Graphic Designer

[Nyberg_1283]

Hello there!
I am new to all of this and I would like to know what you guys do for designs. I am looking to start doing designs and illustrations. Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!

 

[Border]

Welcome aboard!
My daughter is thinking about going to college in your town next year.

 

[Marlene]

are you totally new to all this? if so, take some classes in design, read and then read some more of the great books out there and hang out here!

 

[Sign Up Graphics]

Sign Up Graphics

Welcome from Skokie, IL

 

[trik]

Definately need to study. Don't take this the wrong way, but in my opinion it does not matter how much you study, practice, or whatever, if you don't have the talent to be a graphic designer it will show. I am not saying that you don't, you obviously have the ambition or you would not have posted. I wish you luck, and remember to have thick skin, what you may think looks great, may look terrible to the next person. But there is a ton of talented people here, so accept their advice and be preparred for the constructiove criticism, it will only make you better.

 

[TheSnowman]

Welcome! Also, another good idea is...if you aren't a graphic designer yourself, but want to run the "sign" aspect of it, and just do the grunt work, hire yourself one. I know enough to get by, and when we have to create something from scratch, or do logo creations, I call in a real designer to work w/ the customer, and I still get the job, customer is happy, and the designer gets work.

 

[jiarby]

I have a friend who is a creative director for an ad agency///

He told me that when they are hiring college age kids as graphics weenies their portfolios are chock full of anime characters, flames, skulls, and other stuff that is generally useless to sell a toaster. He said they had a bad understanding of layout and composition, didn't understand color relationships, and all thought they were Michaelangelo reincarnated.

A question like this might put you in one of those categories....

I would like to know what you guys do for designs

The question is: design FOR WHAT?
for a sign? for a wrap? for a birthday card? for a website? etc...
for a realtor? for a pest control company? for a chic clothing store? etc...

There are a million questions you need to ask. But "what you guys do for design" is not one of them.

Design WHAT for WHO on WHAT MEDIA...

Why not post something and show us how YOU design/

 

[imagep]

In our business, we just let the computer do the creative work. Saves us a lot of labor. At least thats the way our customers think we do it.

There are also a whole crap load of people in India that help us out with recreating logos - at less than $5 per hour. I can email a bad scan at 5pm before I head to the house, and at 8am when I come in in the morning, there is my recreated graphic waiting on me. From my viewpoint as a business owner and employer, that is way better than having to screw around with a in-house artist.

That is one of my concerns about taking up graphic design as a profession. Graphics are the perfect thing to be produced overseas as they can be transmitted electronically. I don't know that it will be a growth industry in the US. I think we will see more and more Indians and Chineese doing not only our recreations but also our creative work.

We have alreadly lost much of our manufacturing base to overseas competition, then we started loosing customer service jobs, now we are even loosing intelectual services to overseas competitors. I have no clue what will be left for Americans to do soon. The only jobs left for Americans may be government jobs, mainly jobs working for the IRS. But I guess that is a topic that really belongs in the "no holds barred" section.

 

[TheSnowman]

There are also a whole crap load of people in India that help us out with recreating logos - at less than $5 per hour. I can email a bad scan at 5pm before I head to the house, and at 8am when I come in in the morning, there is my recreated graphic waiting on me. From my viewpoint as a business owner and employer, that is way better than having to screw around with a in-house artist.

I'll do ya one better...use Eric Schmidt (The Vector Doctor) and you can get the same thing made in America, w/ a real person that will help you out for about the same price.

 

[Mike Paul]

I am new to all of this and I would like to know what you guys do for designs.

???

 

[Mike Paul]

That is one of my concerns about taking up graphic design as a profession. Graphics are the perfect thing to be produced overseas as they can be transmitted electronically. I don't know that it will be a growth industry in the US. I think we will see more and more Indians and Chineese doing not only our recreations but also our creative work.

The Chinese had a hard time getting the directional signage correct in English for the Olympics.

