Rate My Graphic Design Projects

If a freelance graphic designer would like to get feedback from other (hopefully knowledgeable) designers concerning their own designs, is there a website(s) that allows one to upload their works and have people comment? There are many times the people around me comment on what I create, but I know they don't actually "know why" a design is good or bad. I would like to have technical feedback on what I create and not possible biased feedback from the people I know. I can't get any negative (or should I say construtive) feedback because I'm sure no one wants to offend me or say something in which they know nothing about. I compare this to a person who doesn't know anything about cooking to be a judge about food. Sure, they can say if the food is good or bad, but I want to know the WHY of their opinions.
I taught myself everything I know about graphic/web design and I have never really been evaluated by another graphic designer. I'm certainly not looking for priase, but professional feedback. So, are there any websites/services out there for something like this?

I cringe when I hear anyone suggest uploading content to the internet. If I were you, I'd get in touch with area ad agencies or art school graphic design departments where they would be happy to critique your work one-on-one. Many questions come up when viewing a portfolio. For instance, what is the client's objective? What was the client's budget and how did you comply with it? Where are your sketches? I, for one, like to see "thought" process rather than a bunch of flash on a screen. Not that flash is bad, but I like the nuts and bolts of it all. How did you solve the client's problems? How did you go about selecting that photo? Who art directed the piece? On and on like that. Another question for you. How is anyone going to know you really did that piece? Just because you said you did it? Won't wash. Think about it. Go out and see people. Get feedback where you can defend the process and bolster up your knowledge of the tools required to "design".

Similar Messages

A Level Graphic Design Project

I'm an A-level student from the UK currently studying Graphic Design. For my project I have to design a product using an existing company and use feedback to improve the design. I have chosen to design an iPhone and iPod touch case that will mimic a games controller in order to improve the experience of gaming on an iPhone. Does anyone know where I can enquire to Apple regarding this idea?

Apple will not provide feedback to your on your project design, if that's what you mean. You'll need to look for your feedback from other sources.
Regards.

Graphic Designer / User-Interface Engineer Job Opening

Title:
Graphic Designer/User-Interface Engineer
Job Qualifications:
- Must be an innovative Graphic Designer/User-Interface
Engineer
- Minimum 4 years experience developing web-based user
interfaces
- Expert knowledge of Adobe graphic design applications such
as Flash, Photoshop, and Illustrator or alike products
- Experience with Adobe Flex and ActionScript3
- Has a proven track record designing and documenting
high-quality user interface designs for web-based applications
- Possesses a strong visual design sense and general design
principles
- Has some background in object-oriented design and
programming
- Able to work effectively from a remote home office
- Has excellent interpersonal and communication skills and
collaborates well in person, online, or on the phone
Job Description:
This position offers an opportunity to work on high-end
graphical design projects building rich Internet applications for
Fortune 500 client companies in industries like financial services,
software and consumer products. As a User-Interface Engineer, you
will be expected to:
• contribute strong leadership through all phases of
development including functional requirements development, UI
design and documentation
• analyze and establish functional requirements and
specifications using feedback from clients and other developers
• apply your visual creativity and functional
experience to design elegant and responsive web user interfaces
with Adobe Flash (Flex expertise desired)
• support other developers to ensure successful
implementation of the designs
• create appropriate documentation during development
Candidates will be expected to provide a portfolio of their
graphical design work in zip files or URL links for review.
- Can be based anywhere in the U.S.
- Up to 25 percent travel time required
- Work on-site and from home
- 3 to 6 month engagement with potential for perm placement
If you are looking for a new exciting opportunity, please
reply with your resume attached to [email protected]. Thank
you for your interest and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Regards,
Kevin Bakhmutsky

Kevin,
Are you only looking for a Graphic Designer or do you have
other openings that could be filled by a Flex person with a J2EE
background?

