coyleart

Pinterest and copyright

Pinterest is fun and addictive - and it's becoming a hot topic for other reasons too. If you are interested in doing some reading, check out this long post on Fine Art Views to read about Pinterest's terms of service.

Over on LinkedIn in The Art of Licensing group, the discussion has been lively with lots of artists and an IP attorney weighing in. This all seems to be a good reminder to watermark or have copyright notice on anything you publish to the web. Re-pins mean that the original source of an image can get lost in the shuffle and may not lead back to you.

Plus, the license Pinterest has to use your work as stated in their terms of use, is very broad and irrevocable (meaning you can't just delete your image and terminate the license). The takeaway is that artists should be selective about what they pin from their collection of work. For work that you intend to sell, there may be a conflict if you want to sell an exclusive licence to work that you have in effect "licensed" to Pinterest.

Most agree though, that Pinterest is a wonderful resource and inspiring to use - and I've heard users driving lots of new traffic to their blogs through their pinning efforts. Here's a DeniseSonnenberg.com blog post about the upsides to using Pinterest.

Adobe CS6

I'm glad I pay attention to Joan Beiriger's blog! I always learn something from her great information on art licensing and she offers great Photoshop tips too.

In Joan's latest post, she's gathering videos that tell about the new features coming in Photoshop CS6. I haven't had much luck finding out about Illustrator CS6. I did read somewhere that there would be increased pattern functionality (nice!) but that was not documented with the kind of videos you'll see in Joan's post about Photoshop, so I can't be sure. Interestingly, it looks like Photoshop will have a better Pen Tool and better vector capability. All that Pen Tool work you've been doing is Illustrator is going to become even more useful in your Photoshop work!

Chat with Laura Coyle Wednesday and check out our new forum!

All Adobe Illustrator students (current and former) are invited to an Illustrator chat with me Wednesday, February 15th at 2pm and 9 pm EST. My demonstration will start with a refresher of Layers Panel basics and then take a closer look at working with objects, selections and targeting on the Layers Panel in Illustrator. I’ve received a few questions about distributing objects and laying out multiple cards for inkjet printng, so I’ll address those topics also. I hope you’ll join me for one or both of the chats! 

The link to my chat classroom is posted in the New Renee Pearson Community Forums. Sign in to your account and you’ll find our new forums devoted to Adobe Illustrator. Check out the new Illustrator Lounge to introduce yourself and meet fellow students, then look at News & Announcements for information about our monthly Illustrator chats (including the classroom link for Wednesday’s chat). For those who want to share tips, ask questions and ‘talk shop’ about Illustrator, we have the AI Shop Talk forum. I would love to see the new forum and Illustrator gallery become a community where you can go to stay inspired and involved with Illustrator even after you’ve completed a class. 

Check out my “Getting Started” post  in News & Announcements to find out how to take full advantage of the new community features. You can set your preferences for following forums and topics and receive email notice of activity. Then, join us in the classroom for the chat on Wednesday! Hope to see you there!

Laura

Big League Chew and Bill Mayer

If you remember those pouches of shredded bubble gum from when you were a kid, (I do!) you might enjoy reading about how it all got started. The part of the story that interests me the most of course, is the part where the illustrator creates a character for the packaging so endearing that it becomes a big part of the success of the brand. And the illustrator, Bill Mayer also happens to be from Atlanta!
Follow the link to the article on CollectingCandy.com to read the story behind Big League Chew and the amazing illustrator Bill Mayer.

Gone camping!

To WordCamp Atlanta 2012! I'm going to try and cram a little more technical knowlege into my already brimming head space this weekend. Is there room in there for WordPress? Wish me luck, I think I'm going to need it!

Print your own doo-dads

I just ordered my first swatch of fabric printed from my own design at Spoonflower and I'm so excited to do more. It's one of those things I've been meaning to do for a few years. I wonder when I might get around to ordering something printed in 3-D.

This recent article in The Atlantic about 3-D printing caught my eye. I've been following the 3-D printing evolution since reading this fascinating article about it in the NYTimes.

The Atlantic article talks about the MakerBot D.I.Y. printer and envisions this technology becoming another household item. I'm less excited by the prospect of creating more plastic for the landfills, but if it allows you to recycle plastic, it might actually be environmentally friendly too.

And then there's the copyright issue. When files for designs can easily be distributed on-line for free and printed at home, the designer may lose out on profiting from their creation. As the technology improves and proliferates, another NYTimes article imagines the future of design and manufacturing as the Wild West: exciting and frought with all the intellectual property peril of the declining music business.

I can't help but look at it from all sides, I am constantly amazed at how much recent technology is rapidly changing our designing/working lives.