DSF

[User Deleted]

We pride ourselves in always producing our own artwork if the client doesn't already have artwork. We design logos, cartoons, caricatures etc

I have been producing vector graphics for the sign making and t-shirt printing industry for over a decade and it is the best part of my job.

I exclusively use CorelDraw and photo paint for all of my graphics using a cheap supermarket mouse. I have used really expensive mouses and I have tried wacom tablets etc but after years of research I find any old cheap mouse just as good.

We do use google images for inspiration of course. At the moment I have been commissioned to draw realistic vectors of several birds and it would be over the top for me to spend a week in the field trying to get my own photographs to work from. If I do find a perfect image to copy on google I will make the effort to contact the owner of the image and ask for permission and most people are happy for me to proceed. If I can find the original owner.

Paul

I wish I could draw my own stuff like caricatures.......... best I can do is a naughts and crosses game grid at a push.

ArferMo;117656 wrote:I wish I could draw my own stuff like caricatures.......... best I can do is a naughts and crosses game grid at a push.

That's why people like me exist:biggrin:

We can't all do everything. There is a saying in business "Only do what only you can do". If you can't do the drawing then get someone else to do it whilst you get on with the things that only you can do.

Paul

Great post Paul I couldn't agree more. Personally I can't draw a straight line with a ruler. It's very important to know your limitations and know when to ask for help.....help!!

You can find designs on stock websites like iStock, Shutterstock, Fotolia or Adobe Stock

Please note you will require a commercial license for any artwork or photos you find.

Luckily my wife is a Graphic Designer/artist and has been designing greeting cards and giftware etc as a job commercially for 25 plus years. She does use a lot of her own artwork, but also stuff she has bought commercially over the years as well as stuff in the public domain that can be tarted up, anything legal that sells really.

Funnily enough we only got into sublimation after I found a guy using my stock photographs on his stuff on ebay without having bought the full commercial license on them. I figured, if he's using them in this way, why aren't we? And it added a string to our bow which quite quickly took over.

[User Deleted]

I have a designer who works for me virtually full time, who is based in Poland. He creates exclusive designs which sometimes are made up of elements downloaded from subscription image sites. Same as above all legal, I leave a small fortune in sales because I will not reproduce copywrited images or art work.

I have tried to legally obtain certain images rights, from the enquiries I made it would cost more in revenue guarantees than most of the sellers selling this stuff turn over all year.