Resource DMND.Schule: All the things that professionals advised me not to do (that I've been too afraid to mention until now)

[cosimo]

I have not done any professional graphic design work since 2012, I'm forgetting some things but you did just make me remember how difficult it is to find a good printer. The problem I encountered in the beginning was a bit of a racket in that the printers who came up first on Google had all colluded to make the prices high (just like Coles and Woolworths do). You're supposed to get three quotes, you find companies in Richmond and Brunswick that offer you $1100, $1200 and $1150, and you think you're choosing the cheapest. Meanwhile, there is a printer in Bentleigh that would have quoted $600 and one in Frankston South for $575, but their websites would never appear in anyone's search results as they were not optimised to do so. You've got to ask every professional design contact that you have for their best "secret" printer tip and then maintain a good relationship with that person, which is where you've got to make sure you don't piss them off in the ways that I outlined.

Sounds like I've had the luxury of good Productions managers my whole career and you've navigated the more challenging aspects of self employment? That sounds like a nightmare! Luckily for me the quotes are always taken care of and I can just pick up the phone and speak directly to the printer if I have any questions or problems. You've still been spot on despite the amount of time you've been away from the industry and I hope anyone on this board who needs advice on preparing artwork comes back to this post or contacts you for help.

 

[DiamondGuy]

Sounds like I've had the luxury of good Productions managers my whole career and you've navigated the more challenging aspects of self employment? That sounds like a nightmare! Luckily for me the quotes are always taken care of and I can just pick up the phone and speak directly to the printer if I have any questions or problems. You've still been spot on despite the amount of time you've been away from the industry and I hope anyone on this board who needs advice on preparing artwork comes back to this post or contacts you for help.

The main frustration was actually the clients, who either don't know what they want, can't verbalise what they want, don't trust their own decision making, change their minds every time they have a conversation, automatically criticise without thinking about it first, take it upon themselves to edit their own, professionally-designed company logo, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, and then because there are technically no right or wrong answers, you can't even put your foot down and say, I know I'm right, I was taught this, you come across as stubborn, unwilling to cooperate, a "bad designer" if you do that.

One of my lecturers said - exact words - you would have to be crazy to get into graphic design.

 

[Moosen]

Working in sub apparel, I also see lots of people fade colours to 0,0,0,100. This causes an issue we call ghosting or clouding but it goes by a few different names. It is a bit confusing and some maths is involved but essentially as the "colour" fades away and the "100%K" fades in the full % value of the colour within the middle of the fade is lower causing a lighter/murky grey colour.

We eliminate this by using a heavy black, such as 30,0,0,100 as the OP mentioned.

So if your fade starts red and goes to black, add some magenta and yellow to your black.

Happy to find some examples and elaborate if anyone is actually interested.

 

[cosimo]

The main frustration was actually the clients, who either don't know what they want, can't verbalise what they want, don't trust their own decision making, change their minds every time they have a conversation, automatically criticise without thinking about it first, take it upon themselves to edit their own, professionally-designed company logo, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, and then because there are technically no right or wrong answers, you can't even put your foot down and say, I know I'm right, I was taught this, you come across as stubborn, unwilling to cooperate, a "bad designer" if you do that.

One of my lecturers said - exact words - you would have to be crazy to get into graphic design.

That's another whole can of worms. Clients are the worst.

They ruin every piece of good work, for every logo or Guernsey design that gets ripped apart by us on here, you can bet your life that it's the client that's made the call, changing what was probably a great solution in the first place to utter crap.(I'm quite bitter about the industry though, been in it almost 20 years). It's always the ones paying that make the final call and they always want to stamp their 'vision' on it.

There have been a few rare exceptions though and that's when the best work gets created.

 

[DiamondGuy]

That's another whole can of worms. Clients are the worst.

They ruin every piece of good work, for every logo or Guernsey design that gets ripped apart by us on here, you can bet your life that it's the client that's made the call, changing what was probably a great solution in the first place to utter crap.(I'm quite bitter about the industry though, been in it almost 20 years). It's always the ones paying that make the final call and they always want to stamp their 'vision' on it.

There have been a few rare exceptions though and that's when the best work gets created.

Well, there's another point for the client list. You show them an original idea, by looking at it they will think forever on that it was their idea.

