leighton hubbell

This project was something that doesn’t come around very often. If you’re lucky, it’s once in a lifetime. My wife’s parents recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary – a truly amazing feat anyway you look at it. Two people have been able to share a wonderful life together, through thick and thin for half a century. That’s pretty awesome. So, what in the world do you give them as a gift?

Well, if you’re like me, there’s always someone in the family that will quickly throw your name in the hat to help out. That someone was my wife. Go figure.

To be honest, I have a great relationship with my in-laws and have shared a long history with their family. A lot of the adventures and experiences that the family has shared have been told to or experienced first-hand by me. When the concept of a tree-of-life was mentioned, I gave it a lot of thought. What better way to convey the many adventures they’ve shared together over 50 years, several states, three kids and a smattering of grandchildren? It made perfect sense and I was honored.

Now, I know this isn’t the first tree-of-life illustration to grace the planet, but it would be my own personal rendition of the idea. I would take the many details and experiences from the family and try to depict them in icons, collected together into one, robust and sturdy tree. Since it would probably get pretty busy with all the different colors of everything, I tried to limit it to just two shades of blue. And, to make the tree even more special, I would draw the lower boughs into the shape of the number ’50′. See if you can make that out in the last photo.

Some thumbnail sketches from the sketchbook.

And, some details from the finished illustration.

Needless to say, they were very touched with the result. Big smiles on their faces, and even some tears – that’s always nice to see. The best part is watching them pore through the different icons and interpreting the significance of each symbol and discovering details they hadn’t noticed before.

It was certainly a great way of giving back to people who’ve made your life that much more complete – in their own way.

It’s pretty exciting. I’ve been getting a few new design books recently to add to my collection. So, I’ve been hanging out by the mailbox eagerly awaiting my next package and there it was, the latest Logo Nest volume – 02, the book from logo designers for logo designers.

This one is particularly compelling as it is the second Logo Nest book that I have been a contributing writer, as well as a logo designer. For LN02, I was asked to write pretty much anything logo-related that I thought was relevant to our times, and might be particularly useful to the logo design community. After much thought and deliberation, I chose to write my article on Longevity in the Logo Business. After a fair amount of time under my belt myself, I thought it was something I can really talk about. You can read an excerpt of my piece here.

I must say I am always a bit nervous sending in some of my writing for a book. As a designer, I’m not as comfortable with writing as I am with my design work – so be kind. I hope it reads well. There are some other great logo designers and contributors that were selected to write as well, such as Alen Pavlovic, Richard Baird, Nemanja Veselinovic, Jeff Fisher, Josh Hayes, Gareth Hardy and Jacob Cass. Be sure and check out their articles, too. There’s lots of great information for some very diverse subjects within the logo design industry.

In addition to the writing, I had 12 logo designs selected to appear within the pages. It is especially flattering considering the limited amount of space, the print run and the level of work. See my previous post.

I think this latest edition went pretty well overall. There are some noticeable improvements over the inaugural volume and I’m certain the momentum will continue to the next one. Make sure you order yours soon, before they’re all gone.

Well now, it is here. After much anticipation, I finally got around to ordering my copy of the new iheartlogos Season Two to add to my ever-growing library of logo and design books. I received word last July that I had work selected to appear in this volume, but as competitions and books go, we can’t always have our instant gratification. Sometimes we have to be patient and wait!

If you’re not familiar with iheartlogos, it is a logo design site and competition that has a slightly different approach – all the entries are collected, then voted on by the other participating competitors in the season. In essence, the group picks the best work to appear in the book. If you make it in, then your peers thought it was nice work as well. It’s as simple as that.

So, in short, this season’s volume did not disappoint. I thought the variety of work was strong and balanced, with less work appearing that seems to over-saturate the many logo design blogs out there. Apparently, I’m not the only one who feels that way, which is a testament to the iheartlogos voting structure.

The paper quality was pretty good, but hopefully next season’s volume will be able to budget a stock with less show-through of the surrounding pages. Overall, pretty good for a short-run printing of only 1,000 copies. If iheartlogos continues to grow and gain some traction, I’m sure the quality will improve exponentially in the coming seasons. Also, another nicety would be a directory in the back with corresponding page numbers for each designer’s logo entries.

Overall, I’m proud of the work that got selected and am glad to participate in the competition. I look forward to Season Three. Don’t forget to enter your work.

Needless to say, a website that is near and dear to my heart has got to be iheartlogos.com. It’s a competition platform centered around the premise that logo design shouldn’t be judged by a handful of select people, but by the logo design peer community. Amen.

