All Rights Reserved

© 2021 UCT
MODULE 6 NOTES PART 2

Idea generation and

research
Part 2
Table of contents
1. Introduction 3
2. Research 3
2.1 Background research 3
2.2 Research the context 3
2.4 Creating an effective search query 5
2.5 How to phrase a search query 5
2.6 Refining your search with operators 6
2.6.1 Must exclude (-) 6
2.6.2 Must have this exact phrase (“ “) 6
2.7 Search for images with Google Image Search 6
2.7.1 Other image search tools 8
2.8 Conducting effective online research 8
2.8.1 Use natural language 8
2.8.2 Keywords 8
2.8.3 Do a test search 9
2.8.4 Scan for keywords 9
2.8.5 Construct a new search query 9
2.8.6 Weed out the trash 9
2.8.7 Look for links 10
2.8.8 Repeat this process 10
2.8.9 Bookmark 10
3. Copyright and the public domain 10
3.1 Copyright 10
3.2 Creative Commons 11
3.3 What is the public domain? 12
3.3.1 Find public domain images on Google 13
3.3.2 Find public domain images on Flickr 14
3.3.3 Public domain or royalty free image sites 15
4. Plagiarism 15
4.1 Plagiarism vs appropriation and inspiration 15
4.2 Myths about plagiarism 16
4.3 How to avoid plagiarism 17
5. Conclusion 18
6. Bibliography 18

© 2021 UCT
All Rights Reserved

Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344

Website: [Link] | Email: info@[Link]
Page 2 of 18
 Learning outcomes:

LO4: Compare the various types of research a graphic designer may have to do.

LO5: Select some useful online search tools and techniques.

LO6: Identify plagiarism and how to avoid it.

1. Introduction
Design and creativity have some challenges, such as recognising when inspiration becomes
plagiarism. Working in a team is also challenging. What if everyone criticises whatever you
say? And what if you are accused of plagiarising somebody else’s idea? Research is crucial to
the design process. This set of notes will cover how to do research for a design, the importance
of copyright and how to use the public domain, and plagiarism in design.

2. Research
Research is an important part of graphic design. A designer might need to find out more about
the product they are advertising, or the company they are creating a logo for. They might need
to find help for a technical problem or find out more about who the design is aimed at. It may
even be necessary to test the design to see if it communicates as intended. The type of
research needed depends on the project.

2.1 Background research

Background research helps you to learn more about the project or client. Much of this can be
discovered in meetings with the client, but you may need to do your own research.

Background research might include the following:

• The target audience: Who will you be communicating with?

• The topic of the project: This could include the product, service, or event.

• Examples of other similar projects: Did they fail or succeed?

2.2 Research the context

For any design project, there will be other designers competing for the attention of the target
audience.

© 2021 UCT
All Rights Reserved

Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344

Website: [Link] | Email: info@[Link]
Page 3 of 18
You will need to find out:

• Who are the direct competitors? Who offers the same product, or service to the same
target audience?

• Who are the indirect competitors? These are similar products, or services offered to
the same target market.

Find out as much as you can about both the direct, and indirect competitors, and how they
have solved the problems you are facing as a designer.

This will help you to:

• Create something that is distinct from the competition and avoid copying what has
already been done. If your work is too similar to a competitor’s, it will not stand out
from the crowd.

• Understand what the target audience is already familiar with to find a good balance
between being distinct, and eye-catching, and communicating clearly.

The ideal is to use the language, and visuals that the target audience is familiar with so that
your message is understandable but to do so in a fresh and unexpected way so that your
design is memorable and does not just blend into the background.

2.3 Finding inspiration

Where do design ideas come from? There are many sources of inspiration. The secret to
finding new and fresh ideas is to keep an open mind, and to develop your “eye” for good
design. Keep in mind that ideas can come from anywhere, and not just from looking at the
work of other graphic designers, for example, everyday objects around you, the news, movies,
books, the natural world, science, dreams, and so on. The wider you search, the more likely
you will come up with fresh and original ideas, rather than just making more copies of what
other designers have previously done.

