How do designers balance the ‘need’ to be on social media with protecting their designs?

Social media is a great way to promote your brand, business, designs and products to a vast audience, which can open up more sales opportunities. However, this increased exposure will obviously risk copycats – if you are copied then you are clearly producing what people like! So having a robust IP strategy in place for prevention and deterrence, as well as a method of reacting to copying is paramount. One important thing to employ is clear communication as to what is yours and what others can or can’t do with your work and understand what the impact will be, if any, on your business. Using the copyright symbol, the member of ACID logo and a clear IP statement can all help deter copycats, as well as lodging your designs in the IP databank for a certified audit trail.

Ultimately, be positive, have confidence in your creations and do so alongside a clear and thought out IP strategy.