Keiphus

Too bad she isn't naked. :P

Hmm... suggestions.. Well, I work for a VFX studio and we do special effects for things like TV commercials, corporate videos, etc etc... we do basically anything 3D that is needed by any client who has money. ;) As far as my graphic design career, it's all freelance. The first thing to do would be to set yourself up with a nice portfolio. Even a simple website with just a few basic examples of your work can be helpful. I'll remind you that you want to do what other professionals are doing. Don't do what "looks cool" to some Tip.It kid if other industry professionals tell you it's lame. In the end, the Tip.It people aren't the ones you are going to be doing the work for. As far as getting your foot in the door, I would recommend finding a decent mom and pop shop, or resturaunt who needs their business cards redone. Go in, talk to the manager, show him some of your work, and offer to do them for free. Ask that he only pay for the actual printing of the cards. This can usually be done by any online manufacturer for ~$50/1000cards. From there, use those cards as an example to other business, and slowly decide how much you think your time is worth. How long does it take you to finish a card? How expensive are they? How much would people be willing to pay? Etc.. As far as money goes, it's all just a game. Everyone has their price and so long as you don't exceed it you are fine. Btw, I don't claim to be any sort of good at graphic design. As you can see the image posted here was nearly pure 3D with a little bit of text on it. But hey, I try. If you have any other questions please feel free to post them. I think I can help alot of people here for the simple fact that I was once very active here, know what it's like to be both in this world and in the professional world. The best advice I can give you is to learn how to sell yourself and your work.

Oh ok I thought you meant chrome them... anywho they've been sent off; I made a few changes to the text as far as the leading is concerned but other than that there weren't many other things.. thanks for the crit dude. much appreciated :)

The car makes are supposed to be completely seperate from the actual background, I simply used the lines of the logo as rules to align to; they weren't trying to be part of the car. I'm afraid that if I tried to make them all chromey like the >> then it would only dilute the design, there is a certain exclusivity given to it when it is alone like that. The reflection is just supposed to be like the side of wherehouse or something, nothing special. A big trend in the aftermarket car scene is that they find completely random and interesting spots to take pictures of their cars, alot of times next to big garages or things like that. The reflection adds to the realism, it isn't supposed to have any symbolic quality. I didn't try a glow, but unfortunately I've already sent these cards off to print, so it's too late. I'm actually quite happy with how they came out. Kaejer - The bleed is something that has already been taken into consideration and accounted for, the ones submitted for print had additional bleed borders added to them. Thanks for the crits guys I'll be sure to post up the next version in a few months (whenever we run out of these).

Our old designs had 2 sides, one with info and one with a cool color or graphic on it... I agree with you, 2 sides kicks [wagon]... but what can you do, they really wanted a blank side! oh well.

This is the 4th series I've done, and they are actually simpler than previous designs. The older and busier ones printed fine, as I'm sure these will. Trust me, these things you have stated are some of the very first issues I tackle when I set out to design something like this. Thanks for the input though, those are definitely things to think about when doing something like this. Teenageloser - How can I lose my touch when I've been doing this everyday for the past 2 years since I've been posting? =P Thanks bro.

Originally these cards were designed to have 2 sides. The logo picture was going to be the "presentation" side, and all of the text and other info would be on the back. That's how we've done several in the past. However, after alot of requests we decided to make these cards one sided with a white background for the sole purpose of being able to write on them. You have no idea how much of a pain in the [wagon] it is to write on a glossy surface. The back IS white and that is because when these cards are put on peoples cars they will often have a personal message of encouragement on the back. It's much better for business and we get alot more members that way.

The 3D rendering was done in XSI, and the text was added in Photoshop. When these go to print however the text will be vector based just to make it a bit cleaner.

Posted some older ones about a year ago... this is the 4th series and was wondering if I could get some feedback before I went to print. This is for a European Car club based in San Antonio TX. The whole idea is that their logo (>>StrictlyEA.com) is actually an emblem (the >> part) on the back of a blue car... and the only other info that it needs to have is the rest of the logo, the little motto underneath, and the cars listing. Any ideas on how else I could align things or any other ideas in general? The 3D was done in XSI. Thanks guys.

Looks great man. Awesome.

The problem with the first one that I see most predominately is that there is no white balance. I have a feeling that you didn't really edit that picture in post too much, did you? If I were you I would attempt to use a color filter on it, maybe a cool blue and see how that works. Also think about getting some whites in there and possibly some blacker blacks. Overall not a bad picture, kinda cool as a still life but it's one of those things I wouldn't necessarily look at again. The second picture is cool but there is one problem that if fixed will do wonders for the photograph. And that is your composition. Although I agree that a sense of scale would help it out as well, I'm going to be a bit more original and try and offer a different critique. (don't get me wrong though, I think GSW's suggestion is the next thing to do for sure) When you set out to photograph something, you have to remember that you are taking a box and putting it around whatever you are looking at. Alot of times our eyes ignore certain things and exaggerate certain things. Cameras don't have that luxury. When looking at this, you probably saw the street or driveway, and everything else around it and thought it would be a good picture, so you took it. However you have to remember that most of us (if not all of us) have never been there, nor do we know anything about that objects surroundings. My point being, I'd like to see you either a) establish the immediate foreground a bit more or B) crop it out entirely. Right now I can see just a tiny sliver of ground/sidewalk and it just doesn't look good. A good rule of composition is that you should either stay a good amount inside the border or completely break it; don't surf that edge line so closely. You should feel honored I posted such a lengthy critique. :P I figure that if it would help anyone it would be you. :o