Timesheet for Graphic Designer

Hello People
(please be gentle with me, I'm not very experienced with time-sheets etc).
I'm a graphic designer, been made redundant, and after struggling to find a job I'm going freelance but I'm really struggling to use Numbers to create a timesheet. I don't have Excel and don't particularly want to use it, partly sue to cost but also because I don't like it.
I know there are apps out there I could use, but all of those I've looked at either charge or don't do exactly what I need.
As I'm just starting out I need to monitor my workload, the time spent against the time i quote so I can refine things and get my estimating accurate and also make sure I then bill for all the hours I do (when it comes to an hourly rate).
I don't really know how to create spreadsheets using Excel with Formulas and rules etc. So a mate did it for me, but using that sheet in Numbers isn't transferring properly. So we are looking at starting afresh using Numbers but the trouble is neither of us know it well enough to create what I need.
First I need a time sheet, to keep a record of how much time i spend on a particular Job. I'll try to explain (stay with me please!)
To start off I need in my time-sheets the following columns;
Client, Job Number, Project Name, Details, Date, Day, Start Time, End Time, Duration, If it's Fixed Price, If its an Hourly Rate, What the hourly rate is, Total Hours, Price, Discount %, Final Price.
Within these Columns I need to be able to filter by date, by client or by job number - so I can easily check what hours Ive done on a particular job, or on a given day how many hours I've done or how many jobs I've done for a particular client.
As a result I will formulas on the timesheet the number of hours and minutes (down to ten minutes) for the duration, to calculate the price from the hourly rate, then the price after the discount and the final price.
However, some jobs may be a fixed price, and I may work on it for more than one day, Some Jobs may be an hourly price. So, if I put in the coloumn the fixed price each time/day I register time worked on it. It needs to see that that fixed price is for the job, not for that days work.
I would also like to be able to do a forecast sheet, so I can enter estimate details in, to see what I'm forecast to earn.
I would also then need a sheet which pulls in the info from the forecast to show the projected time taken earnings and also pulls in the information from the timesheet to show actual time taken and cost.
Is there any whizz out there that can help me on my way cos it has myself and my friend stumped and time is passing where I need to record my hours.

Hi iconboyip,
This will get you started.
E is formatted with as Date & Time, with no time displayed (by default, it will be midnight at the start of the day).
F and G are formatted as Date & Time with no date displayed.
Enter times with am or pm (or 24 hour clock) on the day you actually start and end. Otherwise, we have the "crossing midnight" problem feature .
H and I are formatted as Duration.
Enter breaks as 1h or 15m or 0.25h
Formula in I2 (and Fill Down)
=G2−F2−H2
To add up the hours spent on each job, another table with the SUMIF function
Formula in A2 of the Totals table (and Fill Down)
=SUMIF(Time Sheet::B,A2,Time Sheet::I)
Regards,
Ian.

Need Help Building a Graphic Design/Video Editing PC

Greetings everybody, my name is David, and I'm hoping to get a little assistance building a computer system either from scratch or from a couple of computers I have picked out.
I hope this that doesn't sound unrealistic but I only have around $600 in my budget to build a Graphic Designer machine. My intentions are to get a subscription to Adobe cloud so I would have access to all of Adobe CS6 products. (I won’t be using any of the Touch or Game developers applications.)
I would like to post two links to two machines that I picked out that are in my price range and would like some advice as to whether or not either one of these machines have enough processing power to be able to handle all Adobe CS 6 products.
I am aware that neither one of these machines have a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) and that I would have to purchase one and add it. Which leads me to my first question; are the processors on either one of these machines capable of handling a GPU that is on the Adobe recommended list for processors?
And secondly, if I were to build a machine from scratch, is $600 enough to build a machine that is capable of handling Adobe CS6 products? When building a machine from scratch can you tell me what the minimum requirements are for a motherboard? Or are there any sites that offer specific advise for building PC's for graphic design?
I noticed after looking through the list of recommended graphics processing units that the majority of those are very expensive, in the $500-$3000 range. Can you please recommend a graphics processing unit that is in the $200-$300 range that would be fully adequate to handle Adobe products? Also what things do I need to take into consideration when building the machine from scratch to ensure that all my hardware is capable of handling Adobe CS6 products.
What do I need to add to either one of these prebuilt computers to make them Adobe-ready, If they are in fact worthy at all?
Here are the links for two machines that I have picked out:
http://www.costco.com/HP-Pavilion-p6t-Desktop%2c-Intel%C2%AE-Core%E2%8 4%A2-i3-2130-3.4GHz.product.100010197.html
http://www.costco.com/ZT-Desktop%2c-Intel%C2%AE-Core%E2%84%A2-i5-3470- 3.2GHz.product.100027436.html
I do realize that neither one of these machines have a graphics card in them. Can you tell by looking at the specifications on either one of these machines, whether or not your typical graphics card would fit inside the case If they are indeed worthy in all other respects?
And I realize that I mentioned that I only had $600 to spend, however if either one of these prebuilt machines are powerful enough in all other respects, I don't have an issue waiting a month or two before buying the graphics card and installing a little bit later.
Thank you in advance for your input.
Sincerely,
David

