As a student it’s important to understand and reflect the ethical reasonings and guidelines throughout an internship. I am a part of a Non-Profit organization that focuses on empowering and integrating underserved communities while also advocating for social justice, healthcare for all, and education opportunities. My first assignment given by the organization was to design a logo for a music/dj company and I was given creative leeway to do what I wanted with this logo. Throughout the weeks the assignments were a mix of different things like magazine layouts and merchandise mock-ups. But the premise remained the same, I was allowed creative freedom. In the words of Ben Parker, “With great power comes great responsibility.” I needed to be careful with what images I was using otherwise I could accidentally end up getting my organization sued. 

In the book, Use Of Photography, it states that, “Use of photography in design work involves choice and responsibilities…On the other hand, the designer must obtain all of the rights that his or her client needs. In the first instance, the designer must consider what rights will be transferred to the client.” The designer, aka me, has to absolutely credit where the photographs have come from because the photographer could own the copyright to the photo and if used without credit things can go south very quickly. It’s important to remember that with all these images on google and other sources that people have actually taken these photos and proper credit needs to be given.

In the book, Guide to Copyright it states that, “Copyright defines the ownership of work created by a designer. Copyright is what allows a designer to control whether or not a work may be copied…However, the owner of a copy of the work can also display it. Anyone who violates these rights is an infringer whom the designer can sue for damages and prevent from continuing the infringement.” Using an image in your design could be risky because you never know who has access to the copyright and as the designer you could be infringing them. This is clearly an unethical practice and if a person proceeds to keep using images or photographs without properly sourcing them it could be dangerous for them and the company. Luckily I learned that it’s a simple and easy solution to crediting the work. A simple link to the original website or typing out the photographer’s actual name is useful. Sourcing your photos is the most important thing and should be the first thing a designer takes care of. The non-profit organization makes it known to it’s designers that any trademarks, logos, and images needed to be properly sourced and that they do not condone the illegal use of using those items without credit.

Sources:

“Use of Photography” AIGA. (2009). PDF. New York City; Tad Crawford, AIGA.

“Guide to Copyright” AIGA. (2009). PDF. New York City; Tad Crawford, AIGA.