statement of Ethics & Professional Standards
for product design services
By Edward Locke
I subscribe to the Code of Ethics of Engineers of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Code of Ethics of the Industrial Design Society of America (ISDA), and formulate my own rules based on my interpretation of the Fundamental Principles and Canons of the ASME, and Fundamental Ethical Principles and Articles of Ethical Practice of the ISDA. My personal rules include the following:
(1) Encourage clients to develop new lines of products that are ecologically friendly, socially responsible, and as much as possible, multi-functional and upgradeable with sustainable profit growth potential.
(2) Never accept any project that is harmful to the environment and to the welfare of the general public.
(3) Perform product design services only in my areas of competence; build my professional reputation on the merit of my services and never compete unfairly with others; to be more specific, never participate in such practices as work on speculation (work done without compensation in the hope of being compensated for the
client’s speculation), or crowdsourcing (any sort of "bidding" that involves a large group of people actively
participating in the project for the clients to choose one best and pay for it, while all others spend their time
uncompensated), plagiarism, piracy or any practice that violates the intellectual property rights of others.
(4) Strictly protect the proprietary information and intellectual property rights of the employers, clients and any party concerned against any illegal attempt of industrial espionage or infringement made by any party, domestic or foreign, treating privileged information of the employers or clients with discretion and confidentiality, and remain loyal to the best interests of the employers or client and the general public, present and future, within the boundaries of laws and ethics.
(5) Perform design service duties with integrity, honor and dignity of design professionals; and avoid conflicts of interest or the appearance of conflicts of interest; competing fairly with my colleagues by building my professional reputation primarily on the quality of my work; by issuing only truthful, objective and non-misleading public statements and promotional materials; by respecting competitors' contractual relationships with their clients; and by never making biased or unfair judgement regarding the character of work of other product designers; by issuing public statements only in an objective and truthful manner, based on facts, not personal bias or opinions; and by giving fair credit to my colleques and associates who work in my projects.
(6) Hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public in the performance of product design and development duties.
(7) Continue my professional development throughout my careers and share my knowledge and experience with fellow members of the profession.
(8) Associate only with reputable persons or organizations that are legally registered with the government.
(9) Stay current with relevant events and trends so as to be able to assess the economic and environmental effects of my design decisions.
(10) Treat all clients, employers, peers, associates and others with respect, regardless of gender, race, creed or ideology, ethnic origin, age, disability or sexual orientation. There shall be no preferential or discriminatory treatment given to any client or employer on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, or political affiliation, in terms of quality of service offered; however, based on affordability and scope of business, reasonable accommodation in terms of discounts on service fee rate, partial payments by exchange of service and goods, will be offered.
(11) Provide my employers and clients with original and innovative design service of high quality; by communicating effectively with their appropriate staff members; and by establishing clear contractual understandings regarding obligations of both parties; and by never working on competing product lines simultaneously for different employers or clients unless an agreement of all concerned parties have been reached.
(12) To avoid misunderstanding and disputes, work orders or service agreements between me and my clients shall be in writing and shall include the specific rights which are being transferred, the specific fee payment schedule, delivery date, and a summarized description of the service.
(13) To be fair to both parties, (a) all changes or additions not due to my fault or my representative's fault shall be billed to the client as an additional and separate charge; and (b) there shall be no charges to the client for revisions or retakes made necessary, by errors on my part or my representative's part. As a manifestation of good will towards long-term clients with extensive use of my artistic and design services, annual rebate or discount for the service fee exceeding certain amount shall be granted according to uniform schedule to be published on this website, in My Product Innovation Service webpage at https://suniseaproducts.weebly.com/my-product-innovation-service.html.
(14) To protect the interest of all parties in a timely manner, the service will start once the deposit (30% to 50% of the estimated total amount of fee for the entire project) is paid in full. If service commissioned by a client is postponed or cancelled, a "kill-fee" or "cancellation fee" shall be charged against the deposit based on time alloted or effort expended, and expenses incurred. Payment for service should be made by the client and should not be contingent upon third-party approval or payment.
(14) For non-profit organizations working on charitable services to the needy, improvement of social services, social justice for the disadvantaged people, environmental protection and other descent causes benefiting people of all ethnic and social groups, product design services for gift items or service-related products shall be offered at substantially reduced fee schedule or "at cost." This clause generally does not applied to political parties or groups promoting certain ideological or cultural patterns at the expense of others.
