Designer Question - Background Research

[Sec19Row53]

While this relates to a logo, I'm more interested in the design aspect, so I'm starting this in General Design.

 

When you have been hired to design a logo, how much is put on you to assure that you haven't used another logo as the basis of your work?  For example, you are hired to do a logo for a high school, and you (I assume) would have something to show your design process such that you could safely say you didn't use another logo as the basis of your work.  Do you keep something like this in case the high school to which you sell your design is approached by someone claiming that the high school is using THEIR logo, not one that belongs to the school?

 

Thanks for any input.

[BrandMooreArt]

theres always risk because you can't possibly know about or find every logo out there. and for another entity to make a case against your work, all they have to do is say "it's close" and the trouble begins. to avoid it, i do 3 things:

 

1) yes, research is key. look at HS logos, pro logos, logos on dribbble and Behance and general googlin'. spend a whole day gathering as many examples as you can not to copy others work but to make sure you dont copy others work. that was key in the beginning of my OFC proposal, knowing what to stay away from

 

 

2) idea + execution (style). you need a good idea, something original and not cliche'. you know what everyone has in common that copys Fraser Davidons' style? no imagination or ability to create a concept on their own - they just rip his aesthetic. dont be that person. and if you can't come up with an original idea, at least execute it in an original way. refer back to the above image of lion logos. the bottom left corner are the 2 most original executions on that page, and one of them is Fraser's. in fact, 7 of these are his and all have a different look to them. there's a lot to learn from that; being able to execute the same idea in a different look.

 

3.) when pulling images for reference, dont look at other people work. forget about the above gallery of logos and go straight to the source. pull images of real lions and create you logo in you own vision based on that. throwing in another example of mine from the same project

 

 

to end, keep your sketches and upload your work online (i use behance and dribbble) to have a time stamp on it. putting it out there increases risk of theft, but at least you have a solid date to put on it to prove when you did it. i also upload my sketches (never finals) to instagram. 

 

[jaha32]

I haven't been at this for years and years, so I've never encountered a situation yet where I've had to show the step by step history to prove my design is authentically original, but of course it's good to keep original sketches or early vectors in case.

 

Brandon already covered some of this, but any time I design a logo, whether it be for a client or just for fun, I do not reference any other logos at first, especially if it's an animal or human, I just reference actual photos. That way I can be sure that the design I create was produced by own creativity and wasn't overly influenced by existing logos. Once I've got the majority of my design done, at that time I will then gather other existing logos of the same animal/imagery and compare to make sure that mine is different from what's been done. If by chance there are coincidental similarities in the eyes, mouth, nose,etc..., I will change mine to so that it is as original as possible. I don't think anyone can lay claim to a particular composition, but the details and techniques should be original.

 

These days on behance and even dribbble, I see a lot of people who take an existing logo, tweak it slightly, and pass it off as their own (I could make a list of the offenders. ha). It annoys me to no end. I like to think I have a keen eye for plagiarism and have successfully filed a couple plagiarism complaints against others, but unfortunately more often than not, people seem to get away with plagiarism if it's just a concept or something for a small high school.

[BrandMooreArt]

Jaha thats a good way to do it, flip the steps around. thinking back to that project, it had to be done that way because it was very short deadline and i had to get it right on try 1. but i actually like your way better time permitting. 

[jaha32]

11 hours ago, BrandMooreArt said:

Jaha thats a good way to do it, flip the steps around. thinking back to that project, it had to be done that way because it was very short deadline and i had to get it right on try 1. but i actually like your way better time permitting. 

Yeah sometimes I wonder about the methods of others, since for the most part we usually just see the result and not the process. There are times where it probably benefits to look up some references beforehand to get the creative juices flowing. I guess it depends on the project.

[Sec19Row53]

Thanks for in the input.  In the case I'm interested in, it's not my work (I'm not into creating logos - I don't have the vision for it).  Someone else created a logo.  I'm convinced that it is based on an existing logo.  The end user of the logo is convinced that they hired 'am outside source', so they aren't at risk.

 

I could show the logo so you could see what I mean, but I'm trying to learn without getting the end user in trouble with where the logo originated.

 

 

[DTConcepts]

A quick "Search-by-image" search on Google brings up the same/similar images.