Forum

[gnubler]

This may not apply to many of you who are strictly prepress - fixing other people's junk and getting it to print. But I can bet most of you have been asked to create/design something at some point, simply because you have the ability. I'm sort of in the middle, where I deal with a lot of prepress issues, but being the "creative one", I have to design a lot of projects as well. Sometimes I really struggle with this, because despite being a pro with all the apps I often get bored with what I come up with - even though most of the time clients are pleased.

I am certainly not an artist or an illustrator - I can't draw worth crap. Yet I can use Illustrator/Photoshop inside and out. Mostly I struggle with clients who give me very vague ideas and expect perfection the first time around. I have a few digital art books that I flip through for ideas, as well as peeking at Illustrator's sample files...those help a lot. Sometimes I see existing printed pieces or patterns on fabric that inspire me. It's always something I see, though, not something I just create blindly on the spot. It's not productive when my company bids "three hours design time" for a brochure and I just draw up the same old poop. I often take work home with me, where I always come up with something better and bring it back to work the next day.

Just looking for suggestions, from someone who is more tech-minded than artistically minded.