So, when I was approached by the folks at iheartlogos to participate in their new Designer Conversations series appearing on their blog, I of course, said yes. You want to know what my favorite logo was that a client killed? Funniest thing I’ve been told by a client? What did I wish I invented? It’s all there for your perusal.

My conversation is the one to kick it off. How cool is that?

So, here we are at no. 75 of the 300 Random icons design challenge. I know it doesn’t sound like much of a milestone, but it is for me. This makes me officially one-quarter of the way to the finish line. And, I’m happy to say that I’m pretty much on schedule to complete the challenge by the end of the year as promised.

Blissfully unaware. That’s what I’d like to call it. Not ignorant, not naïve, just unaware. I’ve been a designer for a lot of years and have had my work online since 2004, so I know the risks. Or, so I thought.

It really wasn’t until the recent Logogarden.com debacle where I had 21 logo designs pinched, that this problem reared its ugly head. My work has been stolen – a lot.

Now, I’ve had work lifted here and there over the years. Some overly inspired logo designs appearing in various logo forum sites and I’ve been pretty swift to address it. Plus, I’ve had the benefit of having others warn me of work they have seen that looks a little too similar – but, this is different. Never this widespread and never this brazen.

Until now, there hasn’t been the search technology available out there to find this stuff. And now, with the release of the Google reverse image search, it’s a whole new ball game.

To be clear, I know enough not to just post work rampantly throughout the Internet. I am very select about where the work goes and what sites they will appear. In addition, I always try to label the work with either my domain name or logo mark on each image. And internally, I make sure that I keep folders of the collections, and what their image dimensions are, in the event of someone copying the files.

Even though I take all these precautions (I know what you’re thinking, they’re really not that much), it’s still the Wild West out there. Most people have no idea (nor do they care) that ALL the images floating around out there on the web were created by somebody, and they are not ripe for the pickens whenever you feel the need.

How did we get here?

The online portfolio – it’s as simple as that. And even more than that, the online presence you need to get visibility in our modern business world.

In the old days, the way to get your work in front of the folks that need it was to advertise. Whether you made cold calls, paid for sourcebook ads, did mailings, got in with creative directors to show your book or dropped promotional pieces – it was all in hopes of a call back for the next great assignment. Back then, it was who you knew. Word of mouth was always your friend and reputation was everything.

You can’t just have a website anymore. To really get noticed there needs to be a presence on portfolio sites, directories, forums, social networking sites, inspiration sites, your own or company blog and whatever else you can think of. The keyword here is visible.

With all that there needs to be content, lots of it. And there seems to be this insatiable appetite for newer and newer content all the time. You can’t have work that is 6 months to a year old on your profile! We want new. We want more. We want it now.

This kind of mentality seems to have fueled another phenomenon – if I can’t get noticed with enough of my own work, I’ll just borrow yours.

Plagiarism has been around forever, but it’s never been this easy to access good work. And to soothe many a thief’s conscience, it’s done fairly anonymously.

Think about it. In the last four years, we’ve had a huge surge of growth in the logo design industry.

Logo design went from a rather obscure sub-set of graphic design, into a vogue little vocation in almost no time flat. Anyone with some time, software and a laptop is cranking out their own little identities.

The established identity designers, like myself, have a classical education in design and illustration and do this professionally. Many of the new generation are either self-taught, or are coming from a web design perspective. And some, are hobbyists – ones that tinker with design in their free time, while they keep the day job.

I blame this rash of theft in our industry on the global economy. I know that is very fashionable these days to pass the blame, but hear me out.

Right about the time the economy takes a digger, several new business models appear on the logo design horizon. First, you have what I like to call the overstock or brand-in-a-box sites. These in their purest form, are sites that help you sell those nifty, misunderstood and never approved logo concepts you’ve got lying around on your hard drive. For the potential client, they get a ready-made logo and possibly a matching domain name, for one tidy little price.

In the beginning, they were doing just that. But, after everyone saw that there was possible money to be made, other designers started to make up these fictitious brands to fill up their lack of inventory – and interest increased. No more pesky clients getting in the way. We’re making money!

Then, you’ve got the crowdsourcing sites.

The business model that puts up a contest to get as many logo concepts as the client can bear to see, and the only one that gets paid in the end is the winner. If you’re lucky.

When the odds are stacked up against you like that and money is tight, people do drastic things. Things they probably wouldn’t attempt without anonymity.

The interesting thing with these two new opportunities created in logo design, was the amount of spillover that appeared back on sites like Logopond.com. In an effort to get cross-promotion traffic to their contests and box brands, designers were posting work on the critique sites begging for likes and floats. And they told two friends – and so on, and so on.

