CommerceCubes

Stolen Design and Tarnished Corporate Image

With the web these days being such a vast network for rapid communication you can find out real quick if you’ve done something wrong. This unfortunately happened to Jason Chance of jcCommerce Blog and Portal Labs fame. It gives web developers and designers a bad name when a design, custom functionality or something along those lines is ripped off. I’ve personally never dealt with this but I can only imagine how this effects a client’s future decision to buy a design job over the net.

Apparently the idea for Jason’s new site was ripped off the IconBuffet’s Design that was created by Firewheel Design and Josh, the head guy over at Firewheel did a Blog post on it .

I see this being a potential problem for a lot of web developers and designers out there. How does a web developer not fall into the category of being accused copyright infringement on their designs because they happen to look similar to an existing site? More importantly, how does a client protect themselves from this sort of thing happening? Unless you’ve got a crystal ball out on the internet and can see any site to check design specs its kind of hard to really know.

Jason had this to say about the experience…

This was important to me- not only from the business aspect of weathering some particularly bad press, but also personally because I don’t ever want to appear like I’m unscrupulous or a thief.

Source: Jason Chance; jcCommerce

Now Jason Chance is building a solid business and this is something that could have resulted in a lawsuit because if you are developing a brand, with value, having a corrupt design and flaming campaign could hurt your image and your business’ image.

When I contracted work out to a designer to develop the basic shell, style and look of the BizCandy I decided to work with the same guy who built the CommerceCubes logo for me because it was such a positive experience and the guy really excellent at CSS layouts and XHTML. Check out some of his work here… http://www.sktchr.com/index.html

Tips for choosing a good developer

Seeing as I’ve been on both ends of this transaction I feel I have some key advice to give to people looking to hire a web developer

1. Don’t assume your web developer knows everything – It’s funny because the general perception of a “Web Designer” and “Web Developer” are the same. This is not the case. I see job postings all the time for “Web Developers” to have “Graphic skills” and to be honest most of the best web developers I know cannot put graphics together to save their life. You are better off hiring a “Web Designer” aka “Graphics and Layout Guy/Gal” and a “Web Developer” aka “Coder/Programmer/DBA Guy/Gal” separately. Use people to their abilities and strengths and not their weaknesses.
2. Who owns the source code? – Unless it’s in writing (in a contract) it is hard to say who owns the source code running your site. If you ever need to go to court it can get messy. So get it in writing and contact a lawyer to help you if you are unsure.
3. Be sure about what you are buying – I usually only work with people I trust and respect.
4. Shiny Certifications mean nothing – I know a lot of people put faith and respect in certifications but truthfully, actions speak louder then words. Look at a portfolio; get a referral through a friend as these are usually the best way to find the most talented people to work with. For Designers and Developers I would say get out there and network with business owners and decision makers if you want to be in the know.
5. Work through a third-party payment company for payment – I hate to say it but I will. Don’t go on trust and good promises to get paid. With services like escrow.com, there is no excuse to be losing money to people who you’ve worked for or who have worked for you.

If you have any other lessons you’ve learned from feel free to post them in the comments section of this article. There is nothing worse then feeling ripped off or taken advantage of but in business it’s bound to happen once in a while but you learn from it. That is what business is partly about… learning from your experiences. Get out there and start learning.

Lucas