Reamed at work...

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  • randommail0

    It's just bad luck.
    I wouldn't confront your bosses until this project has passed and their heads have cooled a bit. The only thing at risk is your reputation and job. The bosses won't ever admit they're out of line.
    Just explain in honest terms and I'm sure they'll agree it was just a coincidence.

  • sleepyfatso0

    Next time you see your boss. Say, hey man, I loved Born to Run. And he'll be like huh? And you say, oh, cause you're the boss, I thought you were Bruce Springsteen. Better watch he doesn't sue you.

  • crillix0

    First, sorry to hear about this, hope it works out alright for ya.

    And I'm with D_rek, a lot of fingers should be pointed else where, if this logo looks so closely like some thing else, where they could challenge your professional ethics, how come no one else at your firm brought it up before it reached the client? I would imagine that you are not the only one in that place that watches movies.

    Furthermore, if some how that logo went from your desk straight to the client, your firm really needs to re-think some things. It's very easy for a designer to get pulled into their work and not realize that this looks like this or that. Second pair of eyes is always important.

    Lastly if this got approved by the client, or wasn't brought up by the client when it was presented, then hey how many people have now seen the logo and didn't say anything?

    Sounds like your getting the short end of the stick to make up for the fact people like your boss, and the others responsible for releasing work to clients, dropped the ball.

  • BonSeff0

    Ask the broad in HR if her tits are real..

  • sofakingbanned0

    This totally sucks and makes me mad just reading it.

    Bottom line, you need to find a new job asap. These people do not respect or trust you and will never do so.

    Is the logo close meh kinda, but thats not the big story here... its how they handled this, thats the BIG red flag in this story.

    I once worked for a guy (design studio) that would through his designers under the bus in front of clients. It was the most disrespectful thing to watch... even clients felt bad after those meetings. After a while it just got worst and he did more and more fucked up things to everyone. He now owns a studio with 1 employee and 1 client. Everyone bounced on that fucker. Clients and employees.

    These people seem to have some of that in them. Leave that place.

    • re: "these people" - it could be just the CEO or one higher up and no one wanted to get involved.zarkonite
    • I read HR being in the same room. If they were ok with this type of thing I'm assuming this place is bad.sofakingbanned
  • airey0

    if you gave the brief to 50 designers and asked for 10 ideas in one afternoon you'd end up with at least 30 similar versions. fuckem.

  • 4040

    I find it hard to believe that NOBODY in your company or the company you were designing the logo for missed that it does resemble the incredibles. I'm not saying you ripped it, I'm just saying that I understand you never saw the friggin movie but I'm sure someone has and how can it be that nobody mentioned "hey that looks similar to the incredibles" haha wow.

    • Thanks for repeating what everyone ALREADY SAIDmonospaced
    • np404
    • btw, eat my ass!404
  • monNom0

    Be glad that all it cost you was a slap on the wrist.

    You can choose to focus on the indignity of being called into the office about it, or you can change your workflow to limit these sorts of issues in the future.

    If I was in your boss's position, I'd want to see that you were dedicated to not repeating the mistake. Rather than dedicated to proving you weren't at fault

    • < maybe a bit devil's advocate.monNom
    • This is pretty true man, don't worry. I been indignant about it, but I should get over it.
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  • gramme0

    When designing a logo for a brand that would typically elicit copious look-alike solutions (this usually has more to do with the company's name and other pieces of equity, rather than limitations in your court as the designer), it's always good practice. to research the hell out of every good idea you have. As someone pointed out to me recently here on QBN, you won't plumb the depths of the business world by searching Google, Flickr, logolounge, etc., but you will give due diligence.

    That being said: You need to leave this job yesterday. It sounds like a culture of blame-shifting as others have hinted at above. Very toxic. I would seriously start looking for your next job as soon as possible.

  • luckyorphan0

    Having been on the wrong side of a misunderstanding at work, I understand how frustrating it is to not have anything but your word to back up the fact that you made a mistake. It can be so mind-numbingly infuriating, the sense of powerlessness, that it can make you sick.

