Blog Archives - Page 3 of 12 - FascinationDesign

September 8, 2014January 17, 2017

PSA: Don’t feed the trolls – a boilerplate for moving the discussion away from social media

First let’s start with “what is a troll?” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)

The number on rule is “don’t feed the trolls.” This doesn’t mean never respond but responses must be well thought out and diffusing. Nicer instead of simply defensive (but do not admit wrongdoing if there was no wrongdoing.)

Since some trolls will persist if you simply don’t respond, your next best bet is to move the conversation out of the public view when possible. But be aware that your private messages may get reposted publicly if a troll is particularly nasty.

Boilerplate for trying to get a troll into a private discussion:

“Can you email this and any additional information you have to our _ department so it can be properly reviewed? Here’s the email address ______”

As for whether or not to delete a troll’s comments, the general rule of thumb is to leave it be. There are instances where deleting something (or more likely deleting something after a period of time) is ok but that decision has to be made on a per case basis.

Yes, they might have made false accusations that may make you look bad but your response can still be civil and indicate that you may be dealing with a potential crazy or that you are willing to deal with the situation if something IS actually wrong.

Example false complaint:

“You took a photo from my website. That’s not legal.”

Example response to a false complaint:

“To the best of my knowledge all our photos come from the manufacturers, photos we’ve taken or stock photos aquired through proper channels. We take copyright ownership seriously. Can you email additional information and links to the photo in question to _________? We would be happy to review this.”

(Side note: You do know that you can’t take a photo from any random website and use it right? Just checking to make sure you do know that. Your staff should know that as well.)

When in doubt, don’t respond immediately or delete. Getting defensive or deleting the post will likely only make things worse.

August 30, 2014January 17, 2017

Fiverr – you might want to rethink that $5 logo purchase

That $5 logo from Fiverr might just be a stolen design … or at least not as unique as you thought.

https://medium.com/@sachagreif/in-the-past-couple-years-startups-have-started-realizing-that-good-design-can-make-the-difference-2fdeb90d390a

Need a reason your logo should be professionally designed? Or at least a reason you should be cautious when using a cheap / crowdsource site? There are people calling themselves designers who are simply stealing designs from other places, throwing in some text and selling them.

This was one of the designers they advertised in Fiverr’s e-newsletter:

fiverr copyright violations

The silhouette in the logo was familiar enough to me that I instantly recognized it as the Yoga Australia logo and that it was stolen because of the unique design that included the outline of Australia in the yoga pose.

When I submitted a comment to Fiverr about the copyright violation I got not response. And two months later this design is still up and this profile hasn’t been removed. Clearly they don’t take copyright violations seriously.

Copyright violations in designs you paid for:

Ignorance is not bliss:
the buyer of the design will be liable for violation of copyrights.

Just because you paid someone to design your logo, if you use a stolen design you are the one the copyright holder will be able to come after. Not knowing your design was stolen does not change the ownership of the design.

Even if you are only hit with a cease and desist letter it will probably cost you more than your original $5. Think about the number of things that would have to be redone. Store signage? Business cards? Website? Menus? Promotional materials?

Think of all the things you would have to change the logo on. How much could that cost you?

You get what you pay for… Is it really worth the risk?

PS – I searched for the person who bought the design of Fiverr and luckily she’s not actually using the design.

PPS – since I suspect that Fiverr will let this “designer” continue to rip people off until they get so much flack they can’t ignore it, I’m posting the link to the designer’s listing: http://www.fiverr.com/design_angelica/design-a-beautiful-logo-only?funnel=201408301836282506837040
Granted getting her removed might not keep her from coming back as a new profile AND it doesn’t stop others who are also violating copyrights by using other people’s works in or as their own designs.

August 14, 2014January 17, 2017

Thought of the day: policies and procedures

Thought of the day: You put policies and procedures into place not just for an organization/business but also for the purpose of clear communication with those outside of an organization.

Ex: If an advertiser doesn’t have a deadline, they can’t meet the deadline. If their ad or check comes in late/after going to print because you didn’t tell them when it should be to you by, they’ll likely get upset because they weren’t given the chance to do something differently and make it in on time.

Sometimes a lack of policies and procedures ensures you’re setting yourself and/or someone else up for failure. Policies & procedures help set a standard to ensure key pieces of information are clearly and accurately communicated to more people and with regularity.

July 28, 2014January 17, 2017

The Adobe Illustrator Storey {video inspiration}

The Adobe Illustrator Story from Terry Hemphill on Vimeo.

When Adobe Illustrator first shipped in 1987, it was the first software application for a young company that had, until then, focused solely on Adobe PostScript. The new product not only altered Adobe’s course, it changed drawing and graphic design forever.

Watch the Illustrator story unfold, from its beginning as Adobe’s first software product, to its role in the digital publishing revolution, to becoming an essential tool for designers worldwide. Interviews include cofounder John Warnock, his wife Marva, artists and designers Ron Chan, Bert Monroy, Dylan Roscover and Jessica Hische.