Ethics In Design 1

1A.

At the company I have been working for we use stock photography for our image sourcing. We are able to either source our own as long as it is free for commercial use (and use appropriate attribution when required) or we use images from the company asset collection. These images are also stock but have already been purchased by the company so that we are able to use them commercially without incident. The organization also has their own logo which is trademarked and has a specific set of variations we are allowed to pull from without altering them. The organization’s font is not trademarked, but the appropriate licenses have been obtained to use it. 

1B.

I did not have to sign an NDA or confidentiality agreement for this internship. I think NDAs and confidentiality agreements can be helpful for both the employer and employee, they help establish concrete details on what can or can’t be shared about company operations and property. When both parties are on the same page about what is permissible to be shared and what is not, employees have more knowledge about how to stay away from litigation and potentially losing the trust of their employer. If no agreement is signed, it leaves room for error as the employee has to make common sense judgement call about what is appropriate to be shared outside of the company. 

Works Cited

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/.

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