(1) Encourage clients to develop new lines of products that are ecologically friendly, socially responsible, and as much as possible, multi-functional and upgradeable with sustainable profit growth potential.
(2) Never accept any project that is harmful to the environment and to the welfare of the general public.
(3) Perform product design services only in my areas of competence; build my professional reputation on the merit of my services and never compete unfairly with others; to be more specific, never participate in such practices as work on speculation (work done without compensation in the hope of being compensated for the
client’s speculation), or crowdsourcing (any sort of "bidding" that involves a large group of people actively
participating in the project for the clients to choose one best and pay for it, while all others spend their time
uncompensated), plagiarism, piracy or any practice that violates the intellectual property rights of others.
(4) Strictly protect the proprietary information and intellectual property rights of the employers, clients and any party concerned against any illegal attempt of industrial espionage or infringement made by any party, domestic or foreign, treating privileged information of the employers or clients with discretion and confidentiality, and remain loyal to the best interests of the employers or client and the general public, present and future, within the boundaries of laws and ethics.
(5) Perform design service duties with integrity, honor and dignity of design professionals; and avoid conflicts of interest or the appearance of conflicts of interest; competing fairly with my colleagues by building my professional reputation primarily on the quality of my work; by issuing only truthful, objective and non-misleading public statements and promotional materials; by respecting competitors' contractual relationships with their clients; and by never making biased or unfair judgement regarding the character of work of other product designers; by issuing public statements only in an objective and truthful manner, based on facts, not personal bias or opinions; and by giving fair credit to my colleques and associates who work in my projects.
(6) Hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public in the performance of product design and development duties.
(7) Continue my professional development throughout my careers and share my knowledge and experience with fellow members of the profession.
(8) Associate only with reputable persons or organizations that are legally registered with the government.
(9) Stay current with relevant events and trends so as to be able to assess the economic and environmental effects of my design decisions.
(10) Treat all clients, employers, peers, associates and others with respect, regardless of gender, race, creed or ideology, ethnic origin, age, disability or sexual orientation. There shall be no preferential or discriminatory treatment given to any client or employer on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, or political affiliation, in terms of quality of service offered; however, based on affordability and scope of business, reasonable accommodation in terms of discounts on service fee rate, partial payments by exchange of service and goods, will be offered.
(11) Provide my employers and clients with original and innovative design service of high quality; by communicating effectively with their appropriate staff members; and by establishing clear contractual understandings regarding obligations of both parties; and by never working on competing product lines simultaneously for different employers or clients unless an agreement of all concerned parties have been reached.
(12) To avoid misunderstanding and disputes, work orders or service agreements between me and my clients shall be in writing and shall include the specific rights which are being transferred, the specific fee payment schedule, delivery date, and a summarized description of the service.
(13) To be fair to both parties, (a) all changes or additions not due to my fault or my representative's fault shall be billed to the client as an additional and separate charge; and (b) there shall be no charges to the client for revisions or retakes made necessary, by errors on my part or my representative's part. As a manifestation of good will towards long-term clients with extensive use of my artistic and design services, annual rebate or discount for the service fee exceeding certain amount shall be granted according to uniform schedule to be published on this website, in My Product Innovation Service webpage at https://suniseaproducts.weebly.com/my-product-innovation-service.html.
(14) To protect the interest of all parties in a timely manner, the service will start once the deposit (30% to 50% of the estimated total amount of fee for the entire project) is paid in full. If service commissioned by a client is postponed or cancelled, a "kill-fee" or "cancellation fee" shall be charged against the deposit based on time alloted or effort expended, and expenses incurred. Payment for service should be made by the client and should not be contingent upon third-party approval or payment.
(14) For non-profit organizations working on charitable services to the needy, improvement of social services, social justice for the disadvantaged people, environmental protection and other descent causes benefiting people of all ethnic and social groups, product design services for gift items or service-related products shall be offered at substantially reduced fee schedule or "at cost." This clause generally does not applied to political parties or groups promoting certain ideological or cultural patterns at the expense of others.
Edward Locke's SuniSea Studio
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