Then, the boom started.

Tweets. Links. Inspirational blog posts. Many, in so much hurry to post the logos, didn’t bother to give credit to the designer.

Everyone’s a logo designer, or so they are trying. It’s amazing. These pesky little pictograms with type are a lot harder to produce than they look. And with a massive glut on the internet, even harder to come up with something original.

It ain’t that easy, is it? Easy money never is.

But there’s a new one on the horizon.

And just like Hollywood, the profiteers come out of hiding. We can’t possibly come up with something new. We’ve got to take a formula and do it over and over again. This time, we’ll tap into a ‘team’ of designers and crank out a massive icon library for our customers to select from! Yeah, it’ll be great. They’ll pick their own colors, their own fonts. We’ll be rich!

But, how do you possibly stock a website with 10,000 icons without tapping a team of hundreds of designers? You can’t. Certainly not without covering old grounds. How much would that even cost? That’s the sad part, probably not as much as you would think.

And, that’s where our story turns to logo pilfering.

The truth is, we’ve got people willing to ask for 200 logos for $250.00 on Elance.com. Even sadder, we’ve got people willing to do it for less than that.

Someone was willing to go through the Logolounge.com database and steal hundreds of logo designs from hard working designers, design firms and agencies, probably because they didn’t have enough time or resources to actually do the work for the price quoted. And they didn’t have the talent, nor the training.

One thing I don’t get, is why do we have to lowball so much? I know that $50.00 in some countries is quite a bit of money, but on the other hand, isn’t $500.00? Why not try for those jobs and up the standards? Eventually, if we try hard enough, those sub-$100 jobs will be a thing of the past.

One would only hope. But, you have to take a stand somewhere.

So, what’s the harm?

There’s plenty.

It’s one of the biggest misconceptions on the Internet. Most people just do the old right-click and copy it over to the hard drive. They never even bother to find out where the image came from. They might rename it so they don’t ‘feel dirty’ about it, because deep down inside they know it’s wrong. And, no one ever thinks they’ll get caught.

Sure, if there’s some genuine interest in your work and it appears on a blog, be sure and let them know you are thankful and remind them to post a link to your site. But, if it’s obviously for their own benefit and it’s led to believe they did the work, be sure and show your displeasure and get it removed.

People work very hard every day to create this work and by doing that and not recognizing the person who created it, you’re taking food off of their table. I work hard to create a brand for my business and do quality work for my clients. When you mess with my work, you mess with my brand and you mess with my business.

Showing design work in my portfolio on my own website is not a digital buffet for which anyone can choose to use anything at their leisure. This is my job. This is how I make my living. Expect me to be upset.

Think about that the next time you do an image search. I hope you adjust your habits and give credit where it’s due and above all, pay it forward.

So, how can you protect yourself from your own logo pilfering?

• Keep track of your images. Have a naming convention that you can easily keep going and where they were posted.
• Use metadata in your images. Include metadata, creation and copyright data information when saving in Photoshop or Adobe Bridge.
• File for copyrights on your images. You can file for copyrights in groups of images, too and save some money.
• Be careful where you post your work. Only submit to sites that you know or trust.
• Be a good neighbor. If you see a familiar image that looks overly inspired, contact the original designer if you know who it is. If not, Tweet it.
• Scan the image servers. Use Google Reverse Image Search or Tineye.com to see if anyone’s using your work.
• Cease & Desist letters – Get a copy of a DMCA form and have it ready if you need to send it.
• Consider digital tracking software. Services like Digimarc can label, watermark and track your digital library.
• Turn off image links on your website. Although not a big solution, it can certainly deter the casual infringer.
• Label your work. Let the pilferer know that they are borrowing your work should it end up beyond your reach.

_­If you’re into logo design there’s a new book out that you need to get your hands on. I just got my copy this week. It’s Smashing Logo Design by Gareth Hardy.

Not only is the volume full of some of the latest and greatest work from contemporary logo designers from around the world, it is also a great resource on everything from sketching and concept development, to software tips and business development.

I’ve owned my share of logo design books and most of them have some very inspirational work that grace the pages, but this one is a bit different. It’s not only showing nice work, it’s showing you how to create it and market the work, too.

A few months ago, Gareth contacted me about contributing to the book and I of course said, “Yes!”.  In addition to work from me, he also got contributions from a wide range of very talented designers from all experience levels to pitch in. The list is truly a who’s who of current logo design talent with lots of interesting insights on a range of tips and business issues. As you can see, very good company, indeed.

