Graphics Designer Poll + Survey!

[Lemonachi]

So now what program do you guys use to make your masterpieces? If you selected "Other" OR "A Combination of Programs" then please specify which one(s).

For me, I chose a combination of programs since I use both Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop alternatingly. More so, Photoshop recently though... since it usually doesn't crash on me after long periods of use.

Here comes the survey part that I wrote up myself so it might be a little weird/awkward... Just copy the code at the bottom and away you go! Write as much or as little as you want. Me, personally, I get long-winded on any type of survey.

1. How did you start/discover graphics designing? I always liked playing around with the photo editing programs on the computer and I saw some graphics on the first forum I was on and I decided I wanted to know how to do that. Afterwards I used "PhotoImpression" that came with the computer, which was really rudimentary but I finally downloaded PSP7 and it escalated on from there.
2. How long have you been designing? Well this is going to sound kind of lame but I've slowly progressed for probably 5 years and I took a year off, and restarted here.
3. When it comes to brushes, (light) textures, etc.., how frequently do you use them when designing? I used to use them a lot a few months ago (almost every graphic) but recently I've been getting lazy in opening other files with the program, so I don't use them so much anymore. I probably use more color filters related effects. Also I guess I used to clutter my graphics with brushes but now that I look back they seem too "busy".
4. Do you have any preference as to what type of graphic you like to make (avatars, signatures, etc...)? This may come as a shock for some people but I personally do not love making avatars (at all), they're so small and you have limited amount of room to work with (makes me clausterphobic thinking about it). I really like making large signatures and wallpapers more so, it gives me more room to blend the pictures.
5. What is your first priority when designing? ABOVE ALL, text readability. I am very concerned with it and sometimes I go out of my way just to make a certain text readable (drop shadow, outer glow...) I just feel so uncomfortable when a text should be readable and it's not, then there's the case when the text is not supposed to be readable .
6. Do you have any effects that you use a lot? Motion blur, Gaussian blur, the dark blue exclusion effect.
7. Do you have any favorite fonts, if so list a few of them? I downloaded too many fonts back then... now I don't know what to do with them but some of my favorites are Georgia, Kravitz, Avante Garde, Plain Black, Texas Hero, Zapfino Linotype, 04b_03b.
8. Is there anything that annoys you about designing/designing for people? Yeah I hate it when Paint Shop Pro crashes on me! Well that and pictures that are too "noisey", pixely, or small to use OR when I have to find impossible to find pictures for graphics that's about it .
9. Anything else you want to add? Blahh of course I don't since I wrote this survey! Oh wait my favorite feature about Paint Shop Pro is the scripts, I don't know how to do it for Photoshop though .


[b]1. How did you start/discover graphics designing?[/b]
[b]2. How long have you been designing?[/b]
[b]3. When it comes to brushes, (light) textures, etc.., how frequently do you use them when designing?[/b]
[b]4. Do you have any preference as to what type of graphic you like to make (avatars, signatures, etc...)?[/b]
[b]5. What is your first priority when designing?[/b]
[b]6. Do you have any effects that you use a lot?[/b]
[b]7. Do you have any favorite fonts, if so list a few of them?[/b]
[b]8. Is there anything that annoys you about designing/designing for people?[/b]
[b]9. Anything else you want to add?[/b]


[Larry Laffer]

Well, I'm not actually a graphic designer... more of an editor, but I do use Adobe Photoshop!

[v-chan]

pretty much photoshop...some of my olders stuff was on PSP, but now...yeah, photoshop.

1. How did you start/discover graphics designing? I saw stuff on the internet, and decided I wanted to do that....
2. How long have you been designing?mmm...9 months to a year..?
3. When it comes to brushes, (light) textures, etc.., how frequently do you use them when designing?I use textures pretty frequently; brushes not as much...
4. Do you have any preference as to what type of graphic you like to make (avatars, signatures, etc...)? avatars, signatures, I s'pose
5. What is your first priority when designing? to make something as unique as possible
6. Do you have any effects that you use a lot? I like using color burn....
7. Do you have any favorite fonts, if so list a few of them? saltwater, futura lt, kingscross, handy00
8. Is there anything that annoys you about designing/designing for people? I just get frustrated when I have a picture of what I want in my head and I can't quite bring it out....or when I have a request, and I want to please that person really badly...and I start to get artist's block...tis my own fault...
9. Anything else you want to add? mmm....I love making graphics and doing requests...so come to me whenever...^^

[Tritogeneia]

