new drawing in the mak'n

Copyright? This is a new one to me...

I was googling myself today. Well, okay, I was actually googling my work and I came across this guy who is selling scanned images of my photographs and layouts he got from a fashion magazine. I know that magazines are designed as a "read once and throw away" communication instument, and there are institutions that may archive ephemera, but the issue I see is when someone is making pure profit from selling archives of recent ads. 

Tom Murphy from Encore-Ephemera bought the magazine, but is it legal for him to sell scanned copies of my work I did for a client? I retain the copyright of my images and design, but does this approach he's taking infringe on my copyrights? I shot the image and designed the layout for a client to use within a set timeline. He is infringing on my copyrights. I made the image and design for a specific client to use in magazines for one year.

So, I'm going to have to send this guy a $10,000 bill for selling my art, Thanks Tom Murphy! Can I add you to the list of my clients?

Purely interesting in the fact that these days we think about copyright infringement in the form of pirated music, movies, and software... but not scanned images. I know Kinkos will not copy or scan images of newly produced art, so perhaps they are on to something I've been too busy to look in to. 

http://encore-ephemera.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_24_597&products_id=451

New Chapter in Jewelry Retail Advertising

After more than 6 years, I have left TSL Jewellery LTD. It has been an amazing journey full of transformation, the successful development of many international brands, ups, downs, spin arounds, backs full of daggers, roadside bombs, horses, boats, poor ole' Jen, olives with champagne, Basel Fair in Switzerland, Flochel in France, MAC G5s, Saxx, Mindi Abair, Alanna, $50,000 here and there, Vogue, Elle, ICAC, losing an Estrella diamond for 2 days... oh the stress of that!, news, diamonds, models, deserts, beaches, J-tree and Marissa Miller, presentations, meetings about meetings to make more meetings, layouts, design awards, $200USD coffee in the Guangzhou airport, Beijing winter vs. camel hair, a chairman in chains, travel and more travel, having a few eyebrows ripped out by JJ, Ming Fung V1 and V2, 死鬼佬 迷路, insane post production in LA and Hong Kong, and many souls that have come and gone and gave it all they had. The company stocks on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange have grown to massive proportions, the brand and the sub-brands I developed with an amazing team is loved and reveared throughout China, Hong Kong, Macau and Maylaysia. I now exit with grace and style.

Thanks to BJB and JJ. You guys are an inspiration to work with. On to new work... you're on my "work with again in the near future" list! ;-)

$1000 Sunglasses.

JOB POSTING: 

• My apologies to all that have started working on a custom logo for our company Tribe.  It seems as though our $1000 contest request was not allowed by the Behance Network.  We have now altered the job description.

• We are looking for a logo designer to help us create a custom logo for our new company.  Please send samples of your completed logo work to bhamilton@activabrandmanagement.com 

• Once we have received enough sample logos we will be getting in touch with the ones that fit our company the best and we will then hire you to do custom logo design for our company.

• A little about our company: We are a new headphone, sunglass, and watch brand aimed at reaching the younger market (college age group).  

• My sincerest apologies once again.

________________________________________________________________

Dear Tribe,

I am wondering if you might want to send me $1000 in sunglasses? I really want to design a fabulous logo for your company, but I need to know the products well. If I like one of the sunglasses that give me inspiration to create the amazing logo you’re looking for, perhaps you can deduct the cost of the sunglasses from the award money? Or, perhaps I can test out a $1000 worth of watches... I’ll choose the one that is most reliable, and send the rest back when I’m done, with money to pay for the one I choose to keep. Cool?

Sounds silly, doesn’t it? So does asking a bunch of professional designers to do free work.
Keep in mind, many of us pay thousands of dollars in software and equipment a year to do our trade. Many of us have paid close to $100,000 to get degrees from art schools, so we can design effective branding materials that in turn, earn our clients lots of money. When you ask a bunch of designers to make a logo, without a solid brief and not much money, your future branding efforts will suffer. One, you’re going to attract young, desperate designers with little professional experience; two, you’re going to have to weed out a bunch of designs that some poor sod poured his/her soul in to, and if they are not chosen, they’ll grow to hate your brand. You get what you pay for in the design industry!

How about I suggest you go through the Behance network, look for designers that specialize in logo design, look through their portfolios and find a design style that fits with what you’re looking for. This will save you time and make you and your brand look more professional.

If you get a the logo design you’re looking for, take a look at my portfolio and let me know if I can help you with your branding needs: http://crowdedstudios.com

Best regards, -josh sellers

Sir Gabi Tolkowsky

While pouring over some old files looking for an old marketing plan I created, I came across some old images from a press conference and fashion show up in Shanghai, where I spent a couple days with an amazing artist, Sir Gabi Tolkowsky.

Sir Gabi Tolkowsky is the man that has helped write the rules of how to cut diamonds. He was trusted by the DTC (DeBeers) to cut the famous Centenery diamond of 273.85 carats, as well as the pink sunrise and the 545.65 carat Golden Jubillee. But Sir Gabi wasn't in Macau and Shanghai to show these stones (though he did), he was here to celebrate the Gabrielle Diamond that he has entrusted ENZO to spread out on the international scene. It is a beautiful 105 facet stone in any size (as low as 25 pointer!).

What an interesting guy with a very interesting family history of cutting the world's most prestigous stones.