This sort of thing makes us sick. Buffalo, NY designer Mark Wisz (owner of Otherwisz), has had one of his poster designs ripped off by Los Mondo Bongo. As he says:
I did a poster (for FREE) which was never used because the band imploded before the tour began … they LOVED IT (exact quote : “top class, the boys love them…”) … I told them, via email it is doable, let me work up a cost.
The show is cancelled. Now it’s four months later and Los Mondo Bongo plays Toronto—a mere 90 minutes from our beloved Buffalo, NY. Friends report back to Mark that his poster is being used. He checks the band’s MySpace page, and sees the rip off in full effect.
Someone took a low res PDF (that I sent them to proof by) and built a new poster from the same artwork! Same fonts (Rosewood regular and fill), same colors, same graphics and same layout! … I would love to know who the ‘artist’ was who did this, and if they felt justified in taking my graphic design work— which I did as a favor and did not get paid for— and stealing it for several gigs by the same band.
Seriously shitty. This sort of thing can happen, but never should be allowed to pass unnoticed… especially in today’s highly linked and searchable world.
Oh Joe, is nothing sacred anymore? They should be ashamed of themselves.