Wednesday, April 6, 2005

Not Flattered by Cheap Imitation

I work as a graphic designer for a mattress and sleep products retailer in Northern California. Recently I've noticed my designs turning up in other companies ads, both competitors and non-competitors. We recently sent a "Cease and Desist" order to one... then, today I found the following in the Fremont, California yellow pages:



This design is nearly identical to my yellow pages designs of 2002~2003:



I recently sent a letter to the editor of Home Furnishings Retailer magazine after reading a peice in which one of their editors encouraged retailers to 'search through magazines and newspapers, find an ad you like...' ""Tear it out! Hand it to your advertising director and say, "Copy this." Don't worry, you won't get sued because "pride of authorship" will keep you ad director from copying it exactly."

Now, as a designer, I use other people's material to get ideas, but where is this "pride of authorship" they spoke of?

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