I couldn't imagine corresponding with a so-called Graphic Designer from India. Ever call Dell tech support? LOL

 

[thmooch]

Normally I stay with the OP's post & don't stray, but as of recent have had a relative become unemployed & have to agree with Kraig regarding the outsourcing of work...Yeah, there may be cheaper ways of producing an end product, but why not keep your fellow man down the road under his roof by utilizing his services. Build his cost into your bid & you both win.

 

[imagep]

ImageP....I wouldn't really think that that is the norm...or that things are moving in that direction. (imho) Personally, I would rather deal with a company that is local, let alone in this continent.

My wife fell friday and broke her arm and leg. They xrayed at the emergency room, transmitted the xrays to Charleston to be "read" by a specialist. The emergancy room gave me a bill and told me that I would be getting a seperate bill from the specials Whats to keep them from sending the xrays to India at a much lower cost?

Obviously some things HAVE to be done local. And I also enjoy using local people. But it becomes a business decision. Our customers are not willing to pay 5 times the cost just to use someone local. So they essentially force me to look for the lowest cost method of producing stuff. Often the lowest cost method is to farm it out overseas.

If I sent a lot of our redraws to local artists (like in my own town), they would want to charge $100 or more and take weeks to finish, for the same thing I can get done over the internet for less than $20 in less than 24 hours.

Truthfully, there are probably thousands of services that could be done cheaper and maybe even better overseas. And a lot of them are high paying jobs in the US. Architects, any type of design. and basically anything that requires thinking could be done overseas for a fraction of what it would cost in the US.

 

[coyote]

I hope your wife recovers soon, but ....my o my, what a depressing post. Our customers expect us to design for them and to give them customer service.

If all our design and creativity is shipped overseas, I fear for us. Aside from the implications as far as innovation and invention, what a depressing place this will be if we can't create and design any more. (just my humble opinion)

Used to be (I'm old too) that creative people ran sign and graphics places-is there no longer a place for us?
C

 

[imagep]

I hope your wife recovers soon, but ....my o my, what a depressing post. Our customers expect us to design for them and to give them customer service.

If all our design and creativity is shipped overseas, I fear for us. Aside from the implications as far as innovation and invention, what a depressing place this will be if we can't create and design any more. (just my humble opinion)

Used to be (I'm old too) that creative people ran sign and graphics places-is there no longer a place for us?
C

It's no more depressing than us loosing the textile industry, it's no more depressing than us loosing the family farms, no more depressing than us loosing the auto manufacturing industry, or when the tennis ball factory that I used to work in was shipped overseas, or when our local peach industry folded, no more depressing than us loosing the electronics manufacturing industry, no more depressing than the graphics industry loosing the darkroom. For that matter, I am sure that a lot of people say that it was depressing when most of the saddle makers closed shop and when the milkman lost his job and when doctors stopped making housecalls. Yup depressing, but reality.

I'm just saying that unless we (Americans) come up with a different plan (as far as our economy and government), we may loose a lot more industries, and graphic design is ripe for loosing.

So far I have not used any outside service for creative work, only for recreation, but I see the day coming, very soon, when we will be shipping that off also. We will have to.

Imagine this senerio: customer calls and says "how much do you charge to design my sign" (and gives us the specs), we say "$200", customer says "but the shop down the road said that they can do it for $50", we say "ya but that is because the outsource their design needs", the customer says "OK, I will use them, I cant afford to waste $150 and I hear that they do good work". When it gets to that point, the sign companies that survive will be the ones that outsource.

Yes, I agree, it will be a sad day, but just because we don't want it to be that way will not keep it from happening.

 

[DOGraphics]

:Welcome: 2 :signs101:

 

[Gino]

Welcome from PA...................

 

[3dsignco]

Welcome Aboard,

Not a lot of helpful advice from me but if your looking at doing Sign Design the first book you should read and always have close is The Mike Stevens Book on Sign Design.

Then try to set yourself apart from everyone else by developing a style so many people always try to be everything for everyone. (Myself included sometimes and it usually ends up a disaster) Especially when they ask for a Southwest design. UGGG)

Off topic.

They xrayed at the emergency room, transmitted the xrays to Charleston to be "read" by a specialist.