So... when I come to Tip.It I browse by username, not thread title... so I'm scanning the first 10 pages of the board looking for names I recognize, and I see ColAvanor. "ahh, finally someone I know" I read the thread, and I just don't get it. You are talking about a painting of your mom, yet you posted a picture of her. What is going on. Then I look closer. And I remember the things you used to paint several years ago. Then it hits me. Awesome work Col, can't wait to see the hair! /edit - Oh yeah, then I read the replys, and couldn't help but laugh. Hard.

I thought you died... or something?

Hmm... I'd like to see the full res of this if possible... from the looks of it, it's very well done. No offense but what are you hiding? =P Cmon let's see the full res!

I'd tap it up just a tiny bit so I could make out the IL in your name... And part of me wants to see the 3 colors all radiating from the exact same point... instead of that triangle thing they have going. I'm wondering also if the gray spotlight looking things behind the color could be lost/moved.

Good start man... looking sharp. I wish I had the passion to still do something like this.

That's pretty [bleep]in' sweet.

Try and improve your models before you worry about color and other things like that. Fix the basic model and the rest will come together. Check out some websites for more info on how to model better, there are alot of tutorials out there. http://www.edharriss.com http://www.3dlinks.com http://www.cgtalk.com

No, I'm not kidding you. Here are the steps I took: 1. Image > Image Size > 640x480 2. Image > Adjustments > Auto Contrast 3. Image > Adjustments > Levels Here's the original : http://img424.imageshack.us/img424/4467/tennisballoriginal9iq.png Yes, they look different, but I don't feel I did enough Post-editing for it to be a photo manip. I'm sorry if you disagree. TJ - thanks for the great critique :). Same for you mrx. Can you please show me where I said anything negative regarding any of the pictures you posted? Or where I said that if you manipulate a picture that you take it doesn't count as a picture? Altogether I feel it's a pretty crappy composition (tennis ball) but the picture looks pretty interesting. If you had in fact photographed that with no post work, I was going to ask you how you had your camera setup. I've been doing alot of photography lately and was interested as to how I could possibly get a look like that on some of the pictures I'm taking. I thought maybe you used a filter on your camera. Relax, nobody is out to get you. We all know what happens when you assume, and this is a perfect example. I'll admit I did assume and that was my fault. I guess your sarcastic comments towards others in the past made me get aggressive which I shouldn't have done. I apologize and won't do it again. Unfortunately, I'm completely at the beginning of learning photography so I woudl have no clue how to achieve that without post work. If you happen to find out shoot me a note. I've been shooting alot of film lately... I own an older Canon AE-1 (SLR) with several very good lenses and lots of filters for it. There are some things you can do to manipulate pictures in the dark room, but obviously nothing like you can do with digital. The challenge here is being able to get something like that without editing it so heavily. If you had done that ball without editing I would have been amazed. I'll have to post some of the film stuff I'm doing... I haven't yet decided if I like it, since I'm so in love with digital. Glad you're impressed, LP.

Nice job, I wish there were more blacks though.

No, I'm not kidding you. Here are the steps I took: 1. Image > Image Size > 640x480 2. Image > Adjustments > Auto Contrast 3. Image > Adjustments > Levels Here's the original : http://img424.imageshack.us/img424/4467/tennisballoriginal9iq.png Yes, they look different, but I don't feel I did enough Post-editing for it to be a photo manip. I'm sorry if you disagree. TJ - thanks for the great critique :). Same for you mrx. Can you please show me where I said anything negative regarding any of the pictures you posted? Or where I said that if you manipulate a picture that you take it doesn't count as a picture? Altogether I feel it's a pretty crappy composition (tennis ball) but the picture looks pretty interesting. If you had in fact photographed that with no post work, I was going to ask you how you had your camera setup. I've been doing alot of photography lately and was interested as to how I could possibly get a look like that on some of the pictures I'm taking. I thought maybe you used a filter on your camera. Relax, nobody is out to get you. We all know what happens when you assume, and this is a perfect example.

Reading over the replys, I guess I was out of line. I should have posted some "great feedback" as you call it. So here goes. WOW That's awesome looks mad tight the ball is all glowy!!1 Now we can be friends again.

wtf? You're kidding me right? Pfft. Sorry, don't wanna put you out any. :roll:

Dithering is when you suggest a gradual color change by approximating 2+ colors together.

To the casual viewer it looks ok... but personally I find 99% of your work VERY unoriginal. Wow.. glad I haven't been to dA in a while... seems anything can get favorites now.