shmeldrick

This is a bit of a philosophical question, I would like to know what you guys think.How "original" can graphic design be these days?The reason I ask is because from what I've started to see, so much of professional graphic design these days is based on the ideas of using stock photographs, images, brushes, cool fonts, stock textures etc.What I wonder is, what do you think about someone who creates an image where none of the content was actually created by them?Is it an original piece of art or more a simple collage of stock items.Personally what I feel is, if the artist creates something new with all those stock images and templates, something that really looks good and not like any sole one of those images, then the Artist is creating an original work. However, I have occasionally had doubts about Graphics these days and their originality.Let me know what you think!

I use Ubuntu occasionally, I have it on a USB stick which I can boot from when I want. This is handy because I do all of my photoshop work in windows but for general use (internet browsing) I find Ubuntu to be miles faster, and terminal in ubuntu is very nice.

I have to say, unfortunately I'm not a fan of this design. I just feel like the colors combined with the childish bubbly font make this look slightly unprofessional, and I would be less inclined to trust a website with a banner ad of that, than the real Xisto.com image, because it makes it look like a fake/spam site. However, this design would be great for a different type of company (if you changed the colours slightly), for example something that appeals more to kids, or a games site.Remember, logos and banners need to suit the style of the company, always bear that in mind, because while a design may look great, it may not be right for that company.

Well, my advice is to try it out yourself. Get some help from online tutorials, there's loads of great ones! Remember that you can incorporate some stock photography in your designs, meaning less drawing for you! Nowadays there's loads of royalty-free stock sites where you can get a stock photo for next to nothing, and for the size you'd need on a website, you really wouldn't have to pay much at all.Best of Luck,Martin