Libraries can be a great resource. You may be lucky enough to have a local library with a well-
stocked art, and design section, or you can find inspiration in any of the other sections, from
natural history, to engineering.

Explore further:

Find some online design inspiration by visiting the following websites:

• Smashing Magazine

• Behance

© 2021 UCT
All Rights Reserved

Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344

Website: [Link] | Email: info@[Link]
Page 4 of 18
 • Muzli blog

• The Design Inspiration

• Abuzeedo

• Designspiration

• Power to the Poster

Websites are not the only source of online help for graphic designers. Online forums are an
indispensable resource where you can ask for help on specific questions. Online forums such
as The Graphic Design Forum usually have specific “boards” or areas where different topics
can be discussed.

2.4 Creating an effective search query

Search engines base their search on the “search query” or the question that you type into the
search bar. Search engines like Google, and Bing have complex algorithms according to which
they match search terms with keywords to return the most likely results.

Note:

“Algorithm” in this context is the process that the search engine applies when matching
keywords in its index. It specifies the criteria used to determine if a page contains valuable
information. Companies like Google and Bing keep the details top secret, so that people
cannot cheat the system by creating websites designed to fool the search engine into
considering it a valuable source of information when it is not.

2.5 How to phrase a search query

There is a difference between asking a human being a question and constructing a search term
for a search engine. For example, consider the search query “which lake in Russia has the
clearest water?”. A conventional search engine will match that to results containing the
keywords “lake”, “Russia”, “clearest”, and “water”, which may result in useful results purely
by accident – or it may not.

The ability of a search engine to understand this kind of question is called its “natural
language” ability. There is much controversy whether natural language search is more
accurate than the sophisticated keyword algorithms used by search engines like Google, and
Bing. In either case, for more effective search queries, keep your query as short as possible,
leaving out any unnecessary words. A single name or keyword often works better than an
entire sentence.

© 2021 UCT
All Rights Reserved

Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344

Website: [Link] | Email: info@[Link]
Page 5 of 18
2.6 Refining your search with operators
There are various tricks, and techniques to help you find the results you want. One of the most
useful techniques is using operators as part of your search query. Operators are symbols or
words that help to focus your search. For example, the minus symbol “-“ is an operator used
to specify that a certain keyword should be excluded from the search. Some of the more
popular operators will be discussed in the following sections.

2.6.1 Minus symbol as an operator (-)

Place the minus symbol in front of the word you want the search engine to ignore to limit a
search. In Figure 1 the words should give results about jaguars but leave out all pages about
the Jaguar car.

Figure 1: Using the minus symbol as an operator.

It is important that you leave no space between the minus symbol and the word you want to
exclude.

2.6.2 Quotation marks as an operator (“ “)

A typical search will find pages that include any or all the words in the search query, even if
they are in a different order or have other words between them. Including quotation marks
around a phrase – “like this” – forces the search to return only the exact phrase in your search
query. In Figure 2, the phrase is more likely to return pages that refer to the song than pages
that happen to include the words “twinkle”, “little”, and “star” in any order.

Figure 2: Using quotation marks as an operator.

2.7 Search for images with Google Image Search

You can access Google Image Search in two ways:

1. Using [Link]

2. Clicking “Image” in the Options bar as illustrated in Figure 3.

© 2021 UCT
All Rights Reserved

Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344

Website: [Link] | Email: info@[Link]
Page 6 of 18
 Figure 3: The "Images" link in the search options bar.

A page will open showing the image results of your search. In Figure 4, the image results are
of goldfish.

Figure 4: An image search results page.

If you click on one of the images, your browser will take you to the page that contains that
image – the image will be visible in the middle of the page. The added section to the right of
the page will contain additional information on the image. In Figure 5, an image of a goldfish
is present with information about the website, image dimensions, and so on.

Figure 5: An image result.

© 2021 UCT
All Rights Reserved

Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344

Website: [Link] | Email: info@[Link]
Page 7 of 18
To remove the additional information, click anywhere on the website to be taken to that page.
To see the image itself, not placed in the context of the page, click on the “Full-size image”
link at the top right in the white bar.