Your HP Costco link results in an out of stock message
Your ZT Costco link is very likely NOT expandable due to the VERY small power supply... so you will likely NOT be able to add a video card later
For PPro video editing you want an nVidia graphics adapter http://www.pacifier.com/~jtsmith/GPU.HTM and even the low power nVidia may be too much for that computer
Also, for video editing, you need a MINIMUM of 2 hard drives... and trying to edit HiDef video with an i5 will be a study of waiting for things to happen
As Harm said... a $600 computer will work for everything EXCEPT video editing
This DIY list is just about twice your budget, but it will work for video editing
Intel i7 3770 CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116502
Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121599
16Gig Ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148600
Mid-Tower Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042
750w Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171053
500Gig Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769
500Gig Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769
1Terabyte Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236339
GTX 660 Ti 2Gig
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130809
120mm x2 Case Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103060
Keyboard & Mouse
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109232
Sata DVD Writer
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986
Use Win7 64bit Home if you will NEVER go over 16gig ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992
Use Win7 64bit Pro to use more than 16gig ram
BluRay writer if you want to write BluRay discs
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106369
2 hard drive MINimum, I use 3 (as listed above)
My 3 hard drives for video editing are configured as...
1 - 320Gig Boot for Win7 64bit Pro and ALL program installs
2 - 320Gig data for video project files, and temporary files
When I create a project on #2 drive, the various work files follow,
so my boot drive is not used for the media cache folders and files
3 - 1Terabyte data for all video files... input source & output export files

Create your own graphics using Project ROME!

Hi Romans,
Ever want to add your own logo or graphic to your creations? Maybe you want to design a brand logo for your business or a festive turkey for your Thanksgiving cards and invitations.
Learn more about creating vector graphics using Project ROME. Here are two tutorials on vector graphics: http://bit.ly/95QpFl and http://bit.ly/cKYfG8. And, one interesting thing to note, you can even create your own custom shapes using the paint brush tool.
Let us know if you've enjoyed creating vector graphics in Project ROME, and if you had any trouble. We'd like to shape Project ROME with you in mind for the future!
Thanks,
Sarah
Sarah
Forum Moderator

Romans,
Thanks for the praise! Did you have a chance to create your own graphic after watching this video? Please do and let us know your thoughts on this feature. Was it easy after the tutorial? Were there any problems you incountered?
Thanks again,
Sarah
Sarah
Forum Moderator

Graphic design for mac

I have a Mac 10.4.11. I would like to create a website and logo design though I have no background in graphic design. Which programs are free/best for this Mac?

Hi Josie,
Get GraphicConverter for all graphic things...
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/263
For other things, not free but...
http://www.realmacsoftware.com/
Or for Free, Seamonkey...
http://www.seamonkey-project.org/

Should a graphic designer use Iphoto for file management ?

