Ethics in Design 1a and 1b

1a.  Ethics in Graphic Design 

It’s been a little over three weeks since I started my internship. I’m trying my best to meet all the AIGA ethical guidelines for all the work I’m doing so far. It’s a little difficult to get accustomed to all the copyright policies with the images especially since I have not done any real professional work like this internship which uses images for professional and commercial use. According to “AIGA: Use of Photography” working with photography for designs require proper decision-making and taking responsibility. It also states that with the growth of digital image libraries, designers have access to various stock photography. As a designer when I work on a project it is my choice to decide whether I want to use stock photography or photography of my own by hiring a professional photographer for the project period, it also heavily depends on the project and the client. Both stock photography and photography captured by professionals have different terms and policies, as a designer, it is my responsibility to follow and respect these terms.

Whenever I use images for projects I try to use copyright-free images, and some of the websites I use for free images are Pexels, Unsplash, and Pixabay. Also when looking for images from Google I categorize the image results by usage rights, I can do this by going onto the usage rights under the tools menu and changing it accordingly. 

The organization I work with deals with restaurant-related designs, so we mostly use images related to foods and dishes. Sometimes clients provide us with the images which they want to use and other times they want to change their old images and want us to come up with new images for the same food items. Our organization uses only stock photography for all the designs, we also use a lot of clip art and change them from their original look to meet the client’s brand and guidelines. We also get sources for photography from clients who are very specific about what they want to use and where they want to use it from. Most of our clients let us do the image sourcing, all they want is for the image to go well with their brand and be the accurate image of the dish.

An example project which was also the first project that I worked on for the internship was a menu redesign. The restaurant was redesigning its menu with new images and I was tasked by my supervisor to change all the images of the menu and come up with new images for the dishes. The color of the older images was dull and didn’t look that appetizing, I was asked to source images that looked very colorful and appetizing which would look good on a darker background. After submitting the draft client did not like one of the photos which I selected, they said that the image was incorrect and did not match the dish that they had for which I had to find a new image. After that whenever I have to find new dish images I try to do a little research because I don’t know a lot of the dishes and how they look like, especially if its from different countries and cultures. By doing some extra research it saves me from doing extra work and also makes the client happy. I and my supervisor always discuss the image sources and the type of images we are using before finalizing anything to avoid unnecessary problems with the clients and policies. 

1b.  Ethics in Graphic Design

For my internship with Calling All Graphics, I did not have to sign any agreement papers or non-disclosure agreements. After the interview, we were open to asking questions and providing answers regarding the work that was required at the internship. The only agreement I signed was the internship agreement which was required for the class, the agreement had both my and my supervisor’s contact information, details about the internship, and the location. I personally like the agreement papers because it keeps everyone safe and works as a confirmation paper for the work. Since it contains so much information we both can reach out to one another anytime if there’s any change or problems. Since I was not required to sign any agreements, it’s my and my supervisor’s responsibility to take notes while working and make sure that we are following everything as mentioned in the interview. I always have a notebook next to me which helps me write down what happens during the internship alongside the notes I take for my projects for the internship.

Citations 

“Guide to Copyright” AIGA. (2001). PDF. New York City; Richard Grefé, AIGA.

“A Client’s Guide to Design: How to Get the Most Out of the Process” AIGA. (2001). PDF. New York City; Richard Grefé, AIGA. 

“Use of Illustration” AIGA. (2001). PDF. New York City; Richard Grefé, AIGA. 

“Use of Photography” AIGA. (2001). PDF. New York City; Richard Grefé, AIGA.