    But, I must part company here a bit with many here and say that frankly, you were put in the driver's seat on this project, and you drove the car into a wall. If you were given an assignment that had anything even remotely to do with super powers, and did your due diligence in terms of research, you would have come across "The Incredibles," plain and simple. And it blows my mind that you didn't come across it on your own, regardless of whether or not you saw the film, given that the marketing for that movie was so ubiquitous that it wallpapered the country for a full year. But hey, it's possible.

    Yes, other eyes should have checked your work, as crillix wisely put it (this will no doubt be a step you always follow on your own from now on). And yes, the company should stand by their product, but in the end, this is on you. It is your job to do exhaustive research and provide your client with a solid product. I can see how you could naturally come to the palette you used, and the font was required, but in the end, this was a ball that was dropped.

    That being said, your company dealt with this very poorly. As you are right to say and feel, they should have given you the benefit of the doubt. They should have asked you for an explanation, and overall, been a hell of a lot more diplomatic and professional about this. They have the right to roll shit downhill, but they should keep a lot of it at the top.

    In the end, it is your job to know what you're doing and provide quality design solutions. It's not your job to blame other people for not catching your mistakes.

    • ^ gramme is on to something, with regards to the job, tho.luckyorphan
    • +1 for the view from the other side of the pondtypist
    • Well said.ayport
  • ayport0

    If you leave, try to leave on the best of terms. It would suck to quit and that be taken as an admission of guilt in some convoluted way...

  • 74LEO0

    You have to be aware of your subconscious decisions. Even though you didn't consciously choose this your mind probably already associated Remarkables with incredibles, invisibles. Its actually good branding my disney. Look at your color choices also. Was that a random decision?

    • good pointayport
    • The color was truly 100% random. I even specifically remember thinking "These are nice colors for this." C'est la vie!
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  • cuke4260

    it was a good movie, i liked it.

    you should have done research but yeah they are dicks bottom line. poor management

  • ********
    0

    I think HR and your boss are fucking clueless.

    You can use this quote if you want and my email.

  • MrNibs0

    am I missing something? You said: internally WE picked 4. Who is WE? And why wasn't WE in the room getting a communal ass reaming along with you?

    • <<<< exactly
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    • This is a great point.
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  • ali0

    Unless disney own the colour red those logos are more than different enough for them to have not treated you like that. Bad teamwork there, I would expect an apology for that or find some better people to work with.

    • you can bet that disney has trademarked everything related to their property... and will protect it tooth and nail.monNom
    • Disney once had an elementary school remove their characters from a mural inside the school. No joke.luckyorphan
  • ********
    0

    _
    Looks pretty damn similar in name, design and colours.
    You should have known better to be fair

    • But defo leave the place, sound like a bunch of cunts
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  • ********
    0

    You bosses sound like a bunch of morons?

  • ********
    0

    It's quite similar - but the 'Incredibles' logo isn't an obscure identity that most people wouldn't have had exposure to. It's a very well known identity that almost everyone will have seen at one time or another.

    Any member of the company could (and should) have called this out as a potential problem. I think that part of the benefit of working in a team, is the ability to make use of peer review. If you are being treated like a lone worker, it's probably a sign that the team structure in your company isn't working well.

    I'd suggest to your superiors, that this kind of mistake is an understandable (and excusable) accident. We're exposed to a great number of visual identities on a daily basis, so it stands to reason that we are sometimes going to be influenced subconsciously.

    The failing is on the part of the company, because peer review should be an integral part of the internal company workflow. Suggest ways that you can avoid this happening in the future, by changing the way the company operates.

    If, after suggesting this, they are still being difficult - I'd consider the fact that they might be using this event as an excuse to gain leverage over you.

    • the client probably chose the logo because of the similarity. not the other way round, they did call their company "remarkables" in the first placekingsteven
    • The client's choice is not the issue .. the issue is risk of litigation.
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  • your_boss0

    hello dmullins,

    this is your boss, i am very angry that you would share this information over the internets like this. i thought we were friends?
    come to my office now for a spanking.

    lots of love,

    your boss.

    • If you had a better grasp on English and didn't write like a retard, this might be believablemonospaced
    • and also might be funnyephix