”
Mr. Mak said he had developed his design in late August — a white Apple logo on a black background, with a black silhouette of Mr. Jobs indented in the apple — as a tribute to Mr. Jobs after he stepped down as chief executive of Apple.http://www.yahoo.com/_ylt=ApIfOcIdY_UWyAGCw.ZPfXGbvZx4;_ylu=X3oDMTRiZW9qbzhqBGEDMTExMDEzIGZpbmFuY2Ugam9icyBsb2dvIGNlbGVicml0eSBjdWx0IHQEY3BvcwMxBGcDaWQtNjA2NjY4BGludGwDdXMEaXRjAzAEcGtndAMxBHBrZ3YDMTcEcG9zAzMEc2VjA3RkLWZlYXQEc2xrA21vcmUEdGVzdAM3MDEEd29lAzEzOTg4MjM-/SIG=13813s886/EXP=1318672277/**http%3A//finance.yahoo.com/news/Dispute-Over-Apple-Image-nytimes-3537731561.html%3Fx=0