2.7.1 Other image search tools

• TinEye is a reverse image search-engine. Use it to find out where an image came from,
how it is being used, if modified versions of the image exist, or if there is a higher
resolution version.

• Search Flickr for images with certain colours, or combinations of colour.

2.8 Conducting effective online research

It is worth having a closer look at ways of improving your research technique. These methods
are relevant whether you are looking for visual inspiration, looking for technical help, or
researching the target audience. These techniques don’t rely on access to any particular tool
or search engine, but they do require focus and perseverance.

Some of the most important principles of conducting any kind of research – online or offline
– are the following:

• Consider multiple, varied sources: It is difficult to form your own opinion if you only
consult a few sources, or only look at sources with the same viewpoint.

• Be open-minded, but sceptical: It is easy to be taken in by a writer with an

authoritative style, or impressive title. Take the time to examine alternative
viewpoints before making up your mind.

Before using a search engine, you need to know what it is that you want to find out. Framing
your “search question” is the most important step to finding the results you want.

2.8.1 Use natural language

Frame the question as though you were asking a human being. What exactly is it that you
hope to find out? You may want to write it down or say it out loud.

2.8.2 Keywords
Write down a list of likely keywords. Put them through the following test:

• Are the keywords distinctive? The more specific the keywords, the more likely you are
to achieve the results you want.

© 2021 UCT
All Rights Reserved

Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344

Website: [Link] | Email: info@[Link]
Page 8 of 18
 • Have you achieved the right level of “focus”? Are you looking for a broad overview of
a topic, or do you want to look at a specific aspect?

• Can you think of synonyms or alternatives for the keywords?

2.8.3 Do a test search

Use your most likely keywords as a search query in a search engine. Look at the resulting list
of links, but don’t click on any of them yet.

You may already be able to:

• Revise and improve your search query

• Refine your search query with the appropriate operators to exclude certain keywords
if many of the results are on a different topic entirely

2.8.4 Scan for keywords

If any of the results in your search look appealing, open them in a new tab in your browser
(right-click on the link and choose “Open in new tab”.) If possible, open at least three or four
links. Scan through the results instead of reading them in detail.

You may be able to:

• Eliminate results from your search

• Improve your search query

Note:

Wikipedia pages are usually quite useful at this stage in the research process, as they offer
a wealth of alternative keywords.

2.8.5 Construct a new search query

Construct a new search query based on the new information you have gained. Run through
points mentioned in 2.8.3–2.8.5 a couple of times. At this stage, you are merely collecting
pages, not reading, or judging them. When you have at least 10 to 15 likely pages open in your
tabs, you can move to the next phase of the search.

2.8.6 Consider the pages

Consider the reliability of each page. Close the pages that seem unreliable.

© 2021 UCT
All Rights Reserved

Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344

Website: [Link] | Email: info@[Link]
Page 9 of 18
2.8.7 Look for links
This is the stage where you are most likely to find useful results. Start reading the pages you
have found. Look for the following in particular:

• Links to resources the writers have used themselves

• Links to other articles

2.8.8 Repeat this process

Repeat this process until you feel that you have a comprehensive understanding of the
subject.

2.8.9 Bookmarks
Bookmark all the best pages you have found (right click, and choose “Bookmark this page”),
and read them carefully.

• Avoid being side-tracked into other areas of interest. If you find a fascinating page on
another topic, bookmark it for later reference, and return to your primary search.

• Reconsider your question. Have you found an answer? Was it the right question in the
first place?

3. Copyright and the public domain

There are many places to find new ideas and many sources of inspiration. Unfortunately, not
all sources are free to use, and copy. Designers must understand the legal implications of
being inspired by, or copying, the work of others.

3.1 Copyright
Copyright is a legal right of the creator of a work to benefit from that work for a particular
period of time. Copyright gives the person who created the work the right to:

• Be identified as creator of the work

• Forbid alteration of the work

• Control the reproduction, distribution, and sale of the work

© 2021 UCT
All Rights Reserved

Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344

Website: [Link] | Email: info@[Link]
Page 10 of 18
It is not possible to copyright an idea or concept. Only the expression of an idea is protected
under copyright. For example, an artist cannot claim to own a particular style, but they own
the rights to the images created in that style.

