This is pretty common practice. It would be almost impossible to get a new office off the ground if you couldn't claim experience working for other offices.

Just designate it as "work completed prior to formation of (your office name)" or "prior professional experience". It also helps to clarify your role on the project (PM, PA, project staff, etc.) and list the firm you worked for on the project in the project stats/description.

Yes. This is your work also, not just that firms' work. But you should give credit to the firm you were with when you designed/worked on the project. It wasn't something you did on your own, so it would be a bit deceptive not to credit the design firm.

If you use images on a webpage, which is also common, you need to get permission from that firm to use the images in this manner, and legally you're supposed to get permission from the photographer who used the images. Some firms are cool with this, others not so much because it looks like they're "sharing" the project with another project. Sometimes you need to pay a fee to the photog for image usage, FYI.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

oops...I meant "sharing the project with another architect"...

FP is correct about getting permission to use images from your old firm.

However, it is only the image itself that is copyrighted or requires permission. You can use your own images that you've shot of the project w/o getting your old firm's blessing, I think.

xray,
I think it all depend on how long you have been at the firm and what your role was. Yes, you did do work there (again, depends on what your role was) , but can you put an image of a sky scraper on your portfolio?

If, let's say, you were doing door schedules, foundation drawings etc. and a Senior designer did...well...whatever they were responsible for...is it okay that you put the same renderings/images on your portfolio. He had more responsibility than you did and he should show more, of course, but showing images may have wrong impressions about the work you did at the particular firm. It is very important that you clear that up when showing it to the client. They can be impressed with the image only and not what you actually did there and it can work against you down the road.

This is common problem with people starting fresh and trying to go on their own!

Adrian Smith, worked at SOM for decades, but when he went on his own never showed images of the Hancock, although he worked on it. Should he?

Just think about how you represent the images and what they tell about what you did at that particular firm!

This is just adding to what FP said!!!

Cheers!

thanks poop876,

in fact, i am less troubled by what my former employers may have to say about it, and more by how this will be perceived by a prospective client.

if i show primarily stuff i did as an employee, the client will think "doesn't this guy have enough stuff of his own to show me?". if i don't show anything, he may think "this guy hasn't done much. what has he been doing since graduation?".

i think it is better to use such materials, but to present them carefully and moderately. i feel it should be ok if the firm which designed the project is properly credited, and the role of the employee in the project clearly stated.

i also feel this holds primarily for printed portfolios taken to meetings, or digital ones sent to specific prospects by email. not for the web - this is like publishing other people's work without their consent.

xray,

In my experience, potential clients don't care if the work you've done is with another firm or by yourself, as long as it is good work and as long as you are honest about your role on the job. You have to start somewhere...and that work is a part of your work experience and portfolio.

Gresham is right about the copyright issue. But if you weren't the one to push the shutter release on the camera, you need permission from the one who did, whether it was a professional photog or not. Copyright stays with the photographer, not the firm who hired the photographer.

PS..there's nothing wrong with representing your work from a previous firm on a webpage as long as you get permission. I think, however, that most practices abandon showing that work once you have established a decent portfolio on your own. Truth is, you're also promoting their work by showing it, so it may be hurting you more than helping after a certain point.