Ethics In Design 2

In the past I have used stock photography, especially in classes like publication design. In that class we were required to cite the image source in a caption, and citing it was baked into the design process. What I mean by that, is attribution was so ingrained that I had a specific type setting in my style guide ready to use for crediting other artists. In a class like publication design it is a given, as well as an important part of the process that not all of the images are yours. In other classes attribution is less ingrained in the preexisting design styles. When I use stock photography for UI design for example, I usually solely use images that do not require attribution. I do this because I do not know where to put the caption, and across all my time studying and using professional digital interfaces I can’t recall a single time I’ve see attribution on an image source. As visual designers every pixel we place is with purpose, so incorporating specific style rules for attribution copy is an important part of having an ethical design process. Being unorganized, or slapping attributions on the design at the end of the process, is a recipe for forgetting, inaccurately, or aesthetically disruptive was of giving credit.

The Hope poster case is a good example on how careful you need to be when navigating copyright for reference material. It struck me that even though the end product of the Hope poster had been heavily manipulated and morphed from the original reference photo, the usage was still deemed to be infringement (or at least had to be settled out of court). It’s difficult to make a judgment call as a designer without any real legal expertise, about much you have to manipulate a reference for it to be considered fair or transformative fair use. It seems like a better idea to err on the side of caution and not use any material that you do not have the rights to. Doing this would keep you away from ever being in the position of publicly defending your work, which can hurt your reputation and brand as a creative person. 

Cartwright, James. “What Every Designer Needs to Know About Copyright Law.” AIGA, 2 December 2016, https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/what-young-designers-need-to-know-about-copyright-law/.

“Obama ‘Hope’ poster artist Shepard Fairey fined.” BBC, 7 September 2012, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-19522210. Accessed 17 December 2024.

Perkins, Shel. “Intellectual Property.” AIGA, 1 March 2005, https://www.aiga.org/resources/intellectual-property.