Hi all, I know it is a common practice in the sign business to poach artwork but stop please. You all do some type of design, it's part of the trade, so how would you feel if you spent time on something and people just kept swinging by the back door and grabbing bits of your business?
I sell designs, or incorporate the price into the project somehow, I have sold logos online, and I have had clients try to steal my designs, like the customer that took my low res pdf business card proof, had it printed with someone else, and then stormed into the shop accusing me of not knowing my job because his stolen design looked so bad when printed! I laughed him right out of the shop.
Our local school board just tried to get all the sign shops in town to do some design concepts as part of the proposal to wrap a trailer, they wanted multiple concepts, then I am sure they planned on picking the best design, and the cheapest wrap price. Imagine the design hours some shops must have wasted on that job!
I had a client once who stole a logo from a British Company, we had done a search and a designer had found this info out and warned the client what could happen if they used the logo but they went ahead with backlit signs, van wrap, business cards etc. They got a cease and desist letter within two months from the UK, they had to re-work over $15,000 in branding. Their van is still, 6 years later, driving around with a wrap that was 75% removed, looking quite silly.
Don't steal guys, theft is theft no matter how you rationalize it.