1. How did you start/discover graphics designing?
I looked at the beautiful icons in the Icon Challenge that other people were making and the work of numbmelody and chunpreet so I wanted to be able to do such nice things myself.
2. How long have you been designing?
Let me see...a think a little less then one year but I do it in periods, not constantly.
3. When it comes to brushes, (light) textures, etc.., how frequently do you use them when designing?
Almost in every icon but I prefer not to use too much in one icon so I limit myself to for example, one light texture and one ordinary texture.
4. Do you have any preference as to what type of graphic you like to make (avatars, signatures, etc...)?
To tell the truth till now I've only done avatars.
5. What is your first priority when designing?
To make the icon look good and the text readable. XD And to make the text reflect the "mood" of the icon.
6. Do you have any effects that you use a lot?
It seems I really like to put the Full Colour and Gradients Layers to OVERLAY! ;D
7. Do you have any favorite fonts, if so list a few of them?
I do! Castellar, Edwardian Script ITC, Kunstler Script, NotnorvalHmk, Perpetua Titling MT
8. Is there anything that annoys you about designing/designing for people?
I don't really design for other people, I don't think I'm that good...yet!
9. Anything else you want to add?
The Photoshop still remains a mystery to me in most of its possibilities and functions. XD

[Breeze]

I use a combination of programs: basically, GIMP and Adobe Photoshop 6.0

1. How did you start/discover graphics designing?here, on the icon challenge then, I searched on google and discovered sites and so on.
2. How long have you been designing?hm... I think 6 moths...
3. When it comes to brushes, (light) textures, etc.., how frequently do you use them when designing?I don't use textures very often, but brushes! Lot of brushes! They ease my work.
4. Do you have any preference as to what type of graphic you like to make (avatars, signatures, etc...)?I like to do avatars/icons. that's what I'm used to.
5. What is your first priority when designing?originality and simplicity. the more simple, the better.
6. Do you have any effects that you use a lot?I like playing arond with the colors, gradients, layers mode(especially soft light) and the gaussian blur.
7. Do you have any favorite fonts, if so list a few of them?STEAK, the King and Queen, freebooter. in general, I like handwriting - fonts.
8. Is there anything that annoys you about designing/designing for people?uhm... I don't have any standards. so I can't say that there's something that annoys me. I appreciate all things, everything is original and reflects people's personality
9. Anything else you want to add?If someone could kindly explain me how to make a vector art picture from a normal picture XD I read so many tuts and I didn't understand a thing.

[Ellethwen]

I use Adobe Photoshop 7.

1. How did you start/discover graphics designing?
I wanted to design a website. But I had no idea how to make graphics except for MS Paint, then learned about PS and the like.

2. How long have you been designing?
'bout 2 years.

3. When it comes to brushes, (light) textures, etc.., how frequently do you use them when designing?
I used to use them a lot, but not so much anymore. I still use them sometimes, though, so I have a lot on my hard drive.

4. Do you have any preference as to what type of graphic you like to make (avatars, signatures, etc...)?
I really like making avatars, blends, and website layout images.

5. What is your first priority when designing?
Good-quality picture. If it's not a decent quality image then I scrap it.

6. Do you have any effects that you use a lot?
I like to use a desaturated soft light layer, a color layer, or a Gassian blur+screen layer for a glow.

7. Do you have any favorite fonts, if so list a few of them?
I like Beautiful ES, Carpenter ICG, Cezanne, Georgia, Centaur, Mutlu Ornamental...a lot, really. Especially the scripty ones.

8. Is there anything that annoys you about designing/designing for people?
It annoys me when I accidentally hit the "slice" tool, because then I get that grey line again. But what really annoys me is when people aren't clear on what they want exactly, say something like "just do what you want", and they say they don't like it.

9. Anything else you want to add?
Slices don't work, peopl,and they are a PAIN in the ARSE.

[thereisnospoon]

Now Stickyfied. I think it's worth getting a background on each of our active artists.

[SeraFirefly]

*sighs* Here I go.

1. How did you start/discover graphics designing? I saw people using icons amd I really wanted to learn to make my own because I have too much pride to use other people's graphics XD
2. How long have you been designing? Over a year ago, I think...
3. When it comes to brushes, (light) textures, etc.., how frequently do you use them when designing? I like to use light textures a lot, but lately I've been using more grunge brushes.
4. Do you have any preference as to what type of graphic you like to make (avatars, signatures, etc...)? Avatars are the easiest for me to make, but I don't mind making sigs.
5. What is your first priority when designing? Smoothing or enhancing the colors of the image.
6. Do you have any effects that you use a lot? Duplicating the original image two times and set one layer to hard light and the other to burn. This only works sometimes though XD
7. Do you have any favorite fonts, if so list a few of them? Arial, it's simple.
8. Is there anything that annoys you about designing/designing for people? I'm too afraid to make graphics for people because I might crack under pressure.
9. Anything else you want to add? I have no idea how to blend two images together. TEACH ME.

