The design neighbourhood really stepped up to support our quest to locate the original designer of the NW roundel. Design journalists such as Lynda Relph-Knight and some of the UK’s pre-eminent designers from the 80’s and 90’s era, such as Mike Dempsey, Studio Dempsey and Michael Johnson, Johnson Banks joined in the search as did ex-employees of the COI in-house design studio, such as Fanny Sigler, Mike Wheeler and Rob Levison who actually put us onto our strongest lead.
Whilst the identity of the original designer remains elusive, Paul goes on to cite Creative Barcode as a method of identifying the originator of creative works that goes beyond simple copyright watermarks.
In the same way that map makers use ‘paper villages’ to identify when their work has been plagiarised, Creative Barcode is a way for creators, entrepreneurs, innovators and brand owners to use Intellectual Property (IP) tags to protect their ideas, concepts and designs.
Part of the value inherent in the value of a brand is its original instance, its history and and subsequent design journey.
By ensuring a design history is maintained, Creative Barcode records, authenticates, time-stamps and IP tags iterations of a design and its creative expression.
The designer should therefore always be identifiable and credited in the Creative Barcode time-line.
So whilst it has become easier for creatives to promote their work by putting their portfolios online, being able to timestamp work and identify yourself as the creator is increasingly important in an industry where ideas are the main currency and it is easier than ever to ‘borrow’ other designers work for creative inspiration.
