you might need a new name....

link

tacking an "S" on at the end probably isn't enough distinction...especially between you and another architecture firm......unless you doing that on purpose...which we would all hope you are not.

you might need a new name....

Viridian Design (no S)

tacking an "S" on at the end probably isn't enough distinction...especially between you and another architecture firm......unless you doing that on purpose...which we would all hope you are not.

Michael, very, very recently here, like within the last week, someone posted a link to a start-up firm's website where they showed images of projects they had worked on while employed at other firms. Each image was presented with adjacent text that said the project size, location, etc. and also clearly stated "completed while employed at ABC Architecture" or something similar. I think this is a perfectly fine way of presenting work - just make it very, very clear that you did NOT do the work on your own and that it is a design belonging to your previous firm.

Also, you're technically supposed to get permission from the previous firm to do this, and I can understand why.

IMO, it shows the potential clients the type of project with which you have experience, and I think it's not at all unethical.

I would NOT advertise any project or use any image that belongs to any of your previous firms on the front page of your website.

You might be better off having a splash page if this is the case.

i have seen sites where images of project are shown but nothing descriptive was listed except for what it is (i.e. "single family house", "hotel renovation", storefront & canopy") i can tell the picture are taken by some individual, not professionally, so presume it is not the property of the office "image."

it didn't look like they had permission from people of their previous office, or maybe they do. not sure if its legit, if you do not mention the project name, client name nor work from previous firm if indeed the project was by someone at the firm who participated else where.

i'll agree about putting someone else's images on your front page - not good, no matter if it's the best image you have or not.

when we split from our previous firm, we helped developed (and then signed) an agreement which spelled out the following:

what projects we were allowed to advertise we had worked on.
what our respective roles were.
what media/formats/etc. that we were allowed to show the work on.
what media/etc. we were allowed to take of our former work (we paid for all copies of project drawings, etc. that we took).
and (most importantly) what images the firm would allow us to use.

on the last point, we looked through the images together, chose the ones we liked best and they were generally cool with that. they gave us the base jpg (high res) versions of those images.

it's important, imho, to get this level of agreement if at all possible - not only does it help keep a good rep for you in general, but most likely the firm you worked with likely just has a license agreement for the images taken by a professional. if the photographer sees his/her images out on your website, he might be a bit pissed. the equivalent is taking one of your drawings and using it ways you didn't agree to. it may piss them off enough that they wouldn't consider working for you down the line. we went so far as to make sure the photographer has a little copyright credit on each photo.

now, if you're leaving under more hostile conditions, you'd have to do what lb described as a minimum.

under no circumstances should you ever pass off another firm's work as your own, however in or unintentional it might be. beyond any legal issues, you'll get a bad rap faster than you can breathe if people find out. this profession is too small to let that happen.

good luck with the firm - it's a trying time to start out, but there's a little time to get the kinks worked out before that next wave starts up...

I knew there was another reason why you're supposed to get permission to use images besides professional courtesy, and outed hit it: photographers' usually license the right to use the images under very strict circumstances. They should be credited, and it may be the previous firm has an agreement that doesn't allow you to use them at all.

In which case, if you go out and take your own photo of a building like niro mentions, the explanatory text is still required - that the design is by the firm, and you worked on it as an employee.

yes - thanks for the catch lb (and niro must have been posting around the same time i was). we did exactly that - for projects in the area, we went out and took our own photos, just so we could shoot aspects we needed for certain proposals (ie, if we needed to play up an auditorium, we took shots of those spaces in our projects, mostly since there wasn't one in the 'official' office shots).

great point....

I have to underline how important it is to get the consent of your former office before you get too far - we recently had a former employee open their own firm and publish renderings on their website of two projects that we were contractually prohibited from publishing (or mentioning) in any form. One of them has a $5million dollar damage clause for disclosure, and the client is of the scale that if they wanted to we would be squashed like a little bug. F---!

Good evening everyone.
I would like to thank you all for your most excellent input to my question. I must underscore my acknowledgment & deep understanding of claiming another individual or firms intellectual property. In fact that is the issue at hand, hence my inquiry.

Bottom line here is do your own work on your own time as much as you can so when you are ready to make the break on your own, you have a body of work that can be marketed to a potential client base.
Cheers,
Michael Soraci Assoc. AIA, LEEDap

Some tips that will help you in your future:

Put up an overview of your company's business plan online.

Put up a detailed diagram of your company's hierarchy.

Also, look at putting up mini-bios of all your employees... with pictures if you dare.

Tell us what you can and can't do exactly. What kind of tools and technologies you're fully comfortable with. And be specific down to some details about who you are, where you are at and what kind of projects you have worked on and hoped to work on.

The reason for this? When doing public work and proposals, many people evaluating your worth will be looking at your website. Are we going to have to go through the RFI (Request for Information) cycle every single time we have a discussion? This also helps people you won't be talking to but are involved in your projects-- namely investors, venture capitalists and fringe shareholders who want to verify specifics about your relationship with the project.

let me add; check laws in your state as to what kind of firm you are allowed to have, given that you are not an architect, yet.

Off subject but along the lines of Photos. I had a friend who had a showing of his work in a gallery and he used photos where he had not ask the owner for permission to include photos of their residence in his show. It turned into a major mess, so if your including photos
of a residence you should actually have the blessing of the owner.

My friend actually had to remove the photos from his show, or the owner was going to file a court action against him.

snook_dude raises a good point. Your owner-architect agreement should have language in it that gives you the right to photograph the work, and to use the photos and drawings for promotional purposes, including publication. Give the owner the right to withold their name, and stipulate that no personal/specific information about them will be used without their consent.