[Breeze]

serafirefly said:

I have no idea how to blend two images together. TEACH ME.

there's a tutorial I'm working on. tell me if you understand something anyway, there are several ways to make blends. you can use layer mask, too.

here's 'za tut: hideaway.freebitty.com/underconstruction/blend.htm

[SeraFirefly]

princessserenity said:

serafirefly said:

I have no idea how to blend two images together. TEACH ME.

there's a tutorial I'm working on. tell me if you understand something anyway, there are several ways to make blends. you can use layer mask, too.

here's 'za tut: hideaway.freebitty.com/underconstruction/blend.htm

Thanks Breeze! Karma for you^^

[Breeze]

you're welcome SeraFirefly ^_^ did you really understand smth ?

[Lemonachi]

SeraFirefly don’t worry I didn’t learn how to blend until like a year after I tried many, many different methods that didn’t quite work but for the most part it was really easy (rough, rough explanation) all you basically have to do is take to images (it helps if they have the same kind of background) and take the eraser tool set the hardness to 0 and erase away the overlapping parts.

Aw Breeze beat me too it but here’s another tutorial.
I wrote a tutorial on this awhile ago on LJ if you want to try and follow it. I don’t have the original images I used though , the site that had them disappeared.

[starlightkisu]

1. How did you start/discover graphics designing?
back in 1999 when i started to make webpages
2. How long have you been designing?
8 years
3. When it comes to brushes, (light) textures, etc.., how frequently do you use them when designing?
layouts hardly ever, avatars all the time
4. Do you have any preference as to what type of graphic you like to make (avatars, signatures, etc...)?
Avatars are the easiest and fastest but layouts are more gratifying
5. What is your first priority when designing?
to give it my personal touches so when someone sees it they know that its something that I've made
6. Do you have any effects that you use a lot?
I love to blend and overlay
7. Do you have any favorite fonts, if so list a few of them?
mostly scripts,Carpenter ICG, vivaldi and caligraphy
8. Is there anything that annoys you about designing/designing for people?
how much of a pain in the ass it is.
9. Anything else you want to add?
since all i've ever known is my PSP 6 it makes me wonder how much better I can be if I get a good program and a decent computer

[matrixsakini]

I use Adobe Photoshop CS2

1. How did you start/discover graphics designing? i am also a member of a turkish forum and we make some designing competitions . i also joined icon challenge
2. How long have you been designing? two or three months...
3. When it comes to brushes, (light) textures, etc.., how frequently do you use them when designing?I begin to use textures and i often use brushes for sign etc! i have some cute brushes
4. Do you have any preference as to what type of graphic you like to make (avatars, signatures, etc...)?I like to do signs and banners, icons are a bit small for me
5. What is your first priority when designing?i like meaningfull designs, a scene that makes me remember and touched...
6. Do you have any effects that you use a lot?I like playing texture mode i like overlay, color burn, hard mix... and i just started to use screen mode with Gaussian blur (thanks Lemonachi)
7. Do you have any favorite fonts, if so list a few of them? i like scriptina... but i begin to use it everywhere ant it become a classic...
8. Is there anything that annoys you about designing/designing for people?not yet : )))
9. Anything else you want to add?i want time to make designs!!! i just feel that i am getting better (i made my sign and liked it) but summer is over and i am getting busy

one more thing if there are some grammer mistakes in my post please tell me, i've just relaized that i wrote tree in place of three! i edited

July 6, 2008 Edit: icons dont look that small to me now... i love to make icons...

[Dakota]

i use pscs2 and sometimes psp9

1. How did you start/discover graphics designing? saw some icons and i wanted to know how to make them
2. How long have you been designing? about a year and a half
3. When it comes to brushes, (light) textures, etc.., how frequently do you use them when designing? not that much, i like simplistic icons
4. Do you have any preference as to what type of graphic you like to make (avatars, signatures, etc...)? icons
5. What is your first priority when designing? getting the colours to pop!
6. Do you have any effects that you use a lot? selective colouring
7. Do you have any favorite fonts, if so list a few of them? basic ; arial, trebuchet ms, georgia
8. Is there anything that annoys you about designing/designing for people? i never actually designed for someone else, so for me - cropping! i can never get it just right.
9. Anything else you want to add? nope