This week we were to look at possible progression routes when we finish our courses at university. I am currently studying a BA (Hons) in Graphic Communication. We are to look into the possibility of going into employment or going onto complete a post graduate course such as a PHD or MA.
First I am going to look into possible career paths that I could take from completing the course at CCAD. With careers I also need to take into consideration my likelihood to move further afield in my search for employment, rather than staying local. Where is best for employment? What are living costs like? There is many things that need to be considered on top of the career. I am more than likely to look at employment after the 3 year course, unless there is potential for advancing further through a post graduate course. In addition to being employed by someone, I could go self-employed. However this is highly unlikely as I do not believe it is suiting to the role I want in the design industry. I would prefer to be a part of a team and be given some slight direction. I would possibly consider looking at becoming self-employed if good opportunities came up after I have gained vital experience first off.
If I was to go into employment I would like to see myself working in Advertising and for a smaller agency where they have less restrictions in design and more creative freedom.
Moving onto the possibility of a post graduate course. I am also considering going on to complete my Masters Degree in Graphic Design once I complete the course I am currently studying. Possible employers could single you out for having more qualifications. However in addition to that I believe it is not really so much about the grades/qualifications you have anymore. Obviously they want you to know how to use certain programs/machines, they mainly look at your work and you over any grades. This is where I am questioning if I should complete a post graduate course.
In addition to this a Masters Degree will only be one year extra, so it is probably worth doing. I could also look at moving to a location which is thriving with design and more career possibilities are available, if I complete a Masters Degree.
On completion of my current course I really need to make sure that my portfolio is as best as I can possibly make it, to be ready for whatever I want to pursue afterwards.
Friday, 17 April 2015
Copyright
This week we were shown about copyright and how many designers are effected by people breaching it. The Intellectual Copyright Law is there to protect us designers from having work either stolen or passed off as someone else's. Some people do not understand that if you have an idea, this cannot be protected and you have no copyright for the idea, whereas if you actually create the idea and make it into something physical, whether it be something you can touch or something created digitally. If someone wants to use your work then you are allowed to either sell them the rights to use your work, or the ownership of the work. It is good to know that you are able to buy and sell Intellectual property. Just remember that copyright is an automatic right which you do not have to undergo any processes in applying for it. However you can apply to have your work further protected through registering it online. You can register your work to be protected through the gov.uk website.
It is only possible to take legal action up against somebody if your work has been further protected, which there will be a fee to do so. There is 5 different types of Intellectual Property Protection:
You would think that copyright of something lasts forever, even after your death. But this is untrue, as the copyright over your designs lasts a further 70 years, to which it is then able to be used by anyone for whatever they want, they can pass the work of as being their own. One way to get around this would be to sell the Intellectual Property Rights to someone else, then only they can say that it is their property. I would rather do that than have a stranger saying something they have copied or stolen of mine is their own.
I am going to look at a case where an artists work has passed the 70 year time frame after their death and people have began to copy the works for their own benefits. This case study is between an artist called John Tenniel and the company called Whittard's. John Tenniel was an illustrator who created illustrations of Alice In Wonderland. Below you can see the exact depiction of his illustrations whihc have been used in the creation of a tea set. There is nothing that anybody can do about it, other than watch Whittard's sell the tea set and make money from John Tenniel's design.
Above you can see how they have just stolen the exact illustrations and placed the design onto something.
If more information is required to do with copyright, look up the copyright sections of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.
References:
[1]https://www.gov.uk/intellectual-property-an-overview/protect-your-intellectual-property
[2]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Alice_par_John_Tenniel_25.png/629px-Alice_par_John_Tenniel_25.png
[3]http://www.whittard.co.uk/tea/type/black-tea/english-breakfast-tea/alice-in-wonderland-drink-me-tea-selection.htm
It is only possible to take legal action up against somebody if your work has been further protected, which there will be a fee to do so. There is 5 different types of Intellectual Property Protection:
- Patents
Inventions and products, eg machines and machine parts, tools, medicines
- Trade Marks
Product names, Logos, Jingles
- Design Right (Automatic)
Shapes of objects
- Copyright (Automatic)
Literary works (including writing), art, photography, films, TV, music, web content, sound recordings
- Registered Designs
You would think that copyright of something lasts forever, even after your death. But this is untrue, as the copyright over your designs lasts a further 70 years, to which it is then able to be used by anyone for whatever they want, they can pass the work of as being their own. One way to get around this would be to sell the Intellectual Property Rights to someone else, then only they can say that it is their property. I would rather do that than have a stranger saying something they have copied or stolen of mine is their own.
I am going to look at a case where an artists work has passed the 70 year time frame after their death and people have began to copy the works for their own benefits. This case study is between an artist called John Tenniel and the company called Whittard's. John Tenniel was an illustrator who created illustrations of Alice In Wonderland. Below you can see the exact depiction of his illustrations whihc have been used in the creation of a tea set. There is nothing that anybody can do about it, other than watch Whittard's sell the tea set and make money from John Tenniel's design.
 |
| Figure 2, John Tenniel Illustration |
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| Figure 3, Whittard Tea Collection |
If more information is required to do with copyright, look up the copyright sections of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.
References:
[1]https://www.gov.uk/intellectual-property-an-overview/protect-your-intellectual-property
[2]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Alice_par_John_Tenniel_25.png/629px-Alice_par_John_Tenniel_25.png
[3]http://www.whittard.co.uk/tea/type/black-tea/english-breakfast-tea/alice-in-wonderland-drink-me-tea-selection.htm
Friday, 2 January 2015
The Consumer
The consumer is the final user of the end product. The definition for the consumer is, 'The one who pays, to consume the goods and services produced'. The consumer is getting harder and harder to provide for as they become more particular in their needs. Social media and the internet is a great way to convince the consumer into thinking they need something, rather than them just wanting it. As a designer I need to remember that my job is to create something that the consumer will 'need' rather than something that 'I want'. The idea is to make the consumer believe that they need whatever you create, which is where clever advertising and marketing comes into the picture. With the advancements of technology, has come the advancement of advertising and marketing, it's everywhere. Around 30% of total television viewing time is taken up by Advertising Commercials, rather than the program you intend to be watching.
In today's design world you need to be very up to date with consumer needs, or even better, a few steps ahead. You will need to understand what they are looking for in something so you can create what they are looking for. For example if you know the consumer is looking for a fun household appliance, you will look at your competition and think how can I make this appliance look more fun to the consumer. The consumer is looking for fun, so if you give them fun then they are going to buy and consume it. Target audiences are getting more and more diverse, there is many different target audiences now. It was just primarily gender and age ranges for target audience, but in today's world it is also based on different groups within society.
