Type and copyright

This question may leave me sounding distinctly amateurish, but I think it is more important I get the legalities right with the following issue and perhaps find an answer for others who aren’t sure either, than worry about highlighting a gap in my knowledge. My question is as follows.

What are the legalities of creating a hand drawn typeface by tracing an existing one, for example Helvetica, for a one off usage in a brand identity?

I have bought the font package of said typeface, but am I crossing a line if I recreate it by tracing over it with ink, scanning it and creating vectors from the scan?

Johnson Banks did a similar thing with their Save The Children bespoke display face, which was created by children colouring in outlines of Gill Sans. They document the process here which ends up with this very unique form of lettering:

[Image credit: Johnson Banks]

Johnson Banks don’t clarify if there were any legal issues in their post however.

The idea is that I use my version of a particular typeface alongside the regular typeface as a display face, to achieve some variety throughout the brand. I’d really appreciate any answers or points you may like to make, and perhaps we can clarify the issue for others too.

Stop SOPA

█████████████████████████████████████████████████. ███████████████████████████████████. ████████████. ████████████ http://americancensorship.org █████████.

Without doubt these are my favourite books; the most intelligent and imaginative books I’ve ever read.

His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (via oneormorewords)

Another year, another blog idea

I have a new blog – One Sentence Book Reviews.

I know that’s a total of three ways to waste my time, but it’s just that tumblr makes it so simple to quickly put ideas into action.

Some great examples of this are the magnificently simple TO THE SKIES by @noproblemnigel, Hammer & Code by @gray and Overhead Underground by @almonk.

So if you have a book review you’re burning to share, please submit it.

Alternatively suggest a book for me to read and review.

Two-thousand and eleven

This year I:

1. Read 22 books.
2. Ran a half marathon.
3. Watched lots of films.
4. Despaired at my job.
5. Did more freelance design.
6. Did not go on holiday.

Next year I will:

1. Get a job I enjoy.
2. Take more photos.
3. Do more personal design projects.
4. Listen to more music.
5. Write more.
6. Take a holiday.

2012 will be a good year. (All even numbered years are.)

Visual Editions at Vitsœ

Mmmm books and shelves. Perfectly ordered books on perfectly ordered shelves.

Last week I had the great fortune of helping out Visual Editions with their very first shop. It’s in Vitsœ’s store in Duke Street, London (just behind Selfridges don’t you know) from 30th November to 3rd January. Why not pop along and admire the wonderful window display by InkValley while you’re there.

You can read more about it here.

[Image credit: All images by Alix Land (that’s me)]

Things I have learned and re-learned this year

This year I have learned:

To take regular holiday – I worked for 5 months without taking a week off at one stretch, and it really compromised my creative output.

To ask for help when I need it. It really does… help.

To write often. Write about your subject, things that interest you, things that pop into your head.

To read often. Thanks to my Reading List I have read about 22 books this year which took approximately 500 hours (according to my maths that’s nearly 21 days of reading this year).

CSS and HTML. I’m no expert but it really helps to know a bit when making your own website. It’s also quite beautiful in a logical sort of way.

What designers look like. This was a fun little project to collect designers’ photos in one place and to encourage people to chat if they meet in the street or at events.

That twitter, like life, is what you make it. I’ve met some really friendly people through twitter, and even met some face to face. It’s made me realise that I couldn’t think of a nicer industry to work in than this one.

How to spell learned.

Minimal living

[Image credit: Untitled by Alix Land (that’s me)]

There is a lot to be said for living in a minimal environment. Owning the minimal amount of possessions you need is a liberating feeling. I often try to recycle, sell or donate my old clothes, books and stuff that just builds up. The premise is that a clear house means a clear head. This is in direct contrast to my designer urge to hoard things; pretty packaging, bits of found type and printed ephemera are especially hard to let go of.

Living minimally means more space for ideas, more efficient living and just better peace of mind. Less things to worry about getting broken or stolen.

A way that I found to start the process of living more minimally was really by necessity. I’d moved into a tiny room in a shared flat with little storage space after university, and I just got sick of all the things I’d accumulated. I began by donating clothes, eliminating collections of papers and passing otherwise unwanted things to family or charity shops. It’s catching though; I then moved on to minimising my bank statements, emails and even my CSS files. I’d halved my possessions by the end of that tenancy. It was a good feeling. But it didn’t stop there, and I’ve had at least three good clear outs a year since then. Perhaps it stemmed from a childhood living in a cluttered house. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to get my possessions down to just a few boxes.

Less is liberating. Less is just right.

The contract

Recently, as I’ve got more clients and begun to take on more freelance work, I’ve needed to up my game in the paperwork department. In the past I’ve relied less on this, but the more clients I get, and the larger prospective projects that land in my inbox, the more I feel the pull to be have the relevant paperwork, to protect my work in case anything goes wrong.

My current contract / terms and conditions document that I give to all new clients is based on David Airey’s terms and conditions (his blog has a much appreciated wealth of resources to help beginners like me – thanks David!) This document and a 50% upfront payment before any design work is started seems to be sufficient for most situations. But is this enough? Could this cover me in a small claims court if a client scarpers without paying for the work completed? Do I need something more comprehensive like AIGA’s standard agreement, or will this just overwhelm the client, and put them off reading it?

The contract is one of the most important parts of being a freelancer. How do you write yours?

Onwards

There comes a time when the normal routine you have starts to become less and less productive, and is taking you further and further away from where you want to be. You crave change. You can either carry on and see your creativity dwindle and your ambition fizzle out or you can stop what you’re doing and make a small change in another direction. That is what I did last week.

Ever since moving to London I’ve been trying to realise my dream of being a full-time graphic designer. (Although if you are a graphic designer by nature, you are one regardless of whether you’re being paid or not. Your designer traits aren’t just extinguished if you cease to be paid.) I took a risk and moved to London without a job (probably not the best idea on reflection). After months of working a full time job, job hunting, going to interviews and freelancing in the evenings, without really getting anywhere, something had to change. So I made that small change last week and cut down my hours at the unfulfilling full-time job to make it a more efficient part-time job. This left me with a whole extra day every week to pursue my aim of being a full time graphic designer in a studio. I can now increase my freelance work, spend time creating quality applications to jobs, and perhaps most importantly, do more networking. By forcing myself out of the comfortable routine and addiction to paycheck, I’m embracing change and moving closer to where I want to be. I hope it’ll work.

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This is version 2.1 – published on 9th Nov.

All images and ramblings copyright © 2010-2012 Alix Land, unless stated.