Quick Disclaimer: The following is not legal advice. Legal advice deals with specific cases of law and legal action. I am not a lawyer and am not qualified to give legal advice. Instead, these are general facts about the law, which is ever evolving. For dealing with any legal matters, or legal advice, please contact an attorney.

What Copyright Is

The first thing every designer needs to know about the copyright law is just what copyright is. Copyright is the law protecting the exclusive rights of a creator’s original work. It sounds straightforward, but at times it can be rather confusing.

Essentially, copyright law in today’s realm is meant to protect original creative work from unauthorized copying, adapting, or publishing. It protects the sole right of the creator to copy, distribute, publish, and display, and sell the work as they choose.

The Difference Between Copyright and Trademark

Trademarks are used by companies for recognition. They are typically a word, phrase, symbol, device, or name used for recognition purposes. In effect, trademarks are a symbol used for quick recognition by a corporation or entity.

Copyright, on the other hand, deals with any original work, not just a company’s symbol.

What Can’t Be Copyrighted

Purely mechanical, clerical, or factual information.

Work that is not sufficiently original. General lyrics or poems like “Want you so bad baby” don’t pass the test.

Ideas, systems, operations, or procedures.

Works that have already had their copyright expire

Lastly, copyrighted items that are used in fair use conditions

Fair use

Fair use is an exception to copyright laws. Fair use was made to allow copyrighted material be used without the owner’s permission, in so called fair use circumstances. In the United States, these are mostly limited to education uses, new reportage, and satire/parody.

Exclusive Rights

The exclusive rights granted by copyright are temporary. However, that is a matter of decades rather than days or months. Copyrighted work will eventually move into the realm of public use, but typically the author/creator maintains their exclusive rights for an extended period of time, often as long as they are alive.

Owner of Copyright Work

As a designer, it is important to know when the work you create should fall under the protection of copyright, and whether you own the rights to the original work.

Typically speaking, it is always the creator of the original work who owns the copyright, even if allowing the work to be used commercially. However, if the designer is employed by a company and specifically designs something for the employer, the company typically owns the copyright.

Whether the designer keeps the copyrights while self-employed is largely the designer’s decision. The designer has to legally assign the copyright over to the client in order for the client to legally get full control of the copyrighted material. However, most clients typically expect the copyright as part of a package deal with their payment.

The Need to Register

In the United States original work doesn’t need to be registered to enjoy the protection of copyright. However, there are some very serious benefits to registering any valuable, unique, or original work with the US copyright office.

Although all original works are protected under copyright law, whether or not they were registered, it is the registration that makes copyright infringement easy to prove. To this end, the US government will cover the legal fees for a copyright infringement case if the original work is registered with them.

So, the creator of original work could press a copyright infringement suit against someone violating their copyright protections. However, an unregistered creator would have to pay the legal fees themselves, and wouldn’t be awarded any money as just compensation. The registered owner would have their fees paid by the US government, and would more than likely receive statutory damages in the form of money, which isn’t something an unregistered owner can expect.

So, in effect, no one ever needs to register their intellectual property. In practice however, it makes real fiscal sense, along with granting peace of mind.

Again, I’m not a lawyer. If you have any legal questions I would urge you to seek legal counsel.

Hopefully this will help educate designers about the generalities of copyright law. In this day and age there is a very real need for designer to be well informed and prepared against copyright infringement. What experiences have you had as a designer with copyright infringement? Is there anything you would recommend to designers out there concerning copyrights?

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6 Springtime Desktop Wallpaper Calendars for May 2012

Wallpaper by Ibrandstudio

Wallpaper by Paper Leaf

Wallpaper by MonkeyMan504

Wallpaper by Webgranth

Wallpaper by Studio of Mae

Wallpaper by Kriegs

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30 Typographically Awesome T-Shirts

1. No Power in the Verse Can Stop Me t-shirt by RobotrobotROBOT – this apple doesn’t have anything to do with the beautiful and popular computers. This typographic illustration is referencing a scene from a cult TV show Firefly.

2. Enjoy Life By Origin 68 – There are so many ways to enjoy life. Whether you enjoying your life through art, conversations, long walks or nature, this shirt helps remind all of us to enjoy some nice typography while we live our lives.

3. Helbotica by Chop Shop Store – This is one in a series of illustrations utilizing everyone’s favorite font, Helvetica.

4. Find the Color Inside Me by Allmightys – Fun use of color and negative space, creating an appealing t-shirt design.

5. XOXOXO by Jublin, on Designed by Humans – Great mixture of typefaces to make up this patterned t-shirt.

6. Science and Exploration t-shirt from Fictionfield – This shirt is meant to encourage self education, if you never stop learning you’ll always be on an adventure!

7. Human Being packaging t-shirt by Origin68 – If humans cam in packaging, like almost everything else, it might look something like this.