I am a designer who is overwhelmed by too many images from different sources (scan, online, art, photos) that need to be organized by themes (animals, flowers, calligraphy, projects, etc) so I tried transferring all my ps and tif and jpg files into iphoto (hoping to avoid using bridge, which I don't like).
I noticed after I drug some them into iphoto, I reopened them in PS (drug file to the PS software Logo in dock), all the layers were had been flattened and the file went from 600 dpi to 72! EEEEK!
I am a graphic designer and need large files with layers. Is iphoto a bad way to organize images? The orginal reason I like iphoto is because you can just drag out a file, and the original remains. In bridge, the original actually MOVES OUT.
(I posted this in the wrong forum before, so this is a repeat posting)

kidquotes:
I would seriously look into a more robust DAM (digital asset management) application. The one that I use is Media Expression. It allows you to manage your folder system, move image files between folders from within the application, rename files, add metadata and write them to the files so they travel with them.
Go go The DAM Forum where professional photographers discuss the various DAM applications and their relative merits, etc. Expression Media was originally iView MediaPro and, at the time, was consdered one of the very best. EM was bought by Microsoft (ugh) but has evolved into am improved product but is more expensive.
As far as the dpi the resolution didn't change. iPhoto displays all at 72 dpi but if you were to look at the file in Photoshop it's print size would be nearly 9 times larger. It's all relative. SeeThe Myth of DPI.
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. Just put the application in the Dock and click on it whenever you want to backup the dB file. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.
Note: There's now an Automator backup application for iPhoto 5 that will work with Tiger or Leopard.

Which new MacBook Pro is best for a graphic design student?

Hi there, I was just wondering if anyone could give me some advice on which new MacBook Pro to get. I'm a graphic design student who would like to be able to use Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator at the same time, while also web browsing (I tend to have a million windows open). I won't be using the computer for any video work or heavy gaming.
Here's what I do know: I'd like the retina display, and I need the 8GB of memory (do I need more?). Other than that, I'm not too sure about what specifications I need. I'm not super knowledgeable about all of this, so apologies if these are very elementary questions. Any help would be much, much appreciated. Here are my main questions:
1. Would you recommend getting the quad core i7, or is i5 fine? For i5, do I need to pay attention to the difference between 2.4GHz and 2.6GHz?
2. What exactly is PCle-based flash storage, and would you recommend 256GB or 512GB?
3. What's the difference between Intel Iris Pro and Intel Iris?
Thanks so much!

1) Depending on which software you'll be using most of the times a quad core has more benefits (since it's more future proof). Not all software supports multiple cores (and thus rendering the extra cores of the quad "useless" if it's not supported).
2) PCI-e is what we use in desktops to attach for example a graphic card. Previous hard drives used a cable to connect it with the motherboard (in the old days we used IDE, now recent hardware uses SATA3). Basically because it's directly connected to your motherboard (there's more to it but to keep it simple) this will allow it to read and write faster from and to it. (Double the speeds of your regular SSD)
3) I reckon (haven't checked into it) that the base core speeds are clocked higher on the Iris Pro and probably has more dedicated ram to it.
What a graphical student wants would be most likely a quad core CPU with a dedicated graphics card. The extra is storage is nice if you reckon you'd need it. (I mostly work on cloud but keep my current projects on my drive because then I'd have faster access to it).

Graphical Design on Azure Database

Hi
I have read through a lot of older posts (2009 onwards) regarding the limitations of the SQL management studio when connected to Azure Databases. I'm just making the transition into the cloud, and as far as I can tell, most of the problems still exist,
hopefully someone can tell me I'm wrong...
The big problem is that I cant find a graphical designer for queries within stored procedures. In my local database, within the stored procedure I can just right click and choose 'design query in editor', however when I connect to the Azure database, this
isn't available.
I have tried using the Azure online designer but that's the same, if I right click I just get Silverlight and no obvious option for creating queries graphically.
I'm missing something, as far as I can remember this functionality has been available since way back when, it seems like a pretty big omission? All though its not the end of the world, it was really useful to be able to do this
Any help would be much appreciated
thanks
Andy

Hi Andy,
If your used to create your queries from a graphical tool, I can do nothing but highly recommend SQL Server Data Tools for Visual Studio. This enables you to create Database projects where you'll have a graphical UI for creating your queries. Moreover, this
feature also enalbes you to do things like schema comparison or data comparison directly within Visual Studio.
Alex

Graphic Design major needs help choosing a Mac!