The consumer is basically the end part of a chain. For example if you were printing a poster to advertise a film there would be a particular chain to get to the end point (The Consumer). It would start with the client who commissions a design house to create the poster. The design house would then contact one of their designers/illustrators to create the work. The work would then be checked over and sent off for printing. Then finally the poster would be displayed for the consumer to digest. As a designer I am just one part of the chain, but without the designer, the chain would not be complete and the consumer would never be reached.
As a consumer myself I am part of the younger male student demographic. I will be targeted as a student through shops such as 'Topman', 'Footasylum' and 'Schuh' offering student discount. They are catering for my demographic by understanding the money constraints we face, therefore they offer further discounts on their products. I often use my student discount to purchase things, which has probably saved me hundreds of pounds.
In today's design world you need to be very up to date with consumer needs, or even better, a few steps ahead. You will need to understand what they are looking for in something so you can create what they are looking for. For example if you know the consumer is looking for a fun household appliance, you will look at your competition and think how can I make this appliance look more fun to the consumer. The consumer is looking for fun, so if you give them fun then they are going to buy and consume it. Target audiences are getting more and more diverse, there is many different target audiences now. It was just primarily gender and age ranges for target audience, but in today's world it is also based on different groups within society.
The consumer is basically the end part of a chain. For example if you were printing a poster to advertise a film there would be a particular chain to get to the end point (The Consumer). It would start with the client who commissions a design house to create the poster. The design house would then contact one of their designers/illustrators to create the work. The work would then be checked over and sent off for printing. Then finally the poster would be displayed for the consumer to digest. As a designer I am just one part of the chain, but without the designer, the chain would not be complete and the consumer would never be reached.
As a consumer myself I am part of the younger male student demographic. I will be targeted as a student through shops such as 'Topman', 'Footasylum' and 'Schuh' offering student discount. They are catering for my demographic by understanding the money constraints we face, therefore they offer further discounts on their products. I often use my student discount to purchase things, which has probably saved me hundreds of pounds.
Publishing
I am going to look into the Publishing Industry, which in the UK is worth a very surprising £4.5 billion. The UK book industries turnover from exports far exceeds that of TV, Music and even Film. This seems quite strange to me due to the fact that most books are now available to read online, on tablets or mobile phones as e-books. One area is the General/Consumer Groups which produces a mass market of paper books and covers around 60% of Industry sales in the UK. This area of the industry produce the best selling Fiction and Non-Fiction books.
One example of a company within this area of the Industry is 'Penguin'. Penguin is known as being one of the biggest and most successful book publishers in the UK, and potentially even in the World. Penguin recently became part of a bigger network of publishers through joining together with 'Random House' in 2013 to create 'Penguin Random House', and it has much more publishers worldwide through this. Penguin work with many different agencies and authors to create their Fiction and Non-Fiction Books ready for publishing.
You should be familiar with the phrase, 'Don't judge a book by it's cover'. However as a designer you need to read the book and create the front cover based on what you have read. Therefore you should judge a book by it's cover. The front cover is very important on a book as its the first thing the consumer will see. They will instantly decide if they like or dislike the book purely on the look of the front cover. They have to have the right typography, colours and imagery to attract the right target audience. For example if you have a fictional book about flying elephants, you would realise that the target audience is likely to be for younger children, therefore you would use fun bright colours that would engage the younger children. A boring cover that is just black and white would not attract any attention from the target audience.
The Small Press. These are just what you think, small publishing companies. They are just like the big companies, but they are independent and have more daring ways of production and they have slightly more creative freedom. Their client lists won't be huge, but the small press is an ever growing part of the industry due to a high rise in demand for their publishing. The small press part of the industry sometimes use traditional printing techniques such as screen printing, which will obviously take quite a long time in comparison to the modern printing techniques such as risograph as it prints much faster and is completely digital.Due to the higher rise in demand for the small press companies to publish books, the larger companies often steal ideas that are successful for the small press. One example I can put down for a small press is 'Nobrow', which I looked at in my previous post.
Another area is 'Children's Books'. The Children's Book market is a growing market both digitally and printed. Children are becoming more familiar with technology, so interactive children's e-books are being created, however there is as much of a demand for printed books where the children can colour things in and interact. Children's books obviously change with age, so the younger a child, the more simple the book will be. For example a book for a child that is 0-4 years old could be something like, 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar: Touch and Feel Playbook'. An example of a book for a child that is 5-10 years old could be something like, 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Roald Dahl'.
There is different areas of children's books. These go from Picture Books, to Younger Fiction, to General Fiction, to Teenage Fiction, to Non-Fiction. It is recognised as well that older children's books are still just as popular, or they are even more popular than modern day children's books. This is probably due to parents wanting to read books to their children, which they had read to them when they were children. The two examples of books I have shown above both are fairly old, but are still very popular today. I myself remember these books from when I was younger.
Another area of the market is 'Journals'. A journal is 'A newspaper or magazine that deals with a particular subject or professional activity'. Journals can come in the forms of educational, academic, reference, scientific, technical, professional, medical, etc. You can experiment quite a bit with the front cover imagery, however the typefaces are usually quite boring. One example I have found is from a science journal where you can see the engaging imagery, yet boring typeface. However I do think that the typeface is suited to the journal.
There is also the editorial side of the market. This makes up for things like newspapers, periodical, magazines and zines. Editorial can be boring if you have to layout black and white text over a page in a newspaper, however if you are working on a zine, you will have much more freedom to work with the text and with colours. Newspapers are much more formal than that of magazines and zines. Below is an example of editorial design which I really like, although there is only the use of black, white and yellow. The text and imagery make it look different, fun and engaging. Also the negative space helps to make the text seem like very little due to the openness of the double page spread.
There are many different areas in Publishing that include Editorial, Design, Production, Marketing, Distribution, Legal and Administration. For the publishing side of the market to work, all of these different areas have to work together, like the fitting of a jigsaw puzzle.
We were given the task of finding and researching the publisher of a book/magazine that we liked. My choice was to go for a magazine called 'Men's Health'.
Men's Health is a magazine typically about Men's Health. It includes information on exercising, what foods to eat, what liquids to drink, your sex life, your mental state and many more. It is very informative but in a fun way. It's a lads magazine so it obviously has images of half naked women in. They also have punchy sub-titles on the cover to engage the reader, along with an image of a famous male character.