8. Being t-shirt by Pweye – What kind of a being are you?

9. Anything Unrelated to Elephants it Irrelephant by Snorg Tees – clever word play t-shirt featuring a playful typeface and an equally playful elephant.

10. Relentlessly Awesome by Headline Shirts – a bold text with a bold statement.

11. There’s Still Hope from Designed by Humans – If you find hope and piece from sea creatures, you’ll find comfort in this shirt.

12. Sans Serif from Turnnocturnal – an exhausted and beautiful list of sans serifs font, perfect for any designer or typeface enthusiast.

13. Lorem Ipsum from Redbubble – love yourself some filler text? This script front t-shirt celebrate the nonsense words we use as place holders.

14. We are Architects of Our Future from Random Objects – the blue print t-shirt and block text really illustrates the message of this shirt.

15. United Shirt of America t-shirt from Threadless – for those who love handwritten type and geography.

16. Sports t-shirt from Threadless – for all you avid sportball fans.

17. The Political Mind from Headline Shirts – tired of the political rhetoric surrounding the presidential race? It’s a scientific fact that politicians can’t really help it, most of their brain is taken up by the bullshittal lobe.

18. Bike t-shirt from Dark Cycle Clothing – a great shirt for the strong and enthusiastic cycling enthusiasts.

19. Dead Air from Origin68 – Pretty hand drawn letters.

20. I like to Ride Bikes from Print Brigade – if you like to ride let it be known.

21. Owls Ask Too Many Questions from Threadless – it’s so annoying, those darn owls always asking “who?”

22. Saltwater by Allmightys – Cool type, depressing message.

23. This is our time from Deathshed – a perfect shirt to wear while treasure hunting with your friends.

24. Seven Deadly Sins from Chopshop Store – beware the seven deadly sins, keep track of them in this beautifully rendered skill tee.

25. URL Link from Threadless – It’s a link link.

26. Mockingword from Redbubble by Pixhunter – let’s play a word association game; i’ll say Hunger Games and you take whatever you think of and put in the shape of the Mockingjay. Hunger Games.

27. NERD HQ from Theadless – The core of nerdom, looks a little something like this.

28. Donor from Threadless – In case you forget where your organs are.

29. It’s About Time from Ugmonk – interesting type treatment and a vintage computer icon.

30. Sleep When I’m Dead from Insomniac – beautiful text for those who don’t sleep.

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Designers that are able to successfully navigate these differences and create a unified marketing strategy are highly valued. Here are some tips for how to overcome the disparities and integrate your print and web designs:

Challenges of Bringing the Two Media Together

Though they share some basic principles, designing for print media and designing for the web are two entirely different tasks. Knowing the standards for each will allow your work to be easily translated from one into the other.

In print media, designers usually have more exact control over the appearance of the final product. When creating custom business cards, for example, the designer need only worry about the finished product appearing in one size. The same is not true for web design, however. There are several standard monitor sizes, not to mention mobile devices, and designers must create fluid layouts that will work for multiple all of these displays.

In addition, the design of the will always be viewed as “complete”—no scrolling or sliding is necessary to take in the entire concept. Contrast this with web media, where “big” designs require careful planning and modification to bring off.

For itself, web design offers some benefits that print media cannot match. Web designers have the freedom to take advantage of some incredible techniques that are hard to replicate via digital printing: gradients, small details, and movement in design, for example.

One thing that both print and web designers have in common is color selection—digital printing can often render colors differently than the designer had envisioned, while web designers must be cautious about how different monitors and displays will produce colors.

Successful Integration

The differences between the two media, then, are challenging, but not impossible, to overcome. No matter which medium you begin working in, you must keep the challenges of the other in mind in order to bring them together. Print designers must work within the restrictions of file and image size for digital media, for example, while web designers must keep in mind that subtle details that are easy to bring off on the web may be lost to the printer.

This is important primarily because of branding and brand recognition—your clients’ audience must be able to connect successfully with the colors and images used in both media and recognize them as coming from the same organization. It’s important, then to keep your clients’ specific strategies in mind as you create your designs.

More Tips for Integration

Apart from creating a design that works in both media, there are some other things to keep in mind as you create both that can help create a better unification between the two media. As you work with marketers and designers on both sides of the design aisle, make sure to use cross-promotions and teasers that promise to “enhance” the users’ experience. The website should offer more to the users’ print experience and vice versa.

You should also be sure to mention the other medium with the other—include URLs in offline ads and flyers, for example, or use the website to promote a special direct mailer.

With a solid understanding of the tips and techniques involved in both types of design, you will be able to create designs that are sending the same message no matter the medium.

What are your tips for integrating web and print media? What successes have you had in unifying the two?