I'm a Graphic Design student, and I'm about to purchase my first Macbook Pro. I need to know the minimum specs my Mac needs, without sacrificing performance. I'll be running multiple Applications/Programs simultaneously without stalling or crashing. (ie: Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Internet with lots of tabs, music, and occassionally whatever program they'll use for my animation class.) I have a MyBook external terabyte, so saving large projects won't be an issue. Also, I kind of want to have an internal CD/DVD drive, but if that sacrifices performance way too much, I can get an external.
I've been offered this used MBP that is one year old, for a reduced price, http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs/ (See the specs for the 13" for $1199), but will it be enough? Even if I buy more RAM and install it myself, will the processor be fast enough? Will everything else be enough?
Here's the link comparing all the new MBP's, http://www.apple.com/why-mac/compare/notebooks.html , some of which can be upgraded for an additonal price. Is it necessary to purchase one of these? Which one? Is Retina Display necessary? Performance is more important to me than money, but I don't want to just get an excessive amount of GHz, RAM, etc...that I won't even need. Can anyone help?

Your link to the Best Buy MBP does not work for me but I looked on the best but website and found the only 17" MBP, model MC725LL/A, which is an early 2011 MBP. It does not say which CPU it has, a 2.2 GHz or 2.3 GHz. Either way the price is the most attractive.
If this is left over and not an open box, it probably represents the best value in that respect. I would establish if it is really new and what CPU it has before committing any funds. I note it has Snow Leopard as the OS which has been supplanted by Lion and Mt. Lion. You might think that this is a negative, but it really is not. You may always install Mt. Lion at a later date ($20) if you feel you have to. I have a late 2011 17" MBP which came with Lion and I have also installed Snow Leopard on it. Snow Leopard is the most efficient OS that Apple has offered and I do not consider obsolete by any means.
Though Apple says that 8 GB RAM is the maximum, all 2011 MBPs will accommodate 16 GB. I have that in my MBP.
There is one point that you should seriously consider. That Is the Glossy vs. the Anti-glare display. It would be best that you go to an Apple store and look at them side by side in order to make an informed decision. I have a MBP with the Glossy display, my first one, which I like but the second one I got has the Anti-glare and that in my opinion is the more practical. The newest one is also Anti-glare. I have heard it said by serious photographers that the colors are more accurate on the Ant-glare displays. It may be worth the price differential, but you have to decide. (That is another item that should be determined with the Best Buy option)
If you have any additional questions, just ask!
Ciao.

BLUDVLZ's Revised Rules of Graphic Design

It's been a year or so since I last posted these, and since the old post has gone to the great forum resting place in the cybersky, I decided to repost. This time with some choice addtions.
REVISED RULES OF GRAPHIC DESIGN
1. Before you can break the rules of graphic design, you must first know the rules of graphic design.
2. Microsoft Word is not a graphic design program.
3. The greatest obstacle to an effective campaign is usually the client.
4. Always build in a little extra safety time when determining project deadlines; just in case something goes wrong or breaks.
5. Before a designer can do his job he needs all the pertinent information up front; reverse engineering a project never produces a good result.
6. Any advertisement will be successful as long as you give away a free tool set.
7. Never use script or calligraphic fonts in ALL CAPS.
8. Microsoft Excel is not a graphic design program.
9. There is no point-and-click solution to good graphic design.
10. Photoshop is not a verb.
11. The death penalty should be enacted for those designers who use the following fonts:
Comic Sans
Zapf Chancery
Ad Lib
Exotic
Brush Script
Monotype Corsiva.
12. Never mess with a client who tosses his own dick salad.
13. Adobe does not yet include a talent filter in any of its programs that will miraculously make a bad design, good.
14. Microsoft PowerPoint is not a graphic design program.
15. Images pulled off of the Internet DO NOT work in print.
16. The client isnt always right, and when hes wrong its always going to be the designers fault.
17. Clipart is evil.
18. Clipart is your best friend.
19. The best computer for the job is the one that is working when you really need it.
20. Camera-ready art that is built to the exact specifications is good; camera-ready artwork that is scanned off an inkjet printout and faxed to you is bad.
21. Microsoft Publisher is the most dangerous piece of software in existence.
22. When you find a good print house, keep it.
23. Develop good relationships with other designers who work in other specialty areas; it always comes in handy in a pinch when looking for artwork or logos.
24. Never be satisfied with your current level of expertise; always look for ways