I was asked to contribute a handful of logos from my own work, and write about my experience in self-promotion, the evolution of the logo design business and the effects of the internet on our industry. It was great to see it all there in print at the end. Much thanks to the great editorial staff for sifting through what I wrote and keeping the good stuff! ;)

Overall, I thought Gareth and the folks at Wiley & Sons did a great job with the book. I highly recommend you get yourself a copy.

There often comes a time in any type of project relationship that you decide, sometimes sub-consciously, what your role will be. Are you the leader, or the expert? Or are you the taskmaster, or even the worker bee? Sometimes there’s even a combination of roles.

Accepting your role is often difficult to grasp once it’s been established, especially if it’s not the role you wanted or started out with. You may be wondering, “How did I get here, and why did I let this happen?”

It really depends on how you set the tone from the start, and it’s no different with a client/designer relationship either.

A few years ago, when I was just starting my design studio, I had taken on a rather promising client in the gourmet food category. In a traditional agency, their business would have been rather small, but for me it was a good chunk of income and a great opportunity.

How I got the business was a lesson in itself.

I had attained the connection from a client I had worked with in my former agency job. She had left her marketing VP position to go out on her own and eventually joined up with this new venture to help as marketing director and get it off the ground. When we had worked together in the past, I had no idea we would ever work side-by-side in this capacity, or even become friends.

So, going to meet with the former client, now marketing director and her partner, the new company owner for the first time, I was a bit intimidated. Part of me was wondering if I was up to the task of such a client. They had a very high taste level and the gourmet food category was something that I had very little experience. And part of me was anxious to get the business, especially since this income would set me off in a good direction.

In essence, my bit of self-doubt and anxiety couldn’t help but spill over into the now blossoming client relationship. Did they notice that, or did I manage to shield them from my nervous thoughts? They were impressed enough to hire me, though. It was up to me to take it from there.

Now, you have to wonder what their expectations and work-style are like. Not everyone shows their colors in a couple of meetings. Do they expect to drive the creative work and have you making changes at their every whim? Or are they wanting some guidance through the project and need a creative partner to help them through the process?

Do they want a decorator or a designer? Make that decision for them.

My defining moment working with them came when we were in the process completing their corporate identity and selecting colors for the first 9 label designs to appear on their line of sauces. Color, I am told, is one of my biggest strengths as a graphic designer. But, after 12 rounds (yes, 12 rounds – you do the math) of color comps, I was starting to wonder if I knew what I was doing.

They were wallpapering their office with page after page of technicolor uncertainty and all the while tinkering and suggesting, desperately trying to make a decision on the perfect hues.

Then, they asked, “What do you think? Can we try another round with these adjustments?”

I couldn’t take it anymore. In the back of my mind, I thought if I didn’t say something now I would just be their decorator. Pushing pixels whenever the wind shifted. Completely drifting into a design black hole and hating the work.

It was here that I went from decorator to designer.

So, before I realized what I was saying, I said it, “We’re going off a cliff here”.

Uh oh, I thought, it’s out now.

“I’ve run out of bullets. Spent. I frankly don’t know where to take this now,” I said.

Wow. From there I decided to go with it. Business be damned. If they wanted my honest opinion, I was going to say it.

I think there is a perfectly good solution in the work shown here. We just need to agree which group it is. We’re not going to find it in another round.

Somehow, I was relieved and now glad I said my piece.

Well, fortunately this made an impact and they decided to take a break on the call and get back with me later in the day. At this point, I didn’t know what they would do, but for some reason I had a feeling that this wasn’t a deal breaker for the business.

Sure enough, they called back with a decision. They went with the work from the second round of color. It was good, because I was exhausted.

Sheepishly, they apologized for all the additional work and agreed that they were over-analyzing and needed to have a little more trust in my recommendations.

Go figure.

To sum up, my relationship with that client completely changed after that day – for the better. I was much more open to making my recommendations with purpose and there was an improved respect level that carried on with several projects beyond our original.

The marketing director has since moved on from that company and still works with me to this day, ten years later. And we’re great friends.

Sometimes it pays to speak up and swim upstream a little. You never know what may be out there.

What are your thoughts? Do you have a defining moment in your client relationships you’d like to share?

Greeting me in the mail this week was the first edition of LogoNest, an inspirational collection of logo design culled from the popular website of the same name. Awhile back, I was asked to be a contributing writer to the volume for which I was quite flattered (you know, being a DESIGNER and all) and maybe a little tentative. Frankly, I thought I was just putting a few words together to help out the book. Little did I know, my piece would end up right up front for all to see, right there in print.

