Software for Graphic Designers

Off Topic
1

I have a friend here locally who is a graphic designer. She is constantly complaining about clients “making” her upgrade her software. She seems to say that they always have the latest version of Photoshop, InDesign, or whatever, and thus she needs it too to provide them with compatible file formats. She also seems pushed to upgrade her OS as well.

I’ve never been a graphic designer nor had any clients for just that sort of work, so I don’t know what it’s like. I have seen that InDesign doesn’t seem to support more than a version away from the current one, so that could be an issue.

For those of you who do graphic design, do you find that it’s like this for you? Are you finding that you constantly have to keep up with the latest versions of Adobe CS, and possibly Mac OS X? I guess one of the surprises for me is that she’s providing clients with native file formats instead of a finished product, possibly direct to a printer. Though I suspect she’d have similar issues with the printer, too.

One of the reasons I ask is that I often provide “support” for her and I’m trying to get a handle on what she truly needs.

offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

2

Hi Joe,
I can sympathise with your friend as I’ve been a similar situation in the past where the company I worked for would outsource design work and expect certain file types back in return. Our IT department went through quite a big overhaul of our design software and updated the whole company to the latest versions of QuarkXPress, Illustrator and PhotoShop (this was a while back) as well as updating all of the templates and logos. All of this threw quite a sizeable spanner in the works of a lot of our freelancers who just couldn’t afford to upgrade their software to keep up.

If your friend is supplying artwork for print then she may be able to provide press-ready PDFs rather than the original artwork which will side-step this issue but I suspect the client wants the original artwork files (I know I would if I were them).

Depending on what software she uses she may find that a subscription model rather than an outright payment works out better for her. I know Adobe now offer the CS suite on a monthly payment basis.

Ultimately I think she needs to factor these costs into the work she does and try and recoup the software ‘tax’ in her fees or alternatively find clients with less demanding requirements.
Regards,
Tim.

On 10 Oct 2012, at 12:14, Joe Muscara wrote:

For those of you who do graphic design, do you find that it’s like this for you?

Experienced Freeway designer for hire - http://www.freewayactions.com

offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

3

Thanks, Tim.

I wondered if something like that would be the case. What surprises me is that in many companies, they don’t upgrade software until it’s “qualified,” and then it’s a version or two old. This is why there’s so much discussion on lists like FWTalk about being compatible with old versions of IE. Yet it seems like graphic design software is kept up with the curve.

I agree with your point about factoring in the costs or finding clients that don’t have these demands. I suspect she’d say she couldn’t afford to do either.

offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

4

On Oct 10, 2012, at 9:16 AM, Joe Muscara wrote:

Thanks, Tim.

I wondered if something like that would be the case. What surprises me is that in many companies, they don’t upgrade software until it’s “qualified,” and then it’s a version or two old. This is why there’s so much discussion on lists like FWTalk about being compatible with old versions of IE. Yet it seems like graphic design software is kept up with the curve.

In a large company, the IT department will often maintain an Intranet for HR and other in-house needs. Everywhere large I have ever worked, they used these “Intranet in a Box” solutions (or worse, SharePoint or ColdFusion) that did not respect standards, or even pretend to run in a browser besides IE. IT therefore has a vested interest in not having to re-do 10,000 pages of craptacular in-house Web content, and you can bet they aren’t going to be in a huge hurry to have visitors to that content that can appreciate that they didn’t take that effort in the first place.

Conversely, BigCo IT often takes a hands-off approach to Mac desktop support, leaving it to the individual users (who are often more skilled at this anyway) to keep things running. They draw the line at plugging it in, mostly. They’re too busy figuring out why the third Vice President can’t print, anyway.

I agree with your point about factoring in the costs or finding clients that don’t have these demands. I suspect she’d say she couldn’t afford to do either.

Then she’s working for the wrong clients, or not charging enough. Damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t. If she continues to let them wrong-foot her like this, she’s not going to get the respect needed to dictate her own terms.

Walter

offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

5

I have over 22 years experience as a freelance graphic designer. I can certainly echo what she is saying. Let me add to it that software updates are not just a curve to be mounted, but a wave – to be ridden and kept ahead of. So very much has changed in my time that you would not be wise anymore to fall behind that wave… not unless you plan to switch careers.*

The need to keep current software fuels another issue – hardware. Newer software puts greater demand on hardware, requiring not just boosts in memory and drive space, but on the whole range of performance points. This in turn allows software developers to write more powerful programs, requiring even more powerful machines.

My update goals are 18 months for software, 3 years for hardware – aggressive, I know. I’ve had to be flexible over the years, but that is pretty much the reality of it.

As global budgets for graphic design continue to decline, keeping up with soft and hard wares becomes an enormous challenge. Even the newer subscription models, while spreading out the cost, threaten to evict you from your software should you default on a payment.

So you reduce your costs, tighten your belts, become sharp and firm on your fees. Become creative, form communities to share work and business costs, even small agencies. In the end, the calculation is simple… can you create a sustainable business model? Can you find a way to support yourself and what you must do to that end?

Looking back, I think I could have said all this in fewer words. (shrugs).

–
Ernie Simpson

*Not a bad plan, necessarily. I think about it myself, more often than you might imagine.

offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

6

Yep I’m kinda with Ernie here. We try to replace hardware every 3 years and software every 18 mnths. We keep the OS up to date with the latest version.

Adobe is sucking the life out of all of us as it gets outrageously expensive when you have a studio full of machines to keep current.

We are investigating Adobe’s monthly model to see if it will help with our cash flow instead of forking over thousands of dollars when a new version comes out. The subscription model is attractive but if you look at all the options out there from invoicing to time-tracking these monthly subscription can add up to quite a substantial expense.

I think it all boils down to how you run your business. Firm op on pricing, watch your expenses and do not waste resources.

Cheers
Marcel

offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options

7

Thanks for your input, everyone. Sometimes it’s hard to tell even of a well-meaning person if they’ve taken on some drama in a certain area.

The shame of it is, this is a tech problem in a field where many are non-tech, such as my friend. When I worked at Alsoft, we used to get two types of tech support calls (before DiskWarrior, that is). We’d either get tech-type people who wanted to figure things out, understand it, and get it working, or we’d get graphic designer types who were having problems with MasterJuggler. The latter were usually female, and when you’d get technical at all, they’d be like, “I don’t care, I just want it to work.” They used computers because they had to, not because they wanted to.

Well, I say it’s a tech problem, but as we’ve discussed, it’s also a money problem.

Thanks again!

offtopic mailing list
email@hidden
Update your subscriptions at:
http://freewaytalk.net/person/options