The importance of being right...

[ezekielrage_99]

Here's a current pickle I am in...

Where I am currently working has decided to rebrand it's corporate web site which I am agreeing is a very good thing overdue thing for the business.

However the project has been rail-roaded and very rushed (1.5 months turnaround) since I'm busy on other projects (I do all the inhouse design) the organization has in its infinite wisdom decided to outsource.

Currently my input into the project has been reduced and considering everyone else "knows design better" they've crowd sourced (icky) to a design contest and selected a winner.

Since I am not really involved with any of the project and have been shown limited artwork on the project and have come across a very nasty deal breaker, infact it's a complete copy of another site.

The ethical aspect is should I say something and I know I will come underfire from the "sour grape" effect from not being apart of the process or do I not say anything "bury my head in the sand" and let be be....

 

[aaron11193]

IMO you should say something, get the two logos and show whomever you need to that it's a rip.

Do you mean by "I know I will come underfire from the "sour grape" effect from not being apart of the process" that people will claim you are being a sour grape or that you will be a sour grape?

If it's people crying sour grape, screw them. **** like that is so immature.
One of the many reasons I hate people/society

 

[Blue Velvet]

Tricky. Balancing the importance of being right versus the importance of not being involved or not being seen to be involved, is office politics at its most raw and essential.

Give lukewarm and occasional support to those who are working with the new site and keep your real feelings to yourself. Standing loudly on principles alone can get you into hot water over something that doesn't really concern you. Choose your battles in life and be there to fix things, if things screw up, without a single 'I told you so'. No-one likes a smart-arse.

 

[Designer Dale]

Your designer gut is speaking to you. Your company has moved on in this project in directions you don't approve of and you question the legitimacy of the product accepted. Quite a dilemma. You need to be more that sure of the fact that it is a copy before you even think of saying something. If you do decide to go ahead and bring a point up, do so cautiously. The hard fact here is that you didn't do the site and it has been accepted by those in your organization with the power to do so. You may just need to suck it up and move on. You are the in house designer. That is a nice title to have.

Dale

 

[ezekielrage_99]

Thank you for the great advice.

It's legitimacy vs acceptance and being right vs the good ol' politics which is the quandary...

I want the company to succeed but I really don't want to start a *****torm which will end not well for anyone...

 

[design-is]

I too am an in-house designer. Unfotunately also a general mac monkey and on occasion an IT support guy when people are a bit too dim for their own good.

I feel for you, I really do!

The company I work for have a nasty habit of going ahead and outsourcing things without myself or the 2 other 'in-housers' even knowing about it until it's our job to fix/maintain/send to print. For example, they outsourced the re-build of the corporate website to a software company that the finance director was familiar with and we had no input rather than letting us work (the in-house team) work with a web agency which knew it's stuff.

It does come down to office politics and you have to assess what is best for you.

In my situation (after having tried a fair few times to instil some sort of good taste and business/design sense in the company), I'm just keeping my head down, doing my job & gearing up to move on.

You can either suck it up and, as said above, be ready to help fix things when/if it goes wrong, or you can do the risky thing and make a stand.

Let us know how you get on!

 

[opeter]

The ethical aspect is should I say something and I know I will come underfire from the "sour grape" effect from not being apart of the process or do I not say anything "bury my head in the sand" and let be be....

I for one would not say anything. I'm almost every week once in such a situation and the truth is, I have simply many more problems, so I'm staying out of these things.

They will eventually see, that they were wrong. And correcting the mistakes costs money and time. The problem is, some people simply don't get it. Only at the last stage. But then, it is already too late.

 

[hulugu]

...

Since I am not really involved with any of the project and have been shown limited artwork on the project and have come across a very nasty deal breaker, infact it's a complete copy of another site.

The ethical aspect is should I say something and I know I will come underfire from the "sour grape" effect from not being apart of the process or do I not say anything "bury my head in the sand" and let be be....

This is a tough call, but I'd argue that if you can show that the site is a "complete copy" you should carefully and subtly tell someone you trust. What's important is not to critique the site, but maybe to say that it looks "familiar."

There's a difficult balance here, but I think if you're careful you can get someone else to recognize that the site is a complete copy of another. If the company decides to go ahead and use it anyway, smile and try to helpfully usher in the new system.

I've been in similar situations wherein I knew that the idea was a bad one, but I stated my case and then, once I was overruled, happily helped them to enough rope to hang themselves.
And once the new system went pear-shaped, I didn't remind anyone of my previous objections, but just calmly went and brought my own system online. It helped that I'd quietly done some of the ground-work, so suddenly my idea was working with a metaphorical flick of the switch and the other system lay smoking in a heap. I ended up looking prescient.

If the other system had worked, I would have let it be and moved on.

Maybe someone else can drop some hints or otherwise carry water for you? I've done it and I've asked other people to do the same. If not, and the fallout's too great, let it go.

Good luck.

 

[ezekielrage_99]

I've been in similar situations wherein I knew that the idea was a bad one, but I stated my case and then, once I was overruled, happily helped them to enough rope to hang themselves.
And once the new system went pear-shaped, I didn't remind anyone of my previous objections, but just calmly went and brought my own system online. It helped that I'd quietly done some of the ground-work, so suddenly my idea was working with a metaphorical flick of the switch and the other system lay smoking in a heap. I ended up looking prescient.

Thanks, that is a really good idea. I might just keep a "back" so that I can quickly flick the switch when needs be.

 

[Macky-Mac]

Here's a current pickle I am in...

...... infact it's a complete copy of another site.....

maybe this is a moment where you need to quietly seek out the most friendly member of the committee, ambush'em at the coffee machine or whatever, and say something like "I hear the new web site process is going well....do you think it's a problem that it looks just like www.whatevertheoriginalthatsbeingcopied.com?" and then vanish