I did my very best, so please be kind. :)

Overall, I thought it came out very nice. I dig the very impactful and distinct, orange cover and mailing package. The pacing was nicely planned and the page layouts were well done. It was a great first-edition effort.

What made this book different is their premise of ‘The book from logo designers for logo designers’. So, it seems only fitting that they included a nice collection of work with some great articles from notable logo designers from all over the world. Designers like Steve Zelle of Processed Identity, Tim Lapetino of Hexanine, logo designer and blogger, Jacob Cass, Gareth Hardy and others.

Here is an excerpt from my article, The Power of a Good Logo:

At the heart of every great brand is a logo–a symbol, icon or typeface that is easily recognizable by the viewing audience. Something that, when viewed, sparks an impulse or emotion about the company or organization it represents. That reaction is what makes a good logo truly powerful.

To read the rest of the story, you can order your own copy of the limited-edition LogoNest 01 from the website.

I want to thank Alen, Sinisa and everyone at LogoNest for the opportunity to help out. We all look forward to LogoNest 02.

Just had my latest interview posted on The Logo Mix logo design blog. Check out some of my latest work and learn a few new things about me and my design process. Hope you enjoy it. Read the post.

So, here we are at no. 75 of the 300 Random icons design challenge. I know it doesn’t sound like much of a milestone, but it is for me. This makes me officially one-quarter of the way to the finish line. And, I’m happy to say that I’m pretty much on schedule to complete the challenge by the end of the year as promised.

If you’ve been following along for any amount of time, I’m sure you’ve seen some interesting trends showing up through the work. There have been some style experiments, shape experiments – some concepts were spot on and some were near misses. But, that’s all part of the process and I’m laying it all out there for you to see. Since we’re at a particular milestone, I thought I would give my readers (you know who you are) a brief update on how it’s going behind the scenes and what I’ve learned about myself and the process so far.

For my own records of this experience, I’ve decided to keep a binder of all the posted work and a file of the development work. Some versions I’ve designed didn’t make the cut, were more or less half-baked or I just couldn’t get them to work – so I didn’t post them. There are many.

Secondly, I’ve been keeping a log of each month and any interesting issues that have come up. For instance, I found that in January I was busting out concepts right and left with a surplus of 5-6 completed icons on deck and ready to post. I was feeling pretty good and thought that maybe this wouldn’t be that hard.

Well, let’s just say it hasn’t always been that easy. Many times, I’ve got one in the sketchbook and found some time during the day to put it together, only to post it very late in the day. Not so great for consistent blogging, right? Hey, I’m trying.

As far as two-word concepts, there are plenty in the surplus, and I’m always adding to it. My sketchbook is brimming with words, but not always visual ideas. On occasion, I go back and doodle something to work with it. This is a nice approach, with much less pressure, but doesn’t always get me the best idea out there – much like any commercial project, I guess.

A neat thing that has been fun is my kids are often asking what the icon of the day is and find great fun in ‘helping me out’ with ideas. I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve posted a few of theirs – hey, they were cool concepts. I get little Post-it notes in my office with their scribbles almost weekly.

Other things I’m finding out about myself on this project:

• I’m sketching a lot more, which is good and nothing energizes like a new sketchbook.
• Posting consistently helps me from overworking the idea and keeping it simple.
• Being consistent with a style is a constant battle, as I have several. It’s not always good to mix and match.
• I’m getting faster and more efficient.
• Experimentation of new styles is fun and challenging.
• There is considerable work in using good contrast with easy-to-read icons and branching out with new color palettes.
• I’m not a big fan of working on Saturday mornings to post work.
• Trying not to let my work suffer either commercially or with the icon project, due to scheduling conflicts – and I don’t want to have to work all the time to accommodate it.
• My iPhone makes a pretty good, down and dirty scanner for sketches. Just email it to yourself.

There you go. Here’s to the next 75, right? Thanks for following along.

After giving this personal design goal a lot of thought, doing it the way I was doing it didn’t seem right.

It didn’t seem right to bury this blog with the constant stream of icon designs and completely ignore the regular content. It was like it didn’t exist anymore. So, I decided that the smart thing to do was start 300 Random icons as its own blog. Now, all the work will be posted and categorized right there for easy browsing and commentary.

I certainly hope you like it. And feel free to come back often.

So here we go. It’s now 2012 and the start of another new year. What better way to begin this next 12 months than a personal design challenge and goal to create some new work and perhaps grow a bit creatively? I can’t think of any. Perhaps I’m a bit cloudy still from the holidays.

