Prepressforums.com

gnubler · #1 (**permalink**) 03-02-2007, 11:14 PM

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.

DCurry · #2 (**permalink**) 03-03-2007, 02:37 PM

I know what you mean, but I never, ever take it home with me unless I am getting paid to do so. I used to take every freelance design project that came my way, but I've just been feeling burned out on it lately, plus I have a 4 year old running around, so I don't always feel like working on stuff at home. Lots of times, the owners will give me the option of designing something at home and billing them, then they will bill the customer. This has 2 distinct advantages: 1 - I know I'll get paid; and 2 - I bill more than twice as much as what I would get paid for doing it at work. Like you, I sometimes find myself recycling general ideas from time to time. It's rare that I actually can get excited by a project anymore, so I just turn more stuff down and refer it to a friend.

The most annoying thing for me is when the client can't stop making little changes to a piece (even though I bill for it.) I recently designed a couple of relatively simple flyers for a client, and it should have been easy as pie because it was just taking an existing design I did for them before and changing the copy, but it dragged on for 5 weeks because the client didn't bother fully crafting her text and what she wanted on each flyer before involving me. There must have been 12-15 sets of changes - some little, some major. I actually wouldn't mind so much if they were done in big chunks, but the piecemeal crap drove me nuts.

I seem to get a little annoyed when the bossman wants a self-promo piece and just says, "Do whatever you want." I'd rather have a little bit of direction so I know what they are going for. Plus, to be honest, I was not hired as, nor am I paid to be, a designer. I think designers (especially Art Directors, which is essentially what I am on some projects) make better money than I do.

gnubler · #3 (**permalink**) 03-03-2007, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DCurry

I seem to get a little annoyed when the bossman wants a self-promo piece and just says, "Do whatever you want." I'd rather have a little bit of direction so I know what they are going for.

I get that all the time doing company promo work. Most of the things I'm asked to create never even go to press. It's like Bossman gets this idea of a marketing or promo piece, asks me to drop everything and put it together, everyone likes it...then it just sits. Sometimes he gets so excited about something, prints a few hundred, and again they just sit.

Some of his marketing ideas and targets are so incredibly stupid, I cringe when he says "So what do you think?" I have refused to work on certain ideas of his that he comes up with on a whim, knowing he'll have forgotten all about it in a couple of days anyway.

I honestly don't mind bringing work home with me once in a while. I'm more comfortable at home, can sit at the computer with a glass of wine, and take my time to come up with something I'm proud of. I see it as making up for the time I waste at work just staring glassy-eyed at the screen pretending like I'm working. Everyone's happy that way.

Dupple · #4 (**permalink**) 03-04-2007, 01:50 AM

I started out as a creative (some how ending up as a paste up artist and camera operator along the way) and went to the prepress side of things because I was constantly frustrated with the creative process. I enjoyed the precision of work required

Every and I mean every client I dealt with didn't have the slightest idea what they wanted, the briefs were so loose I didn't have a chance. They only seemed to know what they wanted when they had seen what they didn't want. The whole piecemeal nature drove me nuts.

I now spend my creative energies doing folio pieces, slowing my mac to crawl with a huge gradient mesh. Though recently I have felt inspired to start drawing comic strips again...

DCurry · #5 (**permalink**) 03-04-2007, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dupple

I started out as a creative

So did I - got an AA in Graphic Design, had a couple of design jobs, then sorta fell into prepress work with the intent of learning a lot and moving on to design work again, but I also found that I enjoyed the precision required, and the constant learning that I would probably not be able to do as a designer. Looking forward, though, it's nice to be able to do both.

Shanavaz · #6 (**permalink**) 08-07-2007, 08:30 PM

As a pre-press person you might have dismantled thousands of creative projects. You can get ideas from best of the designs and make a combination of techniques that look appealing. You can use many jobs as your template and change colour, visuals and text.

born2print · #7 (**permalink**) 08-08-2007, 12:26 PM

(I'm a production person rather than an artist) and it seems to me that I'm rarely "happy" with my designs...
they get by, mostly.
I guess about 1 of 5 are pretty good on average

I can blame short turn around, but I also have a lack of talent and almost no design assets... just some magazines, a book and "art explosion 40000" that is older than God's dog.

rejamesuk · #8 (**permalink**) 08-08-2007, 12:48 PM

im a designer/photographer by 'trade' took prepress as a job, really enjoy it. Only occasionally get allowed to be creative. Generally i have to copy old labels or make up someone's hand drawn design. Which i don't mind, as they always look better made up.

My boss give me design work to do but his idea of what looks good doesn't match mine, so i always end up with designs that look crap. He's happy, but i think "god, what if someone sees that?"! He always likes to add some strap line, that's not clever nor funny and just degrades it further.

Anyway back to your point.... There's nothing wrong with getting ideas from other sources. Fabric, paintings, sculptures... the patern on the sole of your trainer....they're all sources of inspiration. No one comes up with an idea completely off the top of their head. It's always come from somewhere, whether thay like it or not. Subliminally almost.

just keep going at it. Total creative control can be a hindrance. Sometimes your best work will come from when the client gives you lots of constraints.

Buy a book called "a smile in the mind" its about CLEVER design. WIT.

born2print · #9 (**permalink**) 08-08-2007, 01:08 PM

"There's nothing wrong with getting ideas from other sources. Fabric, paintings, sculptures... the patern on the sole of your trainer....they're all sources of inspiration"

Nice point, Thanks!

beermonster · #10 (**permalink**) 08-09-2007, 12:57 AM

i get tired of designing where i am - its never right....and all they tell you is what they dont like as opposed to what they do like.

i have designed tons of stuff in the past, but through being hyper critical (so i'm told) etc i really think i'm not a talented designer - but there ya go

so a month or so ago the new boss on the block ask me to redesign the brochure - really - it sucked. so i said look - if you WANT me to do it LET me

so he agreed, and off i delved into it. i agreed that what i'd do was a real "rough" and would need plenty of tweeks - what we were looking for was a more modern style

so - i did it - i asked a few folks who would be using it for reference their thoughts, and ALL agreed it was really nice - and a MASSIVE improvement on the crap they had.

so - new boss kiddy says "ok - nice - we're going to let blah blah's son have a look - he's a designer"...."we'll see if he thinks its modern..."

thanks for wasting 2 days of my life and insulting me