Men's Health magazine is originally an American magazine but made its way across the pond in 1995 when the first UK edition was published. The the company that published originally called the 'National Magazine Company', but later became known as 'Hearst Magazines', which is it's name today. Men's Health is the UK's best selling men's magazine, which is understandable in today's society where most men want to be fit, healthy and muscular. Hearst Magazines has many other popular magazines under it's belt, including 'Cosmopolitan', 'Best', 'Esquire', 'Elle', 'Reveal', 'Women's Health' and many more.
Image References:
[1]http://www.penguin.co.uk/about-penguin/
[2]http://www.randomhouse.com/
[3]http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/penguin_random_house_2014_logo_detail_white.png&imgrefurl=http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new_logo_for_penguin_random_house_by_pentagram.php&h=165&w=306&tbnid=L5o22QdM28_EwM:&zoom=1&tbnh=81&tbnw=151&usg=__GrYP4PhID4elPOI30TqkdecuZNs=&docid=J5NQIC0AQBMboM&itg=1&ved=0CH8Qyjc&ei=WyikVJDUOoT2UoSOgdgF
[4]https://sawriters.org.au/2014/07/09/cant-judge-book-cover-can/
[5]http://www.educationumbrella.com/r2r/baby-bookshop/0/13/?gclid=Cj0KEQiA_ZOlBRD64c7-gOzvrP0BEiQAAYBnd00I-jcRWo9-vINH--g-eVrLGVIYNcl9A6HIQDsK06oaAojy8P8HAQ
[6]http://bookshop.theguardian.com/charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory-14.html
[7]http://riomasvos.com/
[8]http://abduzeedo.com/editorial-design-inspiration-david-lynch
[9]http://shavedoctor.co.uk/mens-health/
One example of a company within this area of the Industry is 'Penguin'. Penguin is known as being one of the biggest and most successful book publishers in the UK, and potentially even in the World. Penguin recently became part of a bigger network of publishers through joining together with 'Random House' in 2013 to create 'Penguin Random House', and it has much more publishers worldwide through this. Penguin work with many different agencies and authors to create their Fiction and Non-Fiction Books ready for publishing.
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| Penguin Logo [1] |
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| Random House Logo [2] |
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| Penguin Random House Logo [3] |
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| Do Judge A Book By It's Cover Design [4] |
Another area is 'Children's Books'. The Children's Book market is a growing market both digitally and printed. Children are becoming more familiar with technology, so interactive children's e-books are being created, however there is as much of a demand for printed books where the children can colour things in and interact. Children's books obviously change with age, so the younger a child, the more simple the book will be. For example a book for a child that is 0-4 years old could be something like, 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar: Touch and Feel Playbook'. An example of a book for a child that is 5-10 years old could be something like, 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Roald Dahl'.
 |
| The Very Hungry Caterpillar: Touch and Feel Playbook [5] |
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| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Roald Dahl [6] |
Another area of the market is 'Journals'. A journal is 'A newspaper or magazine that deals with a particular subject or professional activity'. Journals can come in the forms of educational, academic, reference, scientific, technical, professional, medical, etc. You can experiment quite a bit with the front cover imagery, however the typefaces are usually quite boring. One example I have found is from a science journal where you can see the engaging imagery, yet boring typeface. However I do think that the typeface is suited to the journal.
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| Science Journal [7] |
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| David Lynch Editorial Design [8] |
We were given the task of finding and researching the publisher of a book/magazine that we liked. My choice was to go for a magazine called 'Men's Health'.
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| Men's Health Magazine Cover [9] |
Men's Health magazine is originally an American magazine but made its way across the pond in 1995 when the first UK edition was published. The the company that published originally called the 'National Magazine Company', but later became known as 'Hearst Magazines', which is it's name today. Men's Health is the UK's best selling men's magazine, which is understandable in today's society where most men want to be fit, healthy and muscular. Hearst Magazines has many other popular magazines under it's belt, including 'Cosmopolitan', 'Best', 'Esquire', 'Elle', 'Reveal', 'Women's Health' and many more.
Image References:
[1]http://www.penguin.co.uk/about-penguin/
[2]http://www.randomhouse.com/
[3]http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/penguin_random_house_2014_logo_detail_white.png&imgrefurl=http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new_logo_for_penguin_random_house_by_pentagram.php&h=165&w=306&tbnid=L5o22QdM28_EwM:&zoom=1&tbnh=81&tbnw=151&usg=__GrYP4PhID4elPOI30TqkdecuZNs=&docid=J5NQIC0AQBMboM&itg=1&ved=0CH8Qyjc&ei=WyikVJDUOoT2UoSOgdgF
[4]https://sawriters.org.au/2014/07/09/cant-judge-book-cover-can/
[5]http://www.educationumbrella.com/r2r/baby-bookshop/0/13/?gclid=Cj0KEQiA_ZOlBRD64c7-gOzvrP0BEiQAAYBnd00I-jcRWo9-vINH--g-eVrLGVIYNcl9A6HIQDsK06oaAojy8P8HAQ
[6]http://bookshop.theguardian.com/charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory-14.html
[7]http://riomasvos.com/
[8]http://abduzeedo.com/editorial-design-inspiration-david-lynch
[9]http://shavedoctor.co.uk/mens-health/
Wednesday, 31 December 2014
Agencies
In this post I am going to be looking into some design agencies, but more graphic design agencies as that is my specialisation. I am going to comment briefly about two design agencies that I spoke about on my last post and look into some more smaller local design agencies. I am then going to look a bit wider a field to design agencies internationally.
A design agency is basically a group of designers who are employed because of their style, which is fitting to the particular agency. These designers can also be freelance workers who just work on behalf of the agency. If you are approached, employed or represented by a design agency then they will want you for your style, which will more than likely be the same/similar to that of their agency.
I am going to briefly remind you of two design agencies from Newcastle called 'El Roboto' and 'Dirty Hands Co'. These are just small design agencies that are quite new to the world of agencies, but after visiting their design space it made me realise how much I would like to work in an agency like they do. The three guys from 'Dirty Hands Co' were all doing freelance work or working for other companies before they decided to come together and form the agency. They knew that they wanted to move into an area where they had a bit more of creative freedom, so hat better way to do that than create your own agency that has its own style, and people approach you to work for them because of your style.
Now looking at other smaller design agencies, I have come across one called 'Urban Giants Design'. They specialise in Branding, Logo Design and Graphic Design and are located in Durham, which is just down the road from where I am located. Their main idea is to help your business grow and to help you 'become a giant'. A quote on their website says, "Our job is to use our experience, knowledge and creative skills to intelligently connect your business, service or product with your clients efficiently and effectively".