To be honest, I’ve been rather impressed and a bit envious of some of the work that my fellow designers and illustrators have put forth in the last couple of years. Some really cool stuff has come out of their personal projects, and I’m feeling like I need something that will force me to work a little harder and expand my horizons. And, who knows, I may develop some new styles, techniques and workflows in the process. You know – learn stuff.

By posting it on this blog, I’ll hopefully be held more accountable for keeping it going and it should be a nice way to see how the project progresses.

I’m not saying all the work will be stellar and some of it may even suck, but it will be all part of the journey and hopefully will help make me a better creative person.

So, what exactly are you going to be doing?

Icons. Essentially, icons that will be communicating a concept with a very simple and clean visual solution. These won’t be icons that you will use for your average website for things like ‘print’ or ‘payment’. I am focusing on taking two keyword phrases (Ex. orange juice) that are all familiar to us and creating an icon that communicates that idea. They might be one-color or many, simple or illustrative in whatever style I may see fit.

They are not meant to work together as a set, but just an exercise in making the visual communicate clearly. As mentioned in the title, they will be random concepts and really could be anything. Some may be basic and some may have a little humor, I just don’t know yet. That’s the cool part of trying something like this.

Can some of these icons work as logo designs? Sure. And some of my icon design could even be considered illustration, depending on the work style.

Why 300 of them?

I picked 300 to try and design and post them often. That way, it would force me to keep with it, but not have to post every single day. I do enjoy my family and weekends.

When are you starting?

I’m starting January 1st, 2012 and continuing until I hit 300 icon designs, whenever that happens, but during the 2012 calendar year.

There you go. Stay tuned for the first installment and wish me luck. I think I’m going to need it.

This weekend, I just finished reading the Walter Isaacson book entitled, Steve Jobs (2011, Simon & Schuster). It truly was a fascinating read about a very complex and interesting man. Love him or hate him, Steve Jobs was one of the most influential people of our times.

Aside from the blog chatter and industry lore, I really didn’t know that much about him, which is one of the main reasons I decided to read the book. This is even coming from someone like myself who’s worked with Apple computers since the late 1980′s. With such candid interviews and thorough research gleaned directly from the source by Isaacson, I found a lot of interesting parallels in my own life experiences as both a creative person and one that works a lot with technology every day.

As we all know, the influence of iTunes on the music industry has made a huge impact on the way we purchase and listen to music. When iTunes was being conceived, there was a lot of file sharing and content piracy going on with Napster and many of their counterparts. That situation is not unlike the growing problem of online intellectual property theft going on in and out of the graphic design industry as well.

As I read about the problem at Apple and the delicate ethics and issues surrounding music and intellectual property, I thought I would share this excerpt:

At this point Jobs could have decided simply to indulge piracy. Free music meant more valuable iPods. Yet because he really like music, and the artists who made it, he was opposed to what he saw as the theft of creative products. As he later told me:

From the earliest days at Apple, I realized that we thrived when we created intellectual property. If people copied or stole our software, we’d be out of business. If it weren’t protected, there’d be no incentive for us to make new software or product designs. If protection of intellectual property begins to disappear, creative companies will disappear or never get started. But there’s a simpler reason: It’s wrong to steal. It hurts other people. And it hurts your character.

Well said, Steve. I hope others starting out in the creative field will read that and let it really sink in.

Now, it’s no secret that Steve Jobs was an often ruthless business man. But, after reading this memoir I found him just as passionate about creating great products and often deciding to take the high road to set the right business tone. They were as he put it, at the crossing of humanities and technology.

It’s not often you hear of a CEO at a major company like Apple making this sort of decision on something like others’ intellectual property. And if you decide to read the book yourself, you will realize why. Often times, paybacks can be a b*tch.

The book is not small (571 pages), but I found it read pretty fast with lots of interesting tidbits about the ‘hows and whys’ of the technology industry and its history. Even if you’re not that into Apple, it’s definitely worth the read.

With all the madness the design community has endured with the pilfering of my and others’ work in recent months, the thought inspired me to create a poster. The sentiment was this: The professional community that I have come to know – especially the online community, has not only taken the pilferers to task, we have banded together to watch out for each other. I am very proud of this.

I know we cannot completely stamp out copyright infringement and plagiarism, but we can try and make the casual infringer aware of the damage they are doing by downloading others’ work and using it without permission.

Let’s stick together as a strong design community and continue to look out for each other.

So, how can you protect yourself from your own image pilfering?

