Just a reminder, we won't be meeting for class on Thursday, March 22. In lieu of a class meeting, I'd like you to take some time to look around and find examples of these printed pieces:
6 business cards
4 tri-fold brochures
3 booklets
3 catalogs
4 magazine editorials (these are the feature stories inside magazines)
5 samples of anything printed
I want you to find PHYSICAL samples, not images from the web
Our final problem of the semester will be very open-ended, with you will deciding on the form of your solution. Keep this in mind as you are looking for samples. What shapes, sizes and folds do you find interesting? You will need to bring these samples with you to class next Thursday.
In addition to searching for samples, read this excerpt on typography from Ellen Lupton's book Thinking with Type.
Lastly, building on the conversation we started a couple of weeks ago regarding originality and copyright, read this article and tell me what you THINK in the comments here. Yes, this is required. You will get points for it.
Enjoy the day off. Hopefully the sun will shine and you will have an opportunity to enjoy it. If not, you can think about me in my bonnet teaching kids how to weave on a 17th century loom and get a good laugh. See you Tuesday.
I thought this article about copyrighting had some wise advice. However, I was surprised by how many times she emphasized double-checking that it really is a plagiarism of your work. It seems that taking legal action is a big risk, and could be a waste of time if you aren't careful to contact the alleged "copycat", get second opinions and compare your work carefully. Its good not to jump into a big lawsuit over what could be a simple misunderstanding. I hadn't thought about the fact that many people don't even KNOW what copyright infringement is, thanks to the free use of images via the internet. Overall, a helpful article.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was an interesting article because I liked the way that she wrote out the template for the concerned graphic designer. I liked how she didn't place blame in the email just in case it was a situation that was a misunderstanding and misuse of the artwork.
DeleteI approach this article from two positions. First, I'm in architecture, designs and elements of designs get reused all of the time. Especially from the greats, the international Pritzker Prize winning architects. An idea becomes golden and everybody suddenly must use it in one of their projects. But this is also how we learn and grow. I take it, and many in my field take it as a badge of honor. In design school when people mimic your work, I take it as a compliment. However, my second perspective on this copyright article is if it's a design such as a graphic that can be easily sold "as is" or barely modified to where people might confuse your work with the copy and you begin losing income from what was originally your work/ design. My sister-in-law is going through this right now. She designs scrapbook paper amongst other things and one of the companies she sells to has sold her designs to a fabric company without her approval. It's been very difficult for her to battle this because she's the small company going against the mega corporation. They are selling her exact designs, no changing whatsoever. In this instance, its no longer a compliment but straight out infringement.
ReplyDeleteIf I read this article for the sake of my own knowledge and how it can help me, it's clear that if I have a dispute, it may be harder than I think to prove someone has copied my work. When I flip the situation to where somebody thinks I have copied their work, it seems like it would be much easier to prove that I'm innocent than it would be for the other artist to prove me guilty. I'm not saying that you can openly copy an artists work and get away with it, but just that if it's a coincidence, I'm probably safe. Other than that, I don't see myself as a Graphic Designer getting my underwear in a bunch because someone else's work looks like mine-- that takes some serious ego, especially if you are a diverse designer.
ReplyDeleteThis is a subject that I have to spend a whole lot of time on as I work in graphics for TV every day so I have run into many of the gray areas when it comes to copyright infringement. The steps outlined in the article should be followed in the case of any dispute, not just rights infringement. The document everything step is invaluable to proving your case, if it should go that far. Often with that documentation when shown to an infringee is enough to get them to cease and desist.
ReplyDeleteAs I am also a photographer I tend to handle having my photo's online by allowing anyone to post them on their blogs, websites, etc. if they give credit where credit is due. However if they take the photo and make it into, for example, a postcard or a greeting card and then post it for sale on Etsy, for example, than I am losing income and will ask them to cease and desist. I have never had to take it any further than that, but I have come real close to needing to hire an attorney.
A famous photojournalist, Michael Yon has the most heart-wrenching photo from the Iraq war, link here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sixsteps/2695066602/ He is very diligent about maintaining his rights to his photo's and one day found his image being used as a source for a drawing that someone offered for sale on Etsy as her own artwork, looked exactly like the photo. She had the misunderstanding that if she drew it then it became hers and she could do as she wished. Not the way Michael works, Michael asked her very politely to take it down and desist from copying his images as drawings and offering them for sale. If she would pay him his percentage he was willing to sign a contract with her to allow her to continue, as it is a compliment when someone likes your work so well they want to steal it. However this person refused to take it down and refused to discuss a contract with him. This forced Michael to contact Etsy and prove copyright infringement and his attorney to write a cease and desist letter. Etsy removed the images but this also means that M still has to keep diligent watch for copyright infringement.
This all comes down to the fact that the artist that is being infringed upon chooses how much they want to worry about it and what they will prosecute and what they will just let go in our internet world.
I think that the internet is an especially dangerous place for any artist to display their media. It's a double-edged sword where the pros and cons are nearly balanced, in my opinion. For my photography, I slap a giant watermark (which is only becoming more and more easy to remove) on images I upload, saving the non-marked versions for in-person display. It's nearly impossible to keep up with the entire internet to make sure nobody is stealing one's work. My best hope would be for the thief to make tons of money off my work, then sue for back damages.
ReplyDeleteUsed to be that a copyright was a copyright, but I it's true that art on the internet is almost like a huge pinterest board. People take and copy with the mind set that it is a "resource." As an artist, I can say that I've seen other artists I've never met across the globe with a similar style as mine. It's harder and harder to reinvent the wheel as it were when it comes to design, inevitably one person's work is going to look like someone else's. However, if a blatant copy of an artist's work is used and the user is receiving money from such work; in my opinion that would deserve legal action. Personally, I'm okay with another artist finding inspiration from my work and making it their own. I don't feel I "own" my art in that way, rather I feel that art is meant to be shared and inspire others. Jennifer Poncin
ReplyDeleteWhile I was reading this article I thought of artist who post their work online, but don't protect it. I have many friends who do photography and post their pictures for other people to see, but before doing so they will edit their work, use their logo across or in the corner of the picture and only then post it. That way if someone even would like to take it the logo will be visible. Also last semester I took photo 60 A and I took about 3 rolls of pictures at the Fair Oaks bridge because I think that place is beautiful. Later we had to go to a gallery for one of the projects and at the gallery there was work of a local photographer who also thought the place was beautiful ( I thought, since he had many images from that same place) one of his pictures was not only of the same tree, it was also similar color to mine and from exact same angle! Who stole who's work?! I had n idea this photographer existed, as Im sure he doesn't know about me. If he were to see my work I'm sure he could say I stole his work since he's an established photographer and I'm just a student, but how true is that? Not at all. So my point is it is really hard to say if the work was stolen even if it does look same. I would also have to agree with Jennifer that I would be ok if someone found my work inspiring to use for their motivation.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article i feel that copyrighting is an easy mistake any artist can make. In regards to this, copyrighting is also easy to clear up.I thought that its seriously a good idea to contact the copycat without taking drastic legal actions, because it can be a simple situation of likeminded thoughts that lead to the inspiration of similar art pieces. with this said i think artists should just be a little more careful when scourcing ideas for art pieces.
ReplyDelete