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Graphics designer questions to ask

by PlantSeedsGrowPaintball
6 replies
How can I find a gig for hire designer that I can confirm isn't using templates or old images. I want a unique design that is created and I want to own the copyright. How do I make sure that after going through this process, I don't find out later that he copied or altered someone else's work?
#designer #graphics #questions
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Singletary
    Some ideas:

    1. Ask. Some will be honest and some won't. I found out about a font that was being used on a design of mine where the designer didn't have full rights to use just by asking them.

    2. Use reverse image search services such as https://tineye.com/ You can learn more about various services here. https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-...rom-your-phone

    3. Require a signed agreement. that lays out your specifications. More info here: https://www.google.com/search?q=agre...esign+services

    4. Stay away from cheap designers. This isn't a blanket statement that all cheap designers do this but it stands to reason a $5 logo may have more shortcuts than a $500 logo.

    5. If it's a website design, sometimes you can look the source code of a web page and see what template or theme is being used. Then you could search that themes layouts to check if yours is based on stock layouts. For example, Divi has something like 100 layouts included in the package. If I knew my web designer was using Divi I could check the layout library for similarities.

    6. Provide your own photos if it fits the project. For example, you could take your own photos to be used in a site design instead of relying on the designer.

    None of this is foolproof. You could do all this and more and still get sued or stuck with a rerun. I worried about this for years and it held me back for a long time. Now, I do my best to be safe/legal/ethical/moral and get graphics that work for me and move on with my life.

    Mark

    Originally Posted by PlantSeedsGrowPaintball View Post

    How can I find a gig for hire designer that I can confirm isn't using templates or old images. I want a unique design that is created and I want to own the copyright. How do I make sure that after going through this process, I don't find out later that he copied or altered someone else's work?
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    • Profile picture of the author PlantSeedsGrowPaintball
      Originally Posted by Mark Singletary View Post

      Some ideas:

      1. Ask. Some will be honest and some won't. I found out about a font that was being used on a design of mine where the designer didn't have full rights to use just by asking them.

      2. Use reverse image search services such as https://tineye.com/ You can learn more about various services here. https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-...rom-your-phone

      Thank you for the thorough reply
      3. Require a signed agreement. that lays out your specifications. More info here: https://www.google.com/search?q=agre...esign+services

      4. Stay away from cheap designers. This isn't a blanket statement that all cheap designers do this but it stands to reason a $5 logo may have more shortcuts than a $500 logo.

      5. If it's a website design, sometimes you can look the source code of a web page and see what template or theme is being used. Then you could search that themes layouts to check if yours is based on stock layouts. For example, Divi has something like 100 layouts included in the package. If I knew my web designer was using Divi I could check the layout library for similarities.

      6. Provide your own photos if it fits the project. For example, you could take your own photos to be used in a site design instead of relying on the designer.

      None of this is foolproof. You could do all this and more and still get sued or stuck with a rerun. I worried about this for years and it held me back for a long time. Now, I do my best to be safe/legal/ethical/moral and get graphics that work for me and move on with my life.

      Mark
      thank you for the thorough Reply. I will look into this further with some of your suggestions
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  • Profile picture of the author tnob
    Stay away from cheap designers. This isn't a blanket statement that all cheap designers do this but it stands to reason a $5 logo may have more shortcuts than a $500 logo.
    I agree that this is not a blanket statement, and I agree that you are better off paying more for better results. I had an experience on upwork where I sought out the cheapest options, and none of them panned out to be authentic. And most of them were beginners that knew less about design than I did (which was very little).
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    • Profile picture of the author Mark Singletary
      Originally Posted by tnob View Post

      I agree that this is not a blanket statement, and I agree that you are better off paying more for better results. I had an experience on upwork where I sought out the cheapest options, and none of them panned out to be authentic. And most of them were beginners that knew less about design than I did (which was very little).
      One of the guys I personally use is considered cheap. A logo is $20 or $30. But he does good work. So, I'm not against using cheap designers depending on needs and results.

      Mark
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      • Profile picture of the author tnob
        One of the guys I personally use is considered cheap. A logo is $20 or $30. But he does good work. So, I'm not against using cheap designers depending on needs and results.
        Totally agree. And it is so hard to sift through the <$50 offers to find true value on platforms like Upwork where there are 100's of 'em.
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  • Profile picture of the author WF- Enzo
    Administrator
    Get a freelancer or something. Before paying that freelancer, you can reverse-search the image they sent you
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