• Keep track of your images. Have a naming convention that you can easily keep going and where they were posted.
• Use metadata in your images. Include metadata, creation and copyright data information when saving in Photoshop or Adobe Bridge.
• File for copyrights on your images. You can file for copyrights in groups of images, too and save some money.
• Be careful where you post your work. Only submit to sites that you know or trust.
• Be a good neighbor. If you see a familiar image that looks overly inspired, contact the original designer if you know who it is. If not, Tweet it.
• Scan the image servers. Use Google Reverse Image Search or Tineye.com to see if anyone’s using your work.
• Cease & Desist letters – Get a copy of a DMCA form and have it ready if you need to send it.
• Consider digital tracking software. Services like Digimarc can label, watermark and track your digital library.
• Turn off image links on your website. Although not a big solution, it can certainly deter the casual infringer.
• Label your work. Let the pilferer know that they are borrowing your work should it end up beyond your reach.

And hey, let’s be careful out there.

Email template built for a location/lifestyle photographer.

New logo design for a location/lifestyle photographer.

See the completed color icon here: http://bit.ly/Icqjq4

See the completed color icon here: http://bit.ly/HEf2W7

An icon illustration I'm working on for a packaging project.

Worked the 'angelic syringe' into the university's graphic standards guidelines to give the program its own identity.

Icon design illustrating the electrical power being converted from AC to DC generated from wind turbines.

Proposed logo design for a high-end candle and housewares company. The monogram is a capital 'M'.

A way, toned-down version of the previous custom lettering design.

No. 57 of my 300 Random Icons challenge.

No. 46 of my 300 Random icons challenge.

One for the mountain bike crowd. I also have versions for roadies and fixies, too.

A series of t-shirt designs for the cycling crowd.

Logo for a musical group that plays Big Band music in the Palm Springs area.

A newly revised and updated Gearhead logo and shirt design in two-color format.

Don't forget that special something for that special someone! No. 31 and today's random icon: Lovey Dovey.

A proposed logo design for a TV show that's all about off road racing and the kids that participate.

A series of t-shirts for a group of friends that get together once a month to taste beer, eat food, listen to music and hang out. The retro look is because of the historic neighborhood it takes place.

A series of t-shirts for a group of friends that get together once a month to taste beer, eat food, listen to music and hang out. The retro look is because of the historic neighborhood it takes place.

A series of t-shirts for a group of friends that get together once a month to taste beer, eat food, listen to music and hang out. The retro look is because of the historic neighborhood it takes place.

After giving this personal design goal a lot of thought, doing it the way I was doing it didn’t seem right. It didn’t seem right to bury my blog and Dribbble here, with the constant stream of icon designs. So, I decided that the smart thing to do was start this as a blog. http://bit.ly/xLB4dH

I won't be posting these icons with nearly the frequency anymore, but with the occasional post here and there. Hope to see you there.

Installment no. 19 of the 300 Random icons design series. Follow along on the blog: http://bit.ly/AdQj4G

Are you a do-it-yourself-er? Installment no. 18 of the 300 Random icons design series. Follow along on the blog: http://bit.ly/yiZcdK

Installment no. 17 of the 300 Random icons design series. Follow along on the blog: http://bit.ly/yZzoPq

Installment no. 16 of the 300 Random icons design series. Follow along on the blog: http://bit.ly/xGhCHD

Installment no. 15 of the 300 Random icons design series. Follow along on the blog: http://bit.ly/xPPrp7

Installment no. 14 of the 300 Random icons design series. Follow along on the blog: http://bit.ly/zhj046

Installment no. 13 of the 300 Random icons design series. Follow along on the blog: http://bit.ly/wViQZQ

Installment no. 12 of the 300 Random icons design series. Follow along on the blog: http://bit.ly/xFAM24

Installment no. 11 of the 300 Random icons design series. Follow along on the blog: http://bit.ly/yS7SNX

T-shirt concept for a new and refurbished Volkswagen parts supplier. A graphic inside joke for the motorheads out there.

