New to the fo

[Naturalmama 4]

Hey all! I started up my side home business a little over a year ago, making mostly window decals that are natural parent/mommy related. I am actually amazed by how well it has been going for me! Pretty wild really.

I have a ZenCut Green and use SignBlazer & inkscape. I've just been reading around in here a bit and look forward to learning some cool stuff from everyone. My biggest struggle is defintely creating images. I'm not a graphic designer, but sure wish I was. I often have my cousin create images for me or use public domain stuff. Who here creates images for cheap?

-Laura

[AbsoluteAirbrush 33]

What do you call "inexpensive" ?

[slice&dice 2,450]

Hi, glad to have you join us.

Since you are running a business, perhaps you might want to consider using craigslist to advertise for hiring a graphic artist to work for you (part-time)? It is quite common for sign-making businesses (even home-based ones) to have dedicated graphics professionals on staff, whose job is to create all sorts of delightful work, and the clients are charged for that.

[mb20music 760]

Welcome to the Fo

[Naturalmama 4]

Great idea to try to find someone on CL! I actually use my customer base at times too, so maybe I could set up an on-call situation with someone on a more permanent basis. A lot of times the ideas I have are very simple, which is frustrating when I can't figure it out. I've thought about taking some intro graphic design courses, but haven't been able to fit it in with my already busy schedule (mom, bartender, teacher, business owner). Another question.... What would be a decent program for me to self-teach myself how to create images? I'm a pretty good 'learn as you go' type of person, I just don't really know where to begin.

[MZ SKEETER 4,709]

you already have 2 sources to create images, Signblazer and inkscape.org. as you stated above....plenty of tutorials out there for each.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

If you are going to be in the business, you need to teach yourself how to design or a lot of your profit is going to be going to someone else. In 8 years I've never paid anyone to design for me...and I never did any design work before either. Get yourself some good clipart CDs and go from there.

[mopar691 281]

If your not a designer or artist, hire it out to a professional. You will make more in profits selling better layouts and professionally looking end products than you will save by doing it yourself with no design and layout experience.

[mabscotthandyman 1,410]

Like John said there are tons of clipart cd that are cheap and there are sites like myvinyldesigner that have word art and clipart cheap also you can download inkscape and vector your own art . Plus several people here on this forum that can vector for you at a charge . And hello and welcome and good luck to you .

Dan

[Naturalmama 4]

I use a lot of public domain images as well as some from clip art CDs I already own. I'm also pretty good at verctorizing images through inkscape. However, I am clueless when it comes up to coming up with something from scratch. People often bring me super awesome ideas, but after seaching for something that I can use commercially, I often can't find something that works. My cousin is a designer and has done a couple for me for trade, but my customer base is crunchy moms so he doesn't necessarily have a feel for our style, although he does pretty well. I think I need to just find someone to use on an as-needed basis until I can teach myself some more. I appreciate everyone's input!

[slice&dice 2,450]

"crunchy moms" ?

[Naturalmama 4]

"crunchy" as in cloth diapering, breastfeeding, homebirthing kinda ladies. Not sure who thought of the term, but we embrace it!

[mabscotthandyman 1,410]

"crunchy" as in cloth diapering, breastfeeding, homebirthing kinda ladies. Not sure who thought of the term, but we embrace it!

Or as in my mothers time just moms that was the norm then and I applaud any lady that chooses to take that route . I am quite sure that there are people on the forum that could come up with art for you at a reasonable price and as someone suggested you could advertise for some one you may want to even try the barter section on craigslist and trade out decals for art just a thought .

Dan

[velocitygraffix 8]

I use corel draw 11, older one but I think it is user friendly. I use clipart and that program and I do just fine. It may take awhile, but you will get the hang of it fast and learn tricks almost everyday.

[talkabout 0]

Hey all, Have been a frequent user of the site on many occasions and have decided it might be time to join the forums to express my thoughts, views and interests on all things food.

Look forward to meeting you on the boards

[piscespokerbrat 80]

Here is my late (since I am new) welcome! What part of potato land do you hail from? Boise? Nampa?

[Naturalmama 4]

I'm in Nampa, but work in Boise.

[piscespokerbrat 80]

Right on, everyone I have ever met is from those 2 towns in Idaho :-)

[Binford 53]

Welcome to the Forum *-* and hello from Reno

[Jay2703 704]

Right on, everyone I have ever met is from those 2 towns in Idaho :-)

Is there much else in Idaho? I have an aunt in Burley and my mom was raised in Coeur d'Alene.

[piscespokerbrat 80]

Is there much else in Idaho? I have an aunt in Burley and my mom was raised in Coeur d'Alene.

True, I suppose not!

[Naturalmama 4]

There really isn't. McCall and Sun Valley I suppose are fairly well known for skiing and other outdoor sports. This state doesn't have many real cities though. Even Boise is pretty small. Idaho does have more Mormon temples than you can imagine though, haha.