The Internet: A double edged sword for designers

I got an email from the good folks of the ACME Speed Shop asking me if I knew about a person selling stickers of my design for them on eBay. I had to see it for myself: item #220685777210

You've probably heard the old saying "Imitation is the highest form of flattery", but honestly, it's not; it's a down right violation of intellectual property and against the law.

Here's the hard part: I'm by no means well off. They don't call us starving artists for nothing. I need to show work I've done in the past to draw new clients to continue to work. But anything I put up on line is subject to being stolen, aped, ripped off, hacked, etc. So what can I do!? Watermarks only do so much good. The fact of the matter is anyone who can retouch a photo can make a watermark disappear (for the most part) and you also need to make an image large enough to show a client but at the same time not so large that someone can nab it, reproduce it, and sell it on eBay.

The fact of the matter is, I was paid to do this design (outside of a change in typeface of "speed shop" that the person who is trying to pass this off as their own work did) So really it's hurting the good folks who paid me to design for them, but at the same time this person is not afraid to place their own watermark on the design!

Man Cave Accessories? You didn't do this work, you are a hack. Your balls are mighty big to go ahead and watermark hacked work!

Vintage? It's only 3 years old buddy! Oh, looky here! You're from Westland. You are in bitch-slap distance!

Please everyone, don't buy from mancaveaccessories1 on ebay. This person is bad for the automotive collective.

My work was "copied" among about 200+ other rip off pieces that this person is selling illegally. If you are a designer, you may wish to check and see if your work is up there among his own too.

Fuckin' Ugh!

Tis. the season I suppose! The Zombie Factor

A friend and colleague gave me a call about putting together an identity for his Comedy Zombie Pilot series called "The Zombie Factor". It's a tongue and cheek idea that after the zombie apocalypse happens, how would we return to life in the USA with zombies? Of course! Make them our new form of entertainment with their own reality show.

Anyway, I don't want to give too much away. I'm still waiting to see a pilot all edited down. But, if it pops up, I'll post it up here. Enjoy!

Manifolds on Main

I was approached to do a more "classic" design (by classic I mean an approach you've seen before) There are a lot of old water slide decals out there of "powered by plymouth, ford, chevy, mopar, etc." This was my own skew on the same old wheel and tire for Manifolds on Main in Irving Texas. The coolest part about this is, not only was it used on an event shirt, but also as the participant award.

(not the best photo in the world of it here)

The design was given to a jeweler to create a 1.75" wheel with a bronze base for all who participated in the event. I don't have to often think in 3D any more with my work, but this one I did again (funny how out of practice I've become!) Here is the breakdown of how the layers worked out that was sent along to be machined out.

At any rate, I'm stoked! I love to see this stuff jump off the screen and become a physical object. My work takes on a whole new meaning when it becomes a product to me. I love to see designs pan out.