welcome new friends!
Please let me greet all the new subscribers and wish you happy digital creating...
Computer graphics and graphic design attract an amazing range of clients and potential customers. This was brought home to me yesterday when I spoke to two people in consecutive appointments, and their reactions could not be more opposite!
Both were new business owners and both were looking for branding for their company. With the first I gave them an estimate of what the job would cost them and their eyes lit up. It seems I was less than a third of the price they had been quoted down the road.
The second appointment, on the other hand, was horrified that I could think to charge that much. To cut it short, both wanted the same job done, but one was prepared to pay $10,000 while the other could not see how anyone should pay more than a few hundred.
Sometimes I thing graphic designers have more in common with counsellors and psychologists than artists!
By the way, I got both jobs. How? Because I have developed the art of working to a budget. The first client will get my undivided attention for a week or more and receive the desired result. The second client will get a couple of hours and hopefully be happy with what he receives.
couple of days left: discount
There's still a couple of days left to pick up the Learn Professional Computer Graphics & Digital Illustration Course for half price. Over fifty courses have been grabbed so far and I'm already feceiving positive feedback from the new learners.
Here's a reminder of what you get;
Fifteen books with 1100 pages and over 600 illustrations covering EVERY topic you can think of to get you started and up to speed with computer graphics and graphic design.
http://www.learncomputergraphics.com/learn_computer_graphics_special91482654067844_77.html
new tutorial
I've uploaded a new video tutorial for Illustrator. You can see it here.
In this one I show you a couple of simple techniques for creating common 3D look graphics.
mac vs PC
I'm not going to get into the age-old battle of Mac versus PC here. I've fought this battle for twenty years, straddling the fence and consequently copping flack from both camps.
In my career I've probably had occasion to work on each platform fifty percent of the time. In the past there have been definite issues, advantages and disadvantages with each one. But today, with prices similar, software the same and both sporting an Intel chip, there's very little between them.
(Yet I still cop flack for choosing one over the other...)
My situation is that I leap-frog computers. I have vital software that ONLY works on PC, and am aware that the computer graphics community tends to favour Mac. Therefore I have always had both. A year ago it was time to upgrade and get a new computer and my PC was the oldest, so I bought a new PC. Creative Suite 3 had also just been released so I upgraded to the PC version (to have both you have to BUY both). A few months later my Mac died. It was an expensive fix and as I was using CS3 on my PC at the time I put it off. Then a friend offered me (too much) money for my G5 and I took it.
So that's why currently all my tutorials and screenshots are on a PC.
HOWEVER, I have my eye on a new Mac to redress the balance. So PLEASE all of you Macphiles out there, stop sticking needles in my effigy. To be honest, CS3 is EXACTLY the same on both platforms, the Core 2 Duo chips are EXACTLY the same speed, even iTunes works EXACTLY the same.
the membership site
We're a few steps closer to the Membership site.
It appears that the site's going to cost more to operate than the revenue brought in through subscription fees, but I'm NOT putting the price up. And the site will definitely go ahead.
What I would like, though, are some expressions of interest. I've had a bucket of emails from Electric Artist subscribers who want to join the Member's site, but if everyone who is interested can let me know, I'd appreciate that.
Remember the fees will be between 93 cents and $1.83 per WEEK. You can learn more about it here:
http://www.theelectricartist.com/members.html
If you're interested in becoming a member, send me an email and just say 'yes, I want in'.
That's it for now. There are new tutorials on the way, as well as (hopefully) news of the commencement of the Member's site.
cheers all
Gary