Has the same thing happen when I had my heart attack but it was "specialist" in Australia. At first it ticked me off then after thinking about That is actually great I can be treated by a specialist half way around the world with having to travel. There are great doctors all over the world and I would rather have my info look at by a Heart Specialist in Nepal then my proctologist in Colorado. (Who for some reason always send me to his friend for a second opinion.

 

[imagep]

This is obviously your opinion... but I don't agree with that state of mind at all. Sure all the things that you mentioned have been shut down or shipped to a country where people are paid 1$ a day...but what does that have to do with design services...? (not mentioning the fact that this has absolutely nothing to do with the OP)
Playing along with your scenario... customer says "ok, i will use the lowball shop that subs all their design work to india". What happens when they want revisions made? Where is the customer service in that!?

I would be interested in hearing if anyone else feels this way... but as for me, I think this approach is just wrong.
It's like saying "i don't have the skills or motivation to do this, so i'll just ship it to the other end of the world and get it done for dirt cheap."

Revisions are no big deal. Even a moron (like myself) can open the India made graphic and make changes. We do it all the time.

So far those services only do vector graphics and no bitmap stuff (although I expect they will be doing the bitmap stuff soon). We do it all the time.

I'm not saying that sign shops and printers wont need graphic designers, I am just saying that I don't believe it will be a growth industry (in the US).

 

[DOGraphics]

It's no more depressing than us loosing the

Along these same lines ...

What about ......
​

 

[imagep]

Welcome Aboard,

Has the same thing happen when I had my heart attack but it was "specialist" in Australia. At first it ticked me off then after thinking about That is actually great I can be treated by a specialist half way around the world with having to travel. There are great doctors all over the world and I would rather have my info look at by a Heart Specialist in Nepal then my proctologist in Colorado. (Who for some reason always send me to his friend for a second opinion.

I bet some US doctor is "ticked off" though.

I do agree that globalization will be a good thing for all people everywhere eventually. I just worry what us American workers are going to do in the meantime for jobs. The only thing that comes to mind is that we are going to have to figure out how to once again be competitive with manufacturing.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

In our business, we just let the computer do the creative work. Saves us a lot of labor. At least thats the way our customers think we do it.

There are also a whole crap load of people in India that help us out with recreating logos - at less than $5 per hour. I can email a bad scan at 5pm before I head to the house, and at 8am when I come in in the morning, there is my recreated graphic waiting on me. From my viewpoint as a business owner and employer, that is way better than having to screw around with a in-house artist.

That is one of my concerns about taking up graphic design as a profession. Graphics are the perfect thing to be produced overseas as they can be transmitted electronically. I don't know that it will be a growth industry in the US. I think we will see more and more Indians and Chineese doing not only our recreations but also our creative work.

We have alreadly lost much of our manufacturing base to overseas competition, then we started loosing customer service jobs, now we are even loosing intelectual services to overseas competitors. I have no clue what will be left for Americans to do soon. The only jobs left for Americans may be government jobs, mainly jobs working for the IRS. But I guess that is a topic that really belongs in the "no holds barred" section.

Your post is confusing. In one sentence you admit to working with cheap overseas labor (or so it seems) and in the next paragraph you are bemoaning the fact that we are losing so many jobs to overseas workers.

No matter how large or small the job is, we should all be doing our best to keep our business stateside whether it is through services or products. The latter is nearly impossible with most everything made outside of the US

 

[imagep]

Your post is confusing. In one sentence you admit to working with cheap overseas labor (or so it seems) and in the next paragraph you are bemoaning the fact that we are losing so many jobs to overseas workers.

No matter how large or small the job is, we should all be doing our best to keep our business stateside whether it is through services or products. The latter is nearly impossible with most everything made outside of the US

Your right, I am in no way happy about loosing jobs. But for me to keep my business and my employees jobs, I have to make those tough decisions to use overseas outsourcing. I can't be competitive with some of my local competitors otherwise. It is honestly nothing I am proud of.

 

[curtrnev]

I wonder if the overseas outsourcing has domestic support?:Big Laugh