In this part of the Magenta Lessons, we will take a look at trademarks in the business world, and why it is important for graphic designers to know about this subject. You will also find a 1-page Trademark & Copyright Factsheet for Designers (free download) at the bottom of the page.
In the last two parts of this series, we talked about the role of color in design and the importance of brands. So after the ‘little’ break I allowed myself to take - a lot of work, and even more work fell upon us last month, plus the upcoming complete redesign of this blog (stay tuned for that!) - thanks for sticking with me, and let’s jump right to it!
Why is it important for designers to know about trademarks?
For the simple reason of offering your clients as much service and advice as possible. Think added value. Now quite a few of the readers of this blog are Art Directors in an advertising agency and not freelancing; and those of you might ask how this knowledge will help you. After all, you’ve got your CD and then the Account Managers who advise your clients in this direction. Also, you can assume that your large clients have their own capable people in the field of trademarks and intellectual property rights, or employ a law firm for just that.
My question for you would be this: You’re an Art Director right now, but don’t you want to climb up the ladder one day? Maybe you’d like to be considered for an open position as a Creative Director. And this doesn’t necessarily has to be within your own company. One nice day, you might even decide to go into freelance design and quit your day job. Or you will start a venture of your own, be it a graphic design firm, an advertising agency, a website, or something completely different! The point is to keep your options open and to look beyond the greater picture - by learning everything relevant to the field you are in. If you want to be successful at what you do, you need to strive for knowledge that expands and goes beyond what you currently do. Most of the time, the new stuff will be only peripheally tangent to your actual work, but it will increase your competency, thus your potential, in ways you might never have considered before. So do read on. Read on…
The Magenta Lessons were born from the current trademark battle between the tech blog Engadget Mobile and the telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom on behalf of their brand T-Mobile. Click here to read up on this truly exciting clash that may or may not have been an elaborate April fools joke - or a cooperative PR gag by the involved parties.
The Magenta Lessons consist of four installments: Design and Colors, Marketing, Trademarks and Public Relations. Today, we will use these real-life happenings to discuss the role of design - more precisely: color - in branding:
Welcome to the first part of the Magenta Lessons.
Imagine life without color. What would it be like to live in such a world? What if the sky wasn’t blue, but white? Imagine the grass not being green - picture it grey! And now, imagine T-Mobile being black. Read on…
Routine-blindness is inevitable in almost every business. It definitely exists for every task involving the higher brain functions: while it’s not likely that you lose sight of the complete picture while mowing your lawn, it’s far more probable to happen for one of your designs. In the worst case, you’ll deliver a design that’s peppered with mistakes. Mistakes you could have avoided if you had followed a few simple steps. Read on…
Have you ever worked with pixel fonts? They are nice & neat and can add a lot to your designs - if you know how to handle them.
And that’s the point: if you’ve used pixel fonts in your designs before, you may know that they need your attention to a larger extent than usual fonts. You need to set their position, alignment, size and line spacing correctly in order to make them look sharp.
On our sister site, the Vibr8 Bros. demonstrate exactly how you can make those cool pixel fonts work for you. Not only that, they also explain two more ‘cases’ regarding blurry pixels - issues almost every designer had to fight with at one point or another: Shapes using pixel borders (strokes), and 1-pixel lines. I’m sure you’ll find that information very useful!
In their newest article, How to avoid blurred Pixel Fonts & Shapes, you will find what you need to know about the above, with illustrated examples. And if you’re interested: at the end of the article, the Vibr8 Bros. explain exactly why paying attention to the little things is so important. Yes, pixels!
Go there now
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This is the fifth installment in the 5×5 secret Rules in Design and Advertising. So far, I’ve covered the following parts:
Set 5: The Rules of Business Relationships
In the 5th and final part of the 5×5 secret rules in design and advertising, we will deal with the part where you have to generate an income from your work. It’s a fact that a designer’s job comprises more than just design. You know this, especially if you’re a freelancer. As for thrilling experiences, if handling clients wasn’t a part of your job, you’d have to start getting into free-fall parachuting instead.
Accordingly, our first rule of business relationships is the following. Read on…
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