Graphic Designers - advice please!

MisChief

MisChief

MisChief

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Joined
8 Mar 2005
Posts
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Hmmm not sure where this should go so I'll just post in General Discussion :o

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I'm hoping there are some Graphic Designers here who can give me some advice on how I can get into Graphic Design please :p

I work as a team assistant (yes, exciting job..!) but I'm currently in a position where I can possibly expand my role and do more of the things I like, which is creative work such as designing newsletters, creating static banners and editing artwork etc.

I have Photoshop CS4 on my laptop and know the basics through self learning, but I will need better equipment and better knowledge on how to use photoshop as well as learn how to use InDesign.

I need to put together a 'proposal' for my boss with things like:

- what hardware I will need (better spec laptop / macbookpro / graphics tablet?)
- what software I will need (subscription to photoshop CC and InDesign CC?)
- what short courses I need to go on (I've found 2 day introduction courses for both Photoshop and Indesign at £522 each)
- how much will it cost for service/support on the hardware (as our IT dept only supports their own equipment and not externally purchased items)

Any tips and advice on how/where to get started will be much appreciated :)
 
Thanks for the replies guys!

I'm currently using a HP ProBook 6475b and I've also got a 22inch monitor. It can't handle some of the files I need to open and photoshop just slows everything down. I'll probably need a macbook pro or something because I wouldn't be replacing my existing laptop - a lot of work applications are only supported/compatible with my current laptop (or laptops provided by our IT dept), so a macbook will only be used solely for creative work and I can connect it to my monitor or buy a bigger monitor.

It's not a requirement to attend the courses, it's just that I'm a bit unsure about learning online because I don't feel I can learn properly that way. I'd rather be sat in a room for 2 days so that I can give it my full attention and ask questions if I need to.


My friend suggested I attend these two courses:
http://www.mediatraining.ltd.uk/courses/course.php?courseId=509
http://www.mediatraining.ltd.uk/courses/course.php?courseId=515
 
Mynight said:
Why a MacBook?
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I don't know :o I have a friend who is a Graphic Designer working in the same company (but she works in a different function) and everything I mentioned above was suggested by her.

I thought I'd post on here and see what other options I have, so if you guys can recommend other hardware/courses then I will look into those options too :)

Ideally I'd want a 17" laptop so that I don't always have to use a monitor and it also means I can work from home as well.
 
anticonscience said:
I would agree with lsg1r as well, what kind of understanding of graphic design do you have at the moment?
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Umm.. I don't really know anything about graphic design to be honest, hence asking on here :p I'm not looking to become a graphic designer (not right now anyway), at the moment I just want to do some creative work as part of my job just so I won't be doing boring admin stuff all the time. Then I guess I'll build on from there and see where it leads me...
 
It doesn't have to be a mac, I'm happy with a PC it's just that I don't know much about PC's and what specs to go for etc :o

I know how much of a pain it can be doing design work on a laptop, hence I currently connect my laptop to a 22" monitor at work. Having a laptop just means I have the flexibility work from home if I need to. If I save money by not buying a mac then I could even use the savings to buy an even bigger monitor :)
 
Right so I've spoken to our IT guys and they said they can custom build a laptop for me, but I just need to let them know what exactly I want. So.... Please help me out guys, what are the main components that I need? :p Budget is probably 1k, 1.5k max.

I did a bit of googling and understand that I need the following?

-Processor
-RAM or Memory
-Graphics card
-Hard Drive
-Wireless card

Also, for those talking about clients etc... I am the client. We use a lot of agencies to do work for us, but sometimes it can be frustrating as we pay them a lot of money yet they don't deliver the work on time. The tiniest of amends will cost us a few hundred quid and with me being a perfectionist even things like misalignment of some text will annoy me :o
 
BrightonBelle said:
I'm not a Graphic Designer and would never position myself as one, but since I left Uni (nearly 13 years ago :/) I have used Quark/InDesign/Photoshop/Imageready/Illustrator. I work in Marketing where it's a good skill to have.

I would position it to your boss as not only a learning and development point but also as a cost saving initiative... once you get original ideas and templates from your agency you can reuse them again and not have to pay for all the amends etc. Plus it would be quicker if you did the amends then having to wait for a 3rd party to do them.

Work from a desktop and have dual screens.

Ask for original files from the agency - starting from now.

Go on courses - online is all well and good, but you can't ask questions on specifics that easily to a computer.

BB x
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We already ask for the original files from the agency, but I only have photoshop at the moment which unfortunately means I cannot open their .ai or .indd files.

I'll be putting something together to show the amount of money we currently spend on agencies and also how much we could potentially save if I took on some of the creative work.

I won't be getting a desktop computer though. Our company only use laptops and I will need a laptop to work from home. I already have a monitor at work and use dual screen, I just need to upgrade my laptop now so that I have a 17" screen to use with my 22" monitor :)
 
Thanks cypto, very helpful post :)

cypto said:
Also if you are working towards something that will go to print make sure
A) your monitor is color calibrated sufficiently.
B) make sure you are using an IPS display, TN panels suffer from color shift. Moving the angle of the monitor even slightly will change the image on screen. Not so much of an issue for gaming but when designing for print it is a huge issue.

The last thing you want is to send artwork off to a printers for a proof and receive the proof only to notice the colors are completely different. Not because of a fault from the printing company but because either your monitor wasn't calibrated or you have been using a TN panel and it was on your desk at a slight angle.

Or worse you are sat with 100,000+ flyers and the companies corporate red is a nice shade of magenta. On your screen it looked red but the file sent to the printers wasn't.
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Whaaaaaat?? :eek:
How do you colour calibrate a monitor?? What's IPS and TN panel?!? *goes off to google...* :o
 
So the IT guys at work said I could get one of these and they can support it...

Model name - ** No competitor names, thank you **
Category - mobile workstation
Processor - 3rd Gen Intel Core i7-3940XM Extreme 3.0GHz, 8M cache
Graphics - NVIDIA Quadro K3000M with 2GB GDDR5 dedicated memory
Display - 17.3" FHD(1920x1080): Dell Ultra Sharp™, wide view, anti-glare, LED-backlit, w/ HD webcam
Memory - 8.0GB, DDR3-1600 SDRAM, 4 DIMM (with 4 total DIMM slots)
Primary storage - 256 GB Solid-state drive (SSD) SATA 6Gb/s capacity for two slots
Optical drive - DVD+/-RW Drive Slot Load
Weight - 8.3 lbs (3.78 kg)

The cost of it is... (excl VAT)

Standard laptop - £1820-00
Upgrade from 8GB to 16GB - £312-49
Upgrade from 256GB to 512GB SSD - £134-14

What do you guys think??

I will probably need a new monitor as well... Can anyone spec me one please? :)
 
Atlas23 said:
£312-49 for an extra 8GB of RAM?
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Yep. We outsource our IT and they tend to charge us a fortune for equipment, which is why most people in the company just buy things like external hard drives, keyboards, monitors etc from elsewhere and expense them instead of going through the IT guys :o

BrightonBelle said:
Off topic: Are you doing the half marathon walk or the full marathon walk?

I've signed up on the full on my own! Can we meet up? Let me know :)

BB x
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I'm doing the half - don't think I can manage the full one! I think you will be starting at a different time to me though - mine starts at 7.30pm. So if you're there around that time then sure we can meet up! :)
 
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