Hi, this is Anne with Graphic Design How To, and today I'm going to go over
whether or not it's okay to use stock images like stock photography or stock vectors
in your portfolio for graphic design...and of course, this isn't set in stone. All right,
let's get started. In our Illustrator Facebook group, we recently got this question, so I wanted
to take it on as both a graphic designer and someone who has been in the hiring seat before.
And by the way, I'll leave a link to that Facebook group below. It's totally
free to join. If you've been to college for graphic design, you probably have had similar
experiences as me where your professors wanted everything - 100% of all your projects - to be
original. So that meant if we had photos in a magazine layout, we would have needed to take
those photos ourselves. Or if we needed to use any vectors, we couldn't just download those,
we would need to create those. The exceptions to this were writing. So we could go to an article
out on Google, and just copy and paste the article to use in our magazine layout, and that was fine.
And also fonts - we weren't expected to make our own fonts. However, once I got out in the real
world, in the agency world, I noticed that almost no project that I ever created was created 100%
with original artwork. We use client-supplied logos, we use stock photography and vectors,
and we do it on a daily basis. Now every now and then a client would be willing to pay
for a photo shoot, but even then, even though I'm art directing sometimes on a photo shoot,
I'm never actually behind the camera. So the question is, is it okay to use those projects with
non-original artwork in them? From my perspective, it really depends. Generally speaking, YES,
it's totally okay to use projects that use stock photography, stock vectors, and client-supplied
logos. Using things like that is very, very common across almost all agencies. And as I said before,
it's very rare for a project to contain only original artwork. But there are a few things
to keep in mind. Number 1: Honesty. The key here is to be very open and honest about the artwork
in your portfolio, especially in a job interview. When I show my artwork online, I usually put the
role I had in the project and the thought process that went into it, but I don't mention whether the
photos and vectors I use are original. It's really up to you, but I think it would be just a little
bit odd to call that out for every project...like 'this is not mine,' 'this one is mine.' So
I don't do that, and there are not many people who do. In an interview though, as I show my designs,
I usually say, you know, the layout and this logo are my designs, but I use stock photography for
all the photos. And I've never had a problem with this whatsoever. They don't even blink an eye at
it, because it's so common across agencies to use stock photos and stock vectors. Number 2:
Focus. It really depends on what you're focusing on in the project itself. So if you're calling it
a logo design, that absolutely needs to be your design. You shouldn't just go download a vector,
maybe change some colors and tweak something here and there, and call that your artwork.
Or if you're showcasing a magazine layout, and you actually just found a magazine layout
template online and dropped your own colors and your own photography in and that kind of thing,
that would not be okay. The magazine layout itself needs to be your creation....but then it's okay to
put stock photos inside that magazine layout, which WAS your creation, if that makes sense.
Number 3: Privacy. Another thing to keep in mind is your clients' privacy. Some clients
make an agency sign a nondisclosure agreement, and in that case, I would still show the project,
but I would remove any references to that client. I would take their logo,
create a new logo with a fake company name, and then in an interview, I would let the interviewer
know that that client, the original client or the real client had a nondisclosure agreement with my
company and I'm not allowed to say who it is. And you don't even really need to say that last part,
they'll understand. They're used to the non disclosure thing. If you have a different take
on using non-original artwork in your portfolio designs, just leave that in the comment section
below. And I'll see you in a couple days with another graphic design video. Thank you!!!