Under most legal systems, copyright automatically resides with the creator of the work. The
creator does not have to do anything to claim the copyright. The creator of the work can
transfer copyright to somebody else by selling or giving them those rights.

Copyright has a specified time limit. This varies from country to country, but the general rule
is that the copyright lasts for the life of the creator plus 70 years after their death. Unless the
copyright is renewed, it lapses, and the work becomes part of the public domain.

There is no such thing as “international copyright”, and copyright law varies from country to
country. However two international copyright conventions that protect the right of foreign
holders of copyright and make it possible for copyright to be respected across international
borders. These are the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, and
the Universal Copyright Convention.

3.2 Creative Commons

Creative Commons (CC) is an organisation that allows the creator of a work to specify how
they want their work to be shared and used. CC provides several free, easy to understand
licences that specify different levels of protection. For example, there is a CC licence that
states that the work can be shared and modified, but not used for commercial purposes.
Another licence states that the work can be shared, but not modified, yet another specifies
that the work can be shared, modified, and even used commercially, as long as the original
creator is acknowledged.

CC is not an alternative to copyright, but works with copyright law, allowing you to specify
exactly which of your rights you want to protect and which can be waived.

To apply a CC licence to a work, simply visit the Creative Commons website, and use the tools
they provide to generate the exact licences you require.

Creative Commons licences identify the following areas:

• Attribution or “BY”: The right to be credited as the creator of the work.

• Non-Commercial or “NC”: The work may be reused, but not for commercial purposes.

• No Derivatives or “ND”: The work may not be changed or modified.

• Share Alike or “SA”: If the work is reshared, it must keep the original CC licence.

The following are examples of CC licences:

© 2021 UCT
All Rights Reserved

Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344

Website: [Link] | Email: info@[Link]
Page 11 of 18
The CC licence in Figure 6 means that the creator must be acknowledged, but no other rights
are withheld. The work can be changed, used commercially, and reshared under a different
CC licence.

Figure 6: Attribution or “CC BY”.

The CC licence in Figure 7 means that the creator must be acknowledged, and the work can
be changed or used commercially, but it must be reshared under the same CC licence.

Figure 7: Attribution Share Alike or “CC BY-SA”.

The CC licence in Figure 8 means that the creator must be acknowledged, and the work cannot
be changed in any way, but it can be used commercially.

Figure 8: Attribution No Derivatives or “CC BY-ND”.

The CC licence in Figure 9 means that the creator must be acknowledged, and the work can
be changed and reshared under a different CC licence, but it cannot be used for commercial
purposes.

Figure 9: Attribution Non-Commercial or “CC BY-NC”.

The CC licence in Figure 10 means that the creator must be acknowledged, and the work can
be changed, but it cannot be used for commercial purposes and must be reshared under the
same CC licence.

© 2021 UCT
All Rights Reserved

Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344

Website: [Link] | Email: info@[Link]
Page 12 of 18
 Figure 10: Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike or “CC BY NC-SA”.

The CC licence in Figure 11 means that the creator must be acknowledged; the work cannot
be changed or used for commercial purposes.

Figure 11: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives or “CC BY-NC-ND”.

3.3 What is the public domain?

Some creative works are not protected by copyright law, and can be copied with no legal
consequences. Such work is said to be in the public domain. Different countries have different
laws about what work is in the public domain.

In most cases, work is in the public domain:

• If it is not eligible for copyright protection. For example, it is not possible to copyright
a title, or a name.

• If the creator explicitly gives permission for anyone to re-use their work.

• If the work is no longer under copyright. For example, in the US, work published
before 1923 is likely to be in the public domain.

It is not always easy to determine if a work is in the public domain. For example, a painting
that was created centuries ago may be in the public domain, but a photograph of that painting
may still be under copyright. In other words, if you took a photograph of the painting yourself,
you are allowed to reproduce it since you are the copyright holder of the photograph, but you
may not have permission to copy a photo of the painting that you find online.

