marks and property

you might have noticed that i started adding a watermark to my images here on the blog. i have been struggling with this for a while now because i feel that they do distract from the image and the extra step of adding one is just another thing to do, but with the arrival of pinterest, it is now needed.

let me first start by saying that i love pinterest - i haven't become obsessed with it like others have, but i definitely see it's worth. for what seems like forever, i have torn pages out of magazines of things that inspire me and i place them in a binder. actually many binders, separated out into different themes such as decorating, kids, craft, food, etc. so for me, pinterest has allowed me to do the same thing, only online which is great because i can stop buying binders.

right now, i don't think of pinterest in terms of social media, i just want a place to store cool stuff. if i had my preference, i would have all my boards be private. i have the "pin it" tab in my internet tool bar and pin when i see something i want to remember. rarely do i search in pinterest to find something. the funny thing is when i speak to people about the site, they have no idea how to pin something on their own or that it is even an option. the site is evolving into a search and repin site which in turn causes images to be taken so far down the road from their original source that no credit can be found. i know that they are working on resolving this, but for me, as someone in a visual business who's images and tutorials drive my business, it is troubling.

all i am saying right now is pinterest has entered very sticky, sticky territory. i honestly don't have an exact clear viewpoint on the subject, i just have uneasy feelings.

my career as a graphic designer has made me very sensitive to image copyrights. taking an image from a site and using it on your own or in a printed piece is simply a no no. it is stealing plain and simple. there are times when i find photos of mine on other peoples blogs and even though they link back to me, i still feel a bit uneasy that i was not contacted for approval. i push this unease down and tell myself that i have to let it happen in order to get my name out there, but really, do i? do i have to succumb to what makes me feel icky in the name of my business? the thing is, i would most likely give my approval 100% of the time if i was asked. do i want people to stop showing my work of talking about my blog? absolutely not, i just want to be kept in the loop.

i feel like this is all a mishmash of thoughts - hopefully it makes some sense.

this is a very interesting article i read last week which has made me reconsider everything. should i delete most of my boards since they are filled with others work that i do not own? am i too in violation of everything i just wrote about because the owners of this work do not know that i pinned them?

sticky, sticky territory i tell you.

but what i most want to hear about are your thoughts on having your OWN work pinned and referenced without proper credit on blogs, etc.