The Adobe Plunge

In the 5+ years that I've been in business for myself, graphic design as always been a place of struggle. It's a creative art that is necessary for building my business, but doing it in a way that is aesthetically pleasing and effective is incredibly difficult. It's difficult even if you have someone else doing the actually design for you. But this comes with its own challenges. 

The past few years I've gotten away with designing most of my flyers myself with a mixture of Word, Powerpoint, and iPhoto. I turned to other designers on occasion and knew that quality-wise, I was getting a much better product from them. 

The thing is, its difficult to find good, consistent, dependable, available and affordable designers. Perhaps I am asking for too much. The designers I've worked with in the past have been great and all of them have taught me a lot. But they didn't always get my aesthetic or brand image, or get back with me on time, or be available when I need them. 

After great debate, I've decided to see if I have what it takes to at least minimally to what they do. What do all my designer friends have that I don't?

ADOBE SKILLS!!!

Some might think that I need to be delegating my work, not creating more. And yes, I do believe that is true to. However. I think it will also benefit me in the long run to know the basics of these programs so I can at least make the small changes I want when I have someone else working for me again. 

Plus, its just been super empowering. I think that's why I take on so many new projects, there is such a thrill in seeing how you actually CAN do something that you once thought you couldn't. 

Here's what able to do for our grand opening:

Looks pretty good, uh? I'm proud!