Installment no. 10 of the 300 Random icons design series. Follow along on the blog: http://bit.ly/ArDPKH

Installment no. 9 of the 300 Random icons design series. Follow along on the blog: http://bit.ly/yyFOHk

Week two and installment no. 8 of the 300 Random icons design series. Follow along on the blog: http://bit.ly/zXcHiT

Installment no. 7 of the 300 Random icons design series. Follow along on the blog: http://bit.ly/zaCIbB

Installment no. 6 of the 300 Random icons design series. Follow along on the blog: http://bit.ly/xuONFP

Installment no. 5 of the 300 Random icons design series. Follow along on the blog: http://bit.ly/yALPBh

Installment no. 4 of the 300 Random icons design series. Follow along on the blog: http://bit.ly/zG5xCG

Installment no. 3 of the 300 Random icons design series. Follow along on the blog: http://bit.ly/A3DXdC

Another installment of a personal design challenge of designing 300 random icons in the coming 2012 year. Feel free to follow along on my blog: http://bit.ly/vYiT3e

The first installment of a personal design challenge of designing 300 random icons in the coming 2012 year. Feel free to follow along on my blog: http://bit.ly/rWZEAW

Icon design for global luggage tracking device.

Here's a variation on the other design for the tool geeks. This one shows a 12-point combination wrench instead of the previous 6-point version.

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of being interviewed for one of the up and coming logo design inspiration sites and blogs, The Logo Mix. It’s nice to be recognized in the logo design industry as a guy that spills his guts about the process and somehow makes it interesting, eh? Anyway, I’m always happy to give back. Please give it a read.

Here’s a print campaign we did for client Chinablue, a creator of Shanghai-influenced, gourmet stir-frys, dressings and sauces. It went primarily to the trade publications, but didn’t necessarily need to look like it. This campaign included custom photography of each specific dish, beautifully shot and styled by food photographer, Laurie Vogt. Copywriting by Ellen Shakespeare.

Just received word today that a total of 13 of my recent logo designs will be appearing in the upcoming 2011 publication of Trademarks USA, by David E. Carter. This is especially exciting because the new volume will be published exclusively online through Amazon, Google Editions and Apple’s iBookstore.This means that instead of a standard hard or softcover edition, they will only be viewable digitally. I am very interested in how this works out. The iPad, Kindle, Nook and the many other soon to be released eBook readers have really changed the publishing world and how we view our content. Apparently, Amazon states that for every 100 softcover books sold, 115 Kindle versions are sold as well. We shall see.

In any case, I am honored to have my work included in this latest edition from David E. Carter. For the last 15 years, his books have dominated the best-seller lists for the category of graphic design and advertising. His compilations of outstanding creative work are among the industry standard.

Very excited to announce my logo work’s inclusion in the debut volume of iheartlogos. This inaugural logo design competition is unique in the fact that the competitors are judges and vice versa.

It’s a very different approach to a design competition and the only one of its kind. These five winners were selected among the many other entries by some very talented logo designers and firms from around the world. I am honored to be among the first to get published in this debut volume.

My selections appear on pages 170, 187, 209, 211 and 227, respectively. You can order yours here.

Just posted today is my interview by Duane Kinsey, of Melbourne, Australia’s Logobird for his design studio’s blog. Some very interesting questions were asked about my design process, working with clients and how to overcome project challenges in the corporate identity discipline. I tried my best to answer them completely and I hope you get some interesting information out of it.

Entry no. 115, Hand Carwash of the 300 Random icon design challenge.

Another installment of the 300 random and conceptual icons I will be designing throughout 2012. Feel free to follow along.

Entry no. 114, Juice Concentrate of the 300 Random icon design challenge.

Another installment of the 300 random and conceptual icons I will be designing throughout 2012. Feel free to follow along.

Entry no. 113, Paper Cut of the 300 Random icon design challenge.

Another installment of the 300 random and conceptual icons I will be designing throughout 2012. Feel free to follow along.

Entry no. 112, Magnetic Field of the 300 Random icon design challenge.

Another installment of the 300 random and conceptual icons I will be designing throughout 2012. Feel free to follow along.

Entry no. 111, Bait & Switch of the 300 Random icon design challenge.

Another installment of the 300 random and conceptual icons I will be designing throughout 2012. Feel free to follow along.

Entry no. 110, News Media of the 300 Random icon design challenge.

Another installment of the 300 random and conceptual icons I will be designing throughout 2012. Feel free to follow along.

Entry no. 109, Snag Fishing of the 300 Random icon design challenge.

Another installment of the 300 random and conceptual icons I will be designing throughout 2012. Feel free to follow along.

Entry no. 108, Pickled Brain of the 300 Random icon design challenge.

Another installment of the 300 random and conceptual icons I will be designing throughout 2012. Feel free to follow along.

Entry no. 107, Wake Up of the 300 Random icon design challenge.

Another installment of the 300 random and conceptual icons I will be designing throughout 2012. Feel free to follow along.

Entry no. 106, Drill Down of the 300 Random icon design challenge.

Another installment of the 300 random and conceptual icons I will be designing throughout 2012. Feel free to follow along.