If you wish to find public domain images, most online search engines allow you to specify
whether the search should include licensed images or not.

3.3.1 Find public domain images on Google

Google ”advanced search” allows you to specify that the search should only include public
domain images:

1. Open Google search engine and type the search term into the search box.

2. Click on the “Image” link at the top of the page to start an image search.

3. Click on the “Advanced search” link at the bottom of the page.

© 2021 UCT
All Rights Reserved

Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344

Website: [Link] | Email: info@[Link]
Page 13 of 18
 4. Use the “usage rights” menu to choose the option that suits your purposes, for
example “Free to use, share and modify, even commercially”, as illustrated in Figure
12.

Figure 12: Specify the “Filtered by License” in Google Advanced search.

5. Click on the “Advanced search” button to start the search.

3.3.2 Find public domain images on Flickr

Popular image storage site Flickr allows you to filter image search by the CC licence attached
to the image:

1. Access [Link]

2. Type a search term into the search bar, and press “enter” to start the search.

3. A page will open with a several images that match your search terms. Select the tab
“Any license” above the search results and choose the relevant CC search criteria. In
Figure 13, the option “Commercial use & mods allowed” is checked.

Figure 13: Search for CC licensing in Flickr.

© 2021 UCT
All Rights Reserved

Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344

Website: [Link] | Email: info@[Link]
Page 14 of 18
3.3.3 Public domain or royalty free image sites
There are a several sites that provide images that are either in the public domain or can be
licensed for use. The public domain images are typically available for free, while the rights to
stock images can be bought from the site.

Use a search engine to search for “public domain images”, “stock images”, or “royalty free
images” to find the most popular of these.

4. Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of taking somebody else’s work and presenting it as your own. Plagiarism
is a crime. While it can be disguised by using words such as “inspired by” or “borrowing”,
plagiarising is illegal, and can result in legal action. Being caught plagiarising can mean paying
damages to the copyright holder and can destroy a designer’s reputation.

Plagiarism in graphic design occurs when a designer copies the whole of, or part of, an image,
or layout created by somebody else, uses an illustration, or photograph without permission,
or includes text written by somebody else. For example, a designer might include a line from
a song in their design. Using somebody else’s words without permission is illegal, even if the
author is credited. The only exception is if the work is in the public domain.

4.1 Plagiarism vs appropriation and inspiration

Avoiding plagiarism when writing an essay is relatively straightforward. The writer simply
needs to indicate which words are not their own, and to reference the actual author. It is not
that easy to avoid plagiarising images. How do you separate plagiarism from inspiration, and
how do you reference the source of a design inspiration?

It is not always easy to tell when design plagiarism occurs. Designers are visual people and are
inspired by the works of others. What is the difference between being influenced or inspired
by an image, and “stealing” that image?

It is worth noting is that it is not possible to “own” an idea. The history of art and design has
many examples of images that are reworked, re-examined, or making an old idea fresh in a
different context. For example, a designer might reference a famous work to pay homage or
make fun of it. Artists have always been inspired by the work of others, and copying is a
legitimate creative process.

Contemporary art and design encourage this “remix” culture in which artists, and designers
recreate, and reference the work of others. Such works, constructed out of works from many
different sources are called “mashups”. The rise of digital technology has created a thriving
remix culture. Image manipulation software such as Photoshop makes it easy to copy and

© 2021 UCT
All Rights Reserved

Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344

Website: [Link] | Email: info@[Link]
Page 15 of 18
combine images, and the internet makes it possible to find, and share images from all over
the world.

4.2 Myths about plagiarism

There are many misperceptions about plagiarism. You may have heard some of the following
justifications for copying the work of others:

• “If it is available online, it is fine to copy it. After all, the person should not have placed
it online if they don't want it to be copied.”

The act of making a work available online is not the same as giving permission for the work to
be copied. It is possible that the work was placed online without the creator’s knowledge, and
that the person sharing it did not have the right to do so. It is not reasonable that simply
making a work visible to others is the same as giving permission for it to be reused in any
context. Do not assume that an image or text is free to be used unless the creator explicitly
states this. The fact that the work is available online will not protect you if the creator decides
to take legal action.