Images by ollily and Sergiu Bacioiu 

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6 Beautiful Desktop Wallpaper Calendars for March 2012

Wallpaper by Ibrandstudio

Wallpaper by Paper Leaf

Wallpaper by MonkeyMan504

Wallpaper by Shrimp Salad Circus

Wallpaper by Webgranth

Wallpaper by Studio of Mae

Wallpaper by Kriegs

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3. Desktop Wallpaper Calendars: January 2012

6 Fantastic Desktop Wallpaper Calendars for March 2012

Wallpaper by Flatron751

Wallpaper by Kriegs

Wallpaper by Webgranth

Wallpaper by ibrandstudio

Wallpaper (with iPhone and iPad versions) by Paper Leaf

Wallpaper by Studio of Mae

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3. Desktop Wallpaper Calendars: January 2012

As designers we can get caught up in creating our art entirely in the digital realm. While this is fine, it can be incredibly beneficial to get away from the computer and draw by hand. Designs can then later be scanned and traced if you need the concept digitized for printing, whether you use your own printer setup or an online printing company. Dabbling in a variety of artistic mediums keeps your abilities sharp and your creativity flowing.

So, in honor of creativity, this roundup is dedicated to some stunning realistic pencil drawings found across the web. Some of these pieces defy what you might think could be traditionally accomplished with graphite; therefore, let these designs inspire you to step back and create some art by hand.

Swimmer

Source

Legolas

Source

Parrot

Source

Vintage Car

Source

Aragorn

Source

Hero

Source

Best Friends

Source

Beautiful Girl

Source

To Be An Artist

Source

Puppy

Source

Hide and Seek

Source

Hayden Panettiere

Source

Equine

Source

Let’s go, Grandpa

Source

Worry

Source

Mother Theresa

Source

Prayers

Source

American Indian

Source

Lightbulb

Source

Liz Taylor

Source

Kitten with the Coffee

Source

Happiness

Source

Portrait

Source

Spongebob

Source

Lioness

Source

Shiny Hair

Source

Day Dreaming

Source

Perfect Baby

Source

Old Man

Source

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1800Postcards.com is the retail branch of Circle Press, a high-end commercial printing firm with a roster of Fortune 100 clients that includes Dior, Tiffany, Disney, American Express and most of the world’s leading brands. These companies demand nothing but the best in quality. To be specific, a quality standard called “G7″ which is only granted to printing firms that meet a very strict set of best practices and production quality. These clients sit with pre-press, have color proofs printed for spot color matching, they come in when the job is printed to make color adjustments and watch it run on the press to see the final results, the whole nine yards. They also pay tens of thousands of dollars for this type of service level.

1800Postcards produces your print work in the same facilities, with the same press-men and production staff, and adheres to the same quality standards as high-end commercial jobs. The only difference is that your job is “gang printed” or run together with other 1800Postcard clients, which is the secret of every online printing company and why they can be so cheap in pricing. However, 1800Postcards.com just brought it up to an almost unreasonable level of quality.

Bottom line, the print results are unbelievable… no one in the online printing space comes even close to this quality and attention to detail. You can see it yourself by requesting free samples @ http://www.1800postcards.com/brochure_request.aspx

The Giveaway

We will be selecting TWO lucky winners and each will receive 300 custom stickers. All you have to do is click on the “Participate” widget below and leave a brief comment telling us why you should win. Winners will be chosen on February 16 and announced on February 17. (Please note: the giveaway is open to US residents only.)

Specifics
Size: 3×3?
Quantity: 300
Stock: #60 Gloss Sticker
Turnaround: 3 business days

Step 1. Participate by Clicking on This Link and Entering Your Info

http://www.1800postcards.com/widget/designergiveaway.aspx?giveaway2=7

Step 2. Leave a Comment Below Telling Us Why You Should Win

Good Luck everyone!

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7 Beautiful February 2012 Desktop Wallpapers

Wallpaper by Randinordes

Wallpaper by Jolinnar

Wallpaper by Flatron751

Wallpaper by Kriegs

Wallpaper by Webgranth

Wallpaper by ibrandstudio

Wallpaper by LRS Web Solutions

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1. Desktop Wallpaper Calendars: May 2012
2. Desktop Wallpaper Calendars: January 2012
3. Desktop Wallpaper Calendars: March 2012

Showcase of Illustrated Websites

So without further adieu, let me present 25 creatively illustrated web design examples. Some are vibrant and colorful. Others are softer and simpler. All are creatively brilliant in their approach. Enjoy!

Pixelbacker

Loadup 2012

Solid Giant

iSee

OPResume

Stubble and Glasses

Mommy Blog

Festival Mundo

Occupy North Pole

Jibe Visuals

Navidad

Eric Barse

Lee Swain

Bear CSS

Games We Played

Uchitomi

Brosmind

Boo Bebe

Foundry Collective

Shady Acres

The Goodtime Gals

The Neighbourhood

Seamco

Bookish

Merrell

What’s Your Favorite Example of Illustration in Web Design?

With the vast array of illustration types presented, each site is unique and spirited. But what are your favorite techniques or examples? Use the comment section below to leave your response or feel free to add more examples!

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2. 30 Examples of Parallax Scrolling Effects in Web Design
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