I have looked into their portfolio and some of the work they have produced, to which I am quite impressed. One project that I liked was that produced for the 'East Durham Business Service'. I really liked how they made the apprenticeship part look fun, bright and colourful. This would make it more engaging for the target audience. I really like the representations of working people and how the information is clearly displayed and easy to read.
A design agency is basically a group of designers who are employed because of their style, which is fitting to the particular agency. These designers can also be freelance workers who just work on behalf of the agency. If you are approached, employed or represented by a design agency then they will want you for your style, which will more than likely be the same/similar to that of their agency.
I am going to briefly remind you of two design agencies from Newcastle called 'El Roboto' and 'Dirty Hands Co'. These are just small design agencies that are quite new to the world of agencies, but after visiting their design space it made me realise how much I would like to work in an agency like they do. The three guys from 'Dirty Hands Co' were all doing freelance work or working for other companies before they decided to come together and form the agency. They knew that they wanted to move into an area where they had a bit more of creative freedom, so hat better way to do that than create your own agency that has its own style, and people approach you to work for them because of your style.
Now looking at other smaller design agencies, I have come across one called 'Urban Giants Design'. They specialise in Branding, Logo Design and Graphic Design and are located in Durham, which is just down the road from where I am located. Their main idea is to help your business grow and to help you 'become a giant'. A quote on their website says, "Our job is to use our experience, knowledge and creative skills to intelligently connect your business, service or product with your clients efficiently and effectively".
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| Urban Giants Design Logo [1] |
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| East Durham Business Service Design [2] |
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| East Durham Business Service Apprenticeships Banner [3] |
I then looked at a small publishing company called 'Nobrow'. They are quite new having only been established in 2008. They are based in London, however they are an ever growing agency which has recently spread across to France. In France they had great success with their first ever French titled book. The book was called 'Hilda et le Geant de la Nuit', which received widespread approval in the press, and has even made a television appearance.
I am going to look at the work I like by Nobrow.
Nobrow currently has 36 artists in their workforce, but I would believe that is will be gradually ever growing, like their agency. One of the artists that I like the work of is called 'Jeremie Fischer', who is a French designer based in Paris. I believe it would be great to work for an agency that is not from your originating country, or the place in which you work. I would love to have my own home studio but work for an agency in countries such as America or Australia.
Now to look at a larger agency. This agency is called 'Big Active' and they specialise in 'art direction, graphic design and the representation of leading image-makers'. Their client base is hugel to which they have worked on album covers for Michael Jackson, Lana Del Ray and London Grammar.
I like the fact that this agency has a large and well known client base, which I would love to work with big music stars, such as Chase & Status, Nero, Snow Patrol and many more. However in saying that I do believe that it would be much more fun to work with the smaller agencies as I believe that they have much more creative freedom. As the larger agencies are more likely to have a particular style that is suited to them.
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| 'Nobrow' Logo [4] |
I am going to look at the work I like by Nobrow.
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| London Deco Cover [5] |
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| Elcaf Poster Design [6] |
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| The Burgermat Show Design [7] |
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| Penguin Print [8] |
Nobrow currently has 36 artists in their workforce, but I would believe that is will be gradually ever growing, like their agency. One of the artists that I like the work of is called 'Jeremie Fischer', who is a French designer based in Paris. I believe it would be great to work for an agency that is not from your originating country, or the place in which you work. I would love to have my own home studio but work for an agency in countries such as America or Australia.
Now to look at a larger agency. This agency is called 'Big Active' and they specialise in 'art direction, graphic design and the representation of leading image-makers'. Their client base is hugel to which they have worked on album covers for Michael Jackson, Lana Del Ray and London Grammar.
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| Michael Jackson Album Cover [9] |
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| Lana Del Ray Album Cover [10] |
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| London Grammar Album Cover [11] |
Kate Moross
Kate Moross is a 26 year old London Based creative, who is also the director of 'Studio Moross'. She has already won many awards including the 'Creative Future Award' and 'YCN Professionals Award'. She likes the idea of being able to solve any problems with design, as in the end that is our job. Even though I would like to class being a designer as more of a hobby, due to the enjoyment I get from creating. Not so long ago Kate linked up with 'Innocent Smoothies' and created a video called 'Where do great ideas come from?', where she spoke about how she became a well known designer and how she approaches design.
I would like to see myself working for a smaller agency when I move on from University. However I would hope to get myself into a position like Kate Moross as she has done very well in her career so far, so only better things can be to come. I would like to get a good client base where they talk about the work I produce positively. I would like to be represented by an agency as well as be freelance as the agency will provide work for me and I can also go out and find work myself. The more work I produce, the more likely I am to be noticed by more potential clients. I would like to be perceived as a young and talented designer that stretches possibilities of design. I don's want to be recognised as being just your standard graphic designer, I want to be known as being the one who creates something fun, interesting and that is successful. I really like the work of Kate Moross and how fun it is, I want to create work like that, but with my own style. When it comes to the idea of working on projects yourself or as part of a team, I wouldn't min doing either. Working alone will help me to create work of my style, or working as art of a team you can have feedback from other creatives, so they are both beneficial. Now when it comes to winning commissions I would like previously produced work to help potential clients decide if they would like for me to create them something. I would also like to meet the people face to face as this will help you to understand the client much easier. Also meeting face to face will help when it comes down to the negotiation of pricing for the job.
Image Reference:
[1]http://www.urbangiants.co.uk/homepage.html
[2]http://www.urbangiants.co.uk/portfolio-view.html/17/
[3]http://www.urbangiants.co.uk/portfolio-view.html/17/
[4]http://www.nobrow.net/14348
[5]http://www.nobrow.net/14753
[6]http://www.nobrow.net/10288
[7]http://www.nobrow.net/12628
[8]http://www.nobrow.net/10250
[9]http://www.bigactive.com/art-direction-and-design
[10]http://www.bigactive.com/art-direction-and-design
[11]http://www.bigactive.com/art-direction-and-design
[12]http://www.katemoross.com/
Kate Moross is a 26 year old London Based creative, who is also the director of 'Studio Moross'. She has already won many awards including the 'Creative Future Award' and 'YCN Professionals Award'. She likes the idea of being able to solve any problems with design, as in the end that is our job. Even though I would like to class being a designer as more of a hobby, due to the enjoyment I get from creating. Not so long ago Kate linked up with 'Innocent Smoothies' and created a video called 'Where do great ideas come from?', where she spoke about how she became a well known designer and how she approaches design.
I have looked at some of her client base, and it features the likes of Sam Smith, which is amazing. She also created a cover for 'The Guardian Guide' that featured 'Disclosure'on the front, which I really like. Kate Moross seems to be able to do any form of design, from Editorial to Moving Image to Illustration. I would one day like to say that I can out my hand to any type of design, no matter how big the challenge. Kate Moross is very inspirational and I see her as one of my idols as she has become so successful at such a young age.
 |
| The Guardian Guide - Disclosure Feature [12] |
Image Reference:
[1]http://www.urbangiants.co.uk/homepage.html
[2]http://www.urbangiants.co.uk/portfolio-view.html/17/
[3]http://www.urbangiants.co.uk/portfolio-view.html/17/
[4]http://www.nobrow.net/14348
[5]http://www.nobrow.net/14753
[6]http://www.nobrow.net/10288
[7]http://www.nobrow.net/12628
[8]http://www.nobrow.net/10250
[9]http://www.bigactive.com/art-direction-and-design
[10]http://www.bigactive.com/art-direction-and-design
[11]http://www.bigactive.com/art-direction-and-design
[12]http://www.katemoross.com/
Wednesday, 3 December 2014
Industry Structure
Design Houses
Within the industry there is many of design houses. These are basically small groups of designers that are more than likely to have the same type or a very similar style. I am going to look into more of the Graphic Design side of the Industry within design houses. One Design House I have found is called 'Graphical House', who are located in Glasgow. On their website the description of their studio is, "Located in a shop unit within the heart of Glasgow's creative quarter. the Merchant City, our studio is both an exhibition space and 'goldfish bowl' for passers by."
If you get employed by a design house and you have your own individual style, you will probably have a style similar to the design house. You will have to work within their style and work on briefs from clients within the studio, either on your own, or with other designers within the studio. You may also have to externally work on briefs. All of the briefs and work you complete will be managed by the design director.
I also went on an educational visit to Newcastle, in which we visited 2 other small design houses (however they ca also be recognised as agencies). The first design house was called 'El Roboto'. This design house was located up many flights of stairs, and in a small studio space. The description on their website is, "[el-roh-bot-oh] a creative agency that provides, brand, print and digital design solutions for lovely people all over the United Kingdom and Europe." I really liked their design studio, it looked very fun and relaxing. Although I am very sure there is busy and stressful days. They had a load of design books, cool toys and image over the walls. This is a good way to have design inspiration around you, incase you have a mental block. One thing I really like is their logo, it is very modern and simplistic, which is the style I most prefer.
I looked at some of the work produced by 'El Roboto' in which this one piece stood out to me and I really liked it. It is a design called 'sweeteas' which is a brand that offers favourable childhood sweets, in the form of a hot drink. Below is the packaging for the lemon sherbet flavour. I love the simplicity of the design and how effective the logo and colours are in the old sweet shop theme.
The second design house that we visited, just so happened to be a couple of floors above that of the 'El Roboto' studio. This design house was called 'Dirty Hands Co', and is very new in the world of design as it was only established in early 2014. However in saying they are very new, the 3 founders all have been designing from when they were at university, One is a mainly a web designer, the other is an illustrator and the final one is a graphic designer. Together with their different backgrounds, I believe they make up a very good design house. I liked the plain and simple laid back feel of their small studio, with the old dark wooden tables. I especially liked the fact that they had a young dog with them in the studio, now that is how I would like to be working in the future. There is no bigger/commercial companies that allow a dog in the workplace. When asked about the name and how they came up with it, they said, "It relates to how we get very hand on involved with some of the projects we complete, such as 'dAt bAr' where we created the whole interior artwork, menus, and so on". Below is their typographic based logo which I really like along with another image of 'dAt bAr' to show you an example of their very impressive work.
Our group went on to visit 'dAt bAr' later on in the day. Which I though it looked fantastic. All of the work was created mainly by the 3 members of the design house, with a little bit of outside help. The bar has a very laid back and fun feel and offers some very nice but strong beers and ales.
All of the design houses I have looked at seem to focus their work towards a younger audience because the work they produce seems very appealing to myself. So far I have not come across a design house that does not look very appealing, they all look interesting, fun and the type of place I would like to work within.
Freelance
Freelance is just working for yourself, you being your own boss and finding/managing all the work yourself. It can be a hard route to begin with as you need to build up a strong portfolio for yourself and get your work out there in order for clients to contact you. When you are freelance more than often you will acquire an agent who will help you to find work by acting as a sort of a 'middle man'. Although you will get more work through using an agent, it will more than likely be work you don't really want to complete, you will have strict deadlines to meet and the agent/agency takes on average 35% of all of your earnings. But remember that any work is better than having no work. If you don't find work through an agent/agency and want to go it alone. Remember that there is a legal structure. You will have to set up tax payments for the money you earn through your own work, forgetting to do this could ruin you as you will end up being in a lot of debt, and that's no good for starting your career. Also when you get work in, pricing jobs appropriately is very important. You need to know what work you are producing and how long you have to produce the work. Work out how much you want to earn per hour/per day/per week. For example if you are asked to produce a poster for someone and they give you 3 days to complete it, and say they will pay £60, You know that this will not be very cost effective as it will mean you only earning £20 per day. That type of work should be completed within one or 2 days to be cost effective for yourself. You must also know what to ask for from the client, such as any particular things they want within the design. Like specific colours, typefaces, logos, how they want the work submitting to them, etc. As a freelancer you will need to be highly motivated in order to go out and find work, if you have no motivation to get up and design, then freelance is not the choice for you. As a freelancer it is important to get yourself known, so creating business cards, postcards or little pieces of design that you can send out in little self promotion packs can be helpful.
One freelance designer I have come across is called 'Bryan Kidd', who is located in Brighton. He has been a freelance designer for the last 15 years and has worked on many projects. One project he produced which caught my eye was the 'Brighton Digital Festival'. I really liked the logo and branding which he created.
Networks
Networks are basically people who you interact with to exchange information and help develop professional/social contacts. It is important when networking that you make yourself fully available to your clients. If you have good clients that love your work, keep them happy. If you keep them happy then they are likely to network you further, by telling their friends, who may contact you for work, and if they are happy they will tell their friends, and so on. It is also important to mix amongst fellow designers. You's will all be able to help each other, for example if a photographer needs some help with something graphic design based or vice versa, then a network is established and you are supporting and introducing yourself to new markets. Although you can help other markets, remember to support your own, in my case I would be supporting graphic designers. Use any opportunity to expand your network, as a bigger network can never be bad. A creative CV is another must to get your network started. They don't want your plain old black type on some white paper, let your creativity loose, show them what you are made of. This will be your first foot onto the networking ladder.
Collaboration
Collaboration is another part of networking which I have touched on slightly already. It can be helpful to collaborate as you can share ideas, give each other tips/hints and share each others styles. Below is a collaboration by 'Thibaut Malet' & 'Zics' of a piece called 'Wooden Spray Cans'. 'Malet' is a product designer, who created the woodwork sculptures of the paint cans, and 'Zics' is a graphic designer/illustrator who created the typography.
Exhibitions
Exhibitions are an ever-growing side to the industry with people selling their work. Some artists devote all of their life and work to creating exhibitions. The good thing about exhibitions is that the people who are wanting to buy your artwork can buy the original pieces. On top of selling the original pieces of artwork, the creator can also sell prints of the work on top of that to make more money. However buyers like the idea that the artwork is solely going to be theirs. On top of that, as the artwork is the original it can be seen as a limited edition piece. Exhibitions come in all different sizes, you can have exhibitions that focus onto certain areas of the industry such as graphic design or illustration. Artists also create installations at galleries, such as one I visited recently at the 'Baltic' in Gateshead. It was by an artist called 'Daniel Buren' and was called 'Catch as catch can: works in situ'. In this exhibition none of the work was for sale, he was just commissioned to create the installation and talk about where his ideas came from. You will be able to see that Buren has used lighted artwork in the areas of exhibition space with no windows, and he has used sunlight to create an in situ/moving artwork within the exhibition space on the top floor. All of his work was fantastic and without seeing that exhibition I wouldn't of known of his existence. Which proves how having exhibitions is a way to get yourself known to new people and even possible commissions.
Competitions
There are many competitions out there for you to enter, from being a beginner in the design world, to experienced/well known in the design world, there are plenty to choose from. Obviously some are going to be bigger than others. Bonuses of entering and winning competitions can get you National/International recognition, it opens up plenty of possibilities/new opportunities to advance yourself in the design world, you and your work will be exposed to a much wider audience which could be potential clients, your work is often exhibited or published creating more opportunities, and there is potential prize money for winning competitions (now that is just an added bonus). The best thing I believe to get from a competition is the exposure of yourself to others as this will help to get you noticed and bring in potential clients.
D&AD (Design & Art Direction)
The D&AD Awards recognise excellence in the design world. It is the toughest and most well known design award to win. Anybody can enter but that does come with a fee, in which the fee for entering goes towards the funding of D&AD and in the graphic design category, the fee can range from £105 - £170 for a single entry. The work is judged by 25 specialists which helps to expose your ideas to people who are top in their individual field. If you win then you will receive the D&AD pencil, a place within the annual, a membership for the annual and also a gold, silver and bronze pencil if you are the most awarded of the year. But don't forget more importantly than all of that, you will become a lot more known to people and bigger clients are likely to contact you for work. Winning competitions is always great exposure for yourself.
Design Week Award
Another award I have found that you can win is called the Design Week Award. This competition is funded and hosted within the United Kingdom, but recognises design work internationally. The award that is handed out changes each year, but always includes some sort of light to link with the light bulb in their logo. This is not as well known as D&AD, but remember any competition is worth entering and trying to win. I myself would love to win a competition, but I am yet to enter any of my work into one. I just need to believe in the work that I produce, and soon enough I will enter one.
Where do I want to fit into the industry
As you must be able to tell from reading the blog, the area I would most like to fit into the Industry, is in a Design House. I believe that you have more creative freedom when working within a design house, as if you worked more corporately then I believe your creative freedom would be tied down to what they wanted you to create. However as well as wanting to work within a Design House at some point in my career, I would also like to work in Advertising/Marketing as I find that part of the Graphic Design Industry very interesting. I would love to see another Designer working in an Advertising/Marketing role to see what life is like for them and to get an idea of what it could be like for myself.
Image References:
[1]http://www.graphicalhouse.co.uk/information
[2]http://design.el-roboto.co.uk/about_us/how_we_work/
[3]http://design.el-roboto.co.uk/articles/portfolio/branding/i/sweeteas/
[4]http://www.dirtyhandsco.com
[5]http;//www.dirtyhandsco.com/Dat-Bar
[6]http;//www.dirtyhandsco.com/Dat-Bar
[7]http://www.bryankidd.co.uk/portfolio/brighton-digital-festival/#.VHeFsYusVHw
[8]http://www.bryankidd.co.uk/portfolio/brighton-digital-festival/#.VHeFsYusVHw
[9]https://covunicareers.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/creative-cvs/
[10]https://www.behance.net/gallery/20997941/Wooden-spray-cans
[11]Own Image
[12]Own Image
[13]Own Image
[14]Own Image
[15]Own Image
[16]http://blog.making-pictures.co.uk/making-pictures-partner-with-dad-student-awards-for-photography/
[17]http://www.dandad.org/en/professional-awards/
[18]http://mra.co.uk/news/design-week-awards-mra-nominated
Within the industry there is many of design houses. These are basically small groups of designers that are more than likely to have the same type or a very similar style. I am going to look into more of the Graphic Design side of the Industry within design houses. One Design House I have found is called 'Graphical House', who are located in Glasgow. On their website the description of their studio is, "Located in a shop unit within the heart of Glasgow's creative quarter. the Merchant City, our studio is both an exhibition space and 'goldfish bowl' for passers by."
 |
| Image of 'Graphical House' Studio [1] |
I also went on an educational visit to Newcastle, in which we visited 2 other small design houses (however they ca also be recognised as agencies). The first design house was called 'El Roboto'. This design house was located up many flights of stairs, and in a small studio space. The description on their website is, "[el-roh-bot-oh] a creative agency that provides, brand, print and digital design solutions for lovely people all over the United Kingdom and Europe." I really liked their design studio, it looked very fun and relaxing. Although I am very sure there is busy and stressful days. They had a load of design books, cool toys and image over the walls. This is a good way to have design inspiration around you, incase you have a mental block. One thing I really like is their logo, it is very modern and simplistic, which is the style I most prefer.
 |
| El-Roboto Logo [2] |
 |
| 'Sweeteas' Packaging Design [3] |
 |
| Dirty Hands Co Logo [4] |
 |
| dAt bAr Design [5] |
 |
| dAt bAr Interior [6] |
All of the design houses I have looked at seem to focus their work towards a younger audience because the work they produce seems very appealing to myself. So far I have not come across a design house that does not look very appealing, they all look interesting, fun and the type of place I would like to work within.
Freelance
Freelance is just working for yourself, you being your own boss and finding/managing all the work yourself. It can be a hard route to begin with as you need to build up a strong portfolio for yourself and get your work out there in order for clients to contact you. When you are freelance more than often you will acquire an agent who will help you to find work by acting as a sort of a 'middle man'. Although you will get more work through using an agent, it will more than likely be work you don't really want to complete, you will have strict deadlines to meet and the agent/agency takes on average 35% of all of your earnings. But remember that any work is better than having no work. If you don't find work through an agent/agency and want to go it alone. Remember that there is a legal structure. You will have to set up tax payments for the money you earn through your own work, forgetting to do this could ruin you as you will end up being in a lot of debt, and that's no good for starting your career. Also when you get work in, pricing jobs appropriately is very important. You need to know what work you are producing and how long you have to produce the work. Work out how much you want to earn per hour/per day/per week. For example if you are asked to produce a poster for someone and they give you 3 days to complete it, and say they will pay £60, You know that this will not be very cost effective as it will mean you only earning £20 per day. That type of work should be completed within one or 2 days to be cost effective for yourself. You must also know what to ask for from the client, such as any particular things they want within the design. Like specific colours, typefaces, logos, how they want the work submitting to them, etc. As a freelancer you will need to be highly motivated in order to go out and find work, if you have no motivation to get up and design, then freelance is not the choice for you. As a freelancer it is important to get yourself known, so creating business cards, postcards or little pieces of design that you can send out in little self promotion packs can be helpful.
One freelance designer I have come across is called 'Bryan Kidd', who is located in Brighton. He has been a freelance designer for the last 15 years and has worked on many projects. One project he produced which caught my eye was the 'Brighton Digital Festival'. I really liked the logo and branding which he created.
 |
| Brighton Digital Festival Logo [7] |
 |
| Brighton Digital Festival Banner [8] |
Networks
Networks are basically people who you interact with to exchange information and help develop professional/social contacts. It is important when networking that you make yourself fully available to your clients. If you have good clients that love your work, keep them happy. If you keep them happy then they are likely to network you further, by telling their friends, who may contact you for work, and if they are happy they will tell their friends, and so on. It is also important to mix amongst fellow designers. You's will all be able to help each other, for example if a photographer needs some help with something graphic design based or vice versa, then a network is established and you are supporting and introducing yourself to new markets. Although you can help other markets, remember to support your own, in my case I would be supporting graphic designers. Use any opportunity to expand your network, as a bigger network can never be bad. A creative CV is another must to get your network started. They don't want your plain old black type on some white paper, let your creativity loose, show them what you are made of. This will be your first foot onto the networking ladder.
 |
| Creative CV Example [9] |
Collaboration
Collaboration is another part of networking which I have touched on slightly already. It can be helpful to collaborate as you can share ideas, give each other tips/hints and share each others styles. Below is a collaboration by 'Thibaut Malet' & 'Zics' of a piece called 'Wooden Spray Cans'. 'Malet' is a product designer, who created the woodwork sculptures of the paint cans, and 'Zics' is a graphic designer/illustrator who created the typography.
 |
| Paint Spray Cans Collaboration Project [10] |
Exhibitions
Exhibitions are an ever-growing side to the industry with people selling their work. Some artists devote all of their life and work to creating exhibitions. The good thing about exhibitions is that the people who are wanting to buy your artwork can buy the original pieces. On top of selling the original pieces of artwork, the creator can also sell prints of the work on top of that to make more money. However buyers like the idea that the artwork is solely going to be theirs. On top of that, as the artwork is the original it can be seen as a limited edition piece. Exhibitions come in all different sizes, you can have exhibitions that focus onto certain areas of the industry such as graphic design or illustration. Artists also create installations at galleries, such as one I visited recently at the 'Baltic' in Gateshead. It was by an artist called 'Daniel Buren' and was called 'Catch as catch can: works in situ'. In this exhibition none of the work was for sale, he was just commissioned to create the installation and talk about where his ideas came from. You will be able to see that Buren has used lighted artwork in the areas of exhibition space with no windows, and he has used sunlight to create an in situ/moving artwork within the exhibition space on the top floor. All of his work was fantastic and without seeing that exhibition I wouldn't of known of his existence. Which proves how having exhibitions is a way to get yourself known to new people and even possible commissions.
 |
| Daniel Buren - Catch as catch can: works in situ [11] |
 |
| Daniel Buren - Catch as catch can: works in situ [12] |
 |
| Daniel Buren - Catch as catch can: works in situ [13] |
 |
| Daniel Buren - Catch as catch can: works in situ [14] |
 |
| Daniel Buren - Catch as catch can: works in situ [15] |
There are many competitions out there for you to enter, from being a beginner in the design world, to experienced/well known in the design world, there are plenty to choose from. Obviously some are going to be bigger than others. Bonuses of entering and winning competitions can get you National/International recognition, it opens up plenty of possibilities/new opportunities to advance yourself in the design world, you and your work will be exposed to a much wider audience which could be potential clients, your work is often exhibited or published creating more opportunities, and there is potential prize money for winning competitions (now that is just an added bonus). The best thing I believe to get from a competition is the exposure of yourself to others as this will help to get you noticed and bring in potential clients.
D&AD (Design & Art Direction)
The D&AD Awards recognise excellence in the design world. It is the toughest and most well known design award to win. Anybody can enter but that does come with a fee, in which the fee for entering goes towards the funding of D&AD and in the graphic design category, the fee can range from £105 - £170 for a single entry. The work is judged by 25 specialists which helps to expose your ideas to people who are top in their individual field. If you win then you will receive the D&AD pencil, a place within the annual, a membership for the annual and also a gold, silver and bronze pencil if you are the most awarded of the year. But don't forget more importantly than all of that, you will become a lot more known to people and bigger clients are likely to contact you for work. Winning competitions is always great exposure for yourself.
 |
| D&AD Logo [16] |
 |
| Gold, Silver & Bronze D&AD Awards [17] |
Another award I have found that you can win is called the Design Week Award. This competition is funded and hosted within the United Kingdom, but recognises design work internationally. The award that is handed out changes each year, but always includes some sort of light to link with the light bulb in their logo. This is not as well known as D&AD, but remember any competition is worth entering and trying to win. I myself would love to win a competition, but I am yet to enter any of my work into one. I just need to believe in the work that I produce, and soon enough I will enter one.
 |
| Design Week Award [18] |
As you must be able to tell from reading the blog, the area I would most like to fit into the Industry, is in a Design House. I believe that you have more creative freedom when working within a design house, as if you worked more corporately then I believe your creative freedom would be tied down to what they wanted you to create. However as well as wanting to work within a Design House at some point in my career, I would also like to work in Advertising/Marketing as I find that part of the Graphic Design Industry very interesting. I would love to see another Designer working in an Advertising/Marketing role to see what life is like for them and to get an idea of what it could be like for myself.
Image References:
[1]http://www.graphicalhouse.co.uk/information
[2]http://design.el-roboto.co.uk/about_us/how_we_work/
[3]http://design.el-roboto.co.uk/articles/portfolio/branding/i/sweeteas/
[4]http://www.dirtyhandsco.com
[5]http;//www.dirtyhandsco.com/Dat-Bar
[6]http;//www.dirtyhandsco.com/Dat-Bar
[7]http://www.bryankidd.co.uk/portfolio/brighton-digital-festival/#.VHeFsYusVHw
[8]http://www.bryankidd.co.uk/portfolio/brighton-digital-festival/#.VHeFsYusVHw
[9]https://covunicareers.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/creative-cvs/
[10]https://www.behance.net/gallery/20997941/Wooden-spray-cans
[11]Own Image
[12]Own Image
[13]Own Image
[14]Own Image
[15]Own Image
[16]http://blog.making-pictures.co.uk/making-pictures-partner-with-dad-student-awards-for-photography/
[17]http://www.dandad.org/en/professional-awards/
[18]http://mra.co.uk/news/design-week-awards-mra-nominated
Tuesday, 21 October 2014
What is Plagiarism?
Plagiarism doesn’t immediately sound very
serious, but if we replace the word ‘Plagiarism’ with such a word as
‘Stealing’, then it sound much more serious. Plagiarism is basically the theft of something which is not yours. In the design world plagiarism is
a big deal and happens more often that it would first seem. There have been
thousands of court cases over plagiarism, to which almost always the
plagiarizer will lose. It is very easy to plagiarise without realising it, so it is very important that you can prove that your work is yours, and has come from all your ideas. Also make sure that any inspirations for your work are noted, as if you create something very similar to that of the artists work you were inspired by, then this will be seen as an act of plagiarism.
According to the ‘Oxford Dictionary’,
Plagiarism means: “The Practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and
passing them off as one’s own”
What
Are The Different Types of Plagiarism?
There are many different types of plagiarism, some can be on purpose and some can be by mistake. According to ‘Plagiarism.org’, these are the 10 most common types of plagiarism:
 |
| 10 Types of Plagiarism [1] |
Remember that these are just the 10 main
examples, there are many more so you need to be aware of these incase you begin
to plagiarize yourself.
An
Example of Plagiarism:
In the clothing industry, plagiarism is a
huge issue. Almost everyday they are stealing ideas from each other, but it is
companies such as ‘Forever 21’, ‘Urban Outfitters’ and ‘Primark’ who are
plagiarizing other people’s work. One example I have found is a piece of
clothing, which was originally designed by a company called ‘FATE’. Which the
company ‘Forever 21’ very closely plagiarized the design. It can probably be
seen as an example of a clone as ‘Forever 21’ are passing off the clothing
shown below as their own.
The ‘FATE’ clothing is on the left and the ‘Forever 21’ clothing is
on the right.
 |
| Clothing Comparison - youthoughtwewoldntnotice.com [2] |
The website ‘youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com’
provides some great examples of plagiarism within the design world, you will be
shocked at some of the things you see, especially in the larger companies that
are shown to have plagiarised.
There is a big difference in creating something which is uniquely yours, and creating something which is similar to something else. It is better to use bits of other artists work to inspire that of your own. As you will have to create something of your own style. If you are unsure of what your style is, then you need to find it. As above, if you copy someone else's design, you are very unlikely to make it within the design industry. If you are found to plagiarise, your design career is basically over.
There is a big difference in creating something which is uniquely yours, and creating something which is similar to something else. It is better to use bits of other artists work to inspire that of your own. As you will have to create something of your own style. If you are unsure of what your style is, then you need to find it. As above, if you copy someone else's design, you are very unlikely to make it within the design industry. If you are found to plagiarise, your design career is basically over.
What
is Homage?
Homage can be closely linked in with plagiarism,
but it is a more accepted kind of plagiarism. According to the ‘Oxford
Dictionary’, Homage means: “Special honor or respect shown publicly” (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/homage)
To me, Homage can be when another artist
uses the main idea of another artist’s piece of work, which is well known and
recognized. So people who see the Homage work recognize that the work is not
the original piece and the artist has not tried to copy someone else’s work.
They also credit the original artist within their work. One example is the very
well known painting, ’The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, by ‘Katsushika Hokusai’.
This is one piece of artwork that has been produced in various
different ways, but through homage as it is such a well-known piece of artwork.
One example of homage I have found is a doorstop by a man called, ‘Clive
Roddy’. In his description of the doorstep he says, “The design is both a functional doorstop
and small wooden diorama that pays homage to the iconic image ‘the great wave
off Kanagawa‘ by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai.”
 |
| The Great Wave Off Kanagawa Door Stop [4] |
‘Clive
Ruddy’ has also produced a ring in homage to ‘The Great Wave Off Kanagawa’.
 |
| The Great Wave Off Kanagawa Ring [5] |
The big question that often arises is, is
this plagiarism? The answer would be no if the artist creating the work says
that the work is not based on their own ideas and concepts, but using another
artists ideas. To which they would have to ask the artist for permission to do
so. Unless the artwork is very well known (Such as “The Great Wave off
Kanagawa”) and the work created clearly is not an attempt of plagiarism.
How
can I protect myself from plagiarism?
It is hard to say how to protect your work
from plagiarism because it is so easy to have your work plagiarized. But there
is such things in place as intellectual property rights, copyright laws and
creative piracy protection. I myself am yet to experience any plagiarism of my
own work, but that could be due to me not using social media/the internet to
showcase my work. I must start doing this however, as I need to begin
networking to begin my career in the design world.
Image References:
[1]http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/types-of-plagiarism/
[2]http://youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com/blog3/page/5/
[3]http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/45434
[4]http://www.cliveroddy.co.uk/shop/the-great-wave-off-kanagawa-wooden-doorstop
[5]http://www.cliveroddy.co.uk/shop/wave-ring
Image References:
[1]http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/types-of-plagiarism/
[2]http://youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com/blog3/page/5/
[3]http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/45434
[4]http://www.cliveroddy.co.uk/shop/the-great-wave-off-kanagawa-wooden-doorstop
[5]http://www.cliveroddy.co.uk/shop/wave-ring
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