• “All you have to do is to reference the author. If you say who did the work, there is no
problem in copying it.”

While plagiarism involves passing off another’s work as your own, that does not mean that
you can reuse somebody else’s work in any way you like, as long as you attribute the creator.
An image might already be associated with a particular product or campaign, and having it
appear in another context might harm that project. The creator of the work might not
appreciate having their image (or music, or text) associated with a project, or cause that they
do not believe in. In any case, simply acknowledging the creator will not protect you from legal
action.

• “It is legal to copy a small portion of the work. The only problem is with copying the
entire thing.”

While there is such a thing as “fair use”, meaning certain situations in which work can be
copied without contravening copyright law, there is no legal agreement as to how much of a
work can be copied before the law is broken. Each case is judged on its own merit, for
example, a single phrase copied from a song, or poem can contravene copyright law.

• “It's only illegal if I make money out of copying the work and reselling it.”

While you are certainly far more likely to attract a lawsuit if you are selling copies of
somebody else’s work, the fact that you are not profiting from the copy is not relevant in the
eyes of the law. The creator of the work may decide to ignore your actions, but you are still
breaking the law by copying work without permission.

© 2021 UCT
All Rights Reserved

Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344

Website: [Link] | Email: info@[Link]
Page 16 of 18
 • “Nobody will know, and there is no way of tracing the work you are copying, so why
not?”

Apart from the ethical implications of doing the right thing only if you think you won’t get
caught, modern technology has made it possible to trace, and find copyright infringement.
Visual search engines can scan images, and find similarities and copyright owners have
become far more vigilant in finding those who copy their work without permission.

4.3 How to avoid plagiarism

There are two helpful measures to use when determining whether a work has been
plagiarised. What is the intent? Has the work been simply copied, or has it been transformed
into something new?

The following questions may help to determine whether you are plagiarising:

• Would it make a difference if the viewer saw the work that inspired yours?

Do you hope that the viewer won’t notice the similarity? Would you prefer to conceal the
source of your inspiration? If so, chances are that your appropriation may be less than honest.

• Have you been inspired by one single source or by many?

If your inspiration is from a single image, or one designer or artist’s work, chances are that
you are close to the edge of plagiarism. Consider introducing other aspects into the work,
looking for other sources of inspiration.

• Have you made the work your own?

The problem with plagiarism is not whether the work looks the same, or whether a part of the
work has been copied. The question is whether you have succeeded in making the work your
own or making something new and original out of the parts of the work. Does it have
essentially the same message as the original work? Is the context pretty much the same? Does
it have the same mood and feel? If so, chances are that the work is not your own.

• Imagine that you are the creator of the original work. How would you feel if you saw
the work that inspired it?

Put yourself in the place of the person who inspires your work. Can you honestly say that your
work is a new expression that has been nurtured by their work, or is your work “feeding off”
theirs, without anything fresh or new added?

© 2021 UCT
All Rights Reserved

Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344

Website: [Link] | Email: info@[Link]
Page 17 of 18
5. Conclusion
The ability to avoid plagiarism, the knowledge of how to do proper research and be aware of
copyright considerations are invaluable skills in graphic design.

In these notes, you learnt how to research a new project using some of the available online
tools. You also learnt how to distinguish between being inspired, or influenced by another
designer, or artist’s work and plagiarising it.

6. Bibliography
Hardy, G. 2015. Logo Design. Conducting preliminary research. Available:
[Link]
[2017, April 21].

IParadigms, LLC. 2014. What is plagiarism? Available: [Link] [2017, April 21].

Nelson, M. 2009. Choosing copyright or creative commons for your intellectual property.
Available: [Link]
intellectual-property [2017, April 21].

International copyright basics. n.d. Available:

[Link]
onal_Copyright_Basics.html [2017, April 21].

International copyright. 2009. Available: [Link] [2017,

April 21].

© 2021 UCT
All Rights Reserved

Tel: +27 21 447 7565 | Fax: +27 21 447 8344

Website: [Link] | Email: info@[Link]
Page 18 of 18