I think the best way with graphic design is if you can offer it within a portfolio of services without relying entirely on it, which will drive you mad.

We all have other skills we can develop and offer. I think I'm also good with words. My writing did just lure someone who has made 50 posts in 12 years to make four within a couple of hours, after all.

 

[cosimo]

Well, there's another point for the client list. You show them an original idea, by looking at it they will think forever on that it was their idea.

I think the best way with graphic design is if you can offer it within a portfolio of services without relying entirely on it, which will drive you mad.

We all have other skills we can develop and offer. I think I'm also good with words. My writing did just lure someone who has made 50 posts in 12 years to make four within a couple of hours, after all.

Was more about the subject matter! I'll always applaud good advice, yours is helpful to many of the creative and passionate guys and gals who continually post their great work on here, whether they're in the industry, aspiring to be or just doing it for fun.

 

[exile]

some interesting points in this thread!

makes me wonder how many people on this forum actually work in the industry. i'm a draftsperson by trade, but have been dabbling in photoshop since high school.

 

[cosimo]

some interesting points in this thread!

makes me wonder how many people on this forum actually work in the industry. i'm a draftsperson by trade, but have been dabbling in photoshop since high school.

Always wondered that myself! I also wanted to be a Draftsperson so bad when I was a kid! (I didn't have much of a clue about what that entailed but I thought it was cool profession)

Like Diamondguy, I did a university degree in graphic design, worked a few years as a junior designer then moved the UK for 10 years where I was a 'Creative Artworker', a title that doesn't really exist in Australia. It's basically a hybrid of Graphic Designer and Finished Artist. Doing both the creative side and Finished Art/Print Production-Artwork setup of files. Came back to OZ and worked purely as a Finished Artist until about 2 years ago where I once again took a Graphic Designer role.

Would love to know who else is in the industry or similar!

 

[exile]

Always wondered that myself! I also wanted to be a Draftsperson so bad when I was a kid! (I didn't have much of a clue about what that entailed but I thought it was cool profession)

Like Diamondguy, I did a university degree in graphic design, worked a few years as a junior designer then moved the UK for 10 years where I was a 'Creative Artworker', a title that doesn't really exist in Australia. It's basically a hybrid of Graphic Designer and Finished Artist. Doing both the creative side and Finished Art/Print Production-Artwork setup of files. Came back to OZ and worked purely as a Finished Artist until about 2 years ago where I once again took a Graphic Designer role.

Would love to know who else is in the industry or similar!

yeah i enjoy it! always did pretty well at school with it so made sense for me.
sounds like a pretty interesting career path! interesting how some roles like that vary between countries, but good that it's still a field that allows you to be able to use your skills across the world.

 

[exile]

There are reasons you might not want to out yourself as a pro. You don't want to come across as saying "My opinion counts more than yours." I would have done this long ago but was genuinely afraid of coming across as saying "I'm the design guru here, you all need to do what I say," and also setting up unrealistic standards for my own work at the same time.

yeah that makes sense. personally, i see this forum as a bit of wholesome fun, generally filled with lots of great feedback. another perspective is that receiving feedback from experienced designers in the industry is actually pretty cool, especially for a forum like this with heaps of different comps and portfolios. i can definitely see how the expectation of standards increases once you've outed yourself could increase though.

 

[Moosen]

For those that work in the industry... any idea what this application is?

I have seen it used for sizing labels for a while.

It doesn’t appear to be a traditional print & cut heat transfer.

 

[Storm20]

99% sure it's a vinyl transfer

 

[Freight Train]

For those that work in the industry... any idea what this application is?

I have seen it used for sizing labels for a while.

It doesn’t appear to be a traditional print & cut heat transfer.View attachment 1009215

Digital transfer.

 

[Moosen]

Digital transfer.

Yeah, I can’t imagine a pick and peel on that.

So is that Direct to Garment do you think or something like Supacolour?


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[cannavo]

 

[Gibbsy]

View attachment 1009566

The professionals read the OP and wanted their secrets back

 

[Moosen]

View attachment 1009566

Oop. Not sure what this means, but sorry if I overstepped the mark or did the wrong thing.


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[Spanna_]

Oop. Not sure what this means, but sorry if I overstepped the mark or did the wrong thing.


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Nah nothing to do with you. The OP for whatever reason has deleted the details in the first post.