Week 3: Business Foundations

Your personal research tasks are for deeper critical reflection and demonstration of your thinking and working processes.

These are the research tasks for this week, please share your findings on the ideas wall and on your blog:

1. Research common copyright issues, as well as some of the ethical and legal factors most frequently affecting graphic designers today.
2. Choose a designed object and outline the key areas that may infringe copyright or require IP protection when creating an artefact of this kind.

Tark 1: Researching Copyright, Ethical and Legal Factors in Graphic Design

Common Copyright:

• Unlicensed use of images or fonts: This would be something like stock photos, illustrations, or typefaces without proper licensing.
• Plagiarism or copycat design: If your Copying / Imitating the visual identity, layout, or logo of another designer or brand.
• Client misunderstandings about ownership: This could be clients assuming they own design files or full rights without a formal agreement.
• Reusing previous work: Designers repurposing artwork from old jobs or templates without consent.
• Design used beyond the agreed terms: For Example, a client using a design in ways not covered by the original license (e.g., global campaigns when the license was for print-only in the UK).

Ethical Factors:

• Respect for original creators: This would be like Giving credit, avoiding imitation, and ensuring originality.
• Transparency with clients: You should be clearly explaining rights, usage, and ownership.
• Sustainable and inclusive design choices: Using design ethically to avoid misleading visuals, stereotypes, or greenwashing.

Legal Factors:

• Copyright law (UK - Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988): Copyright is automatic and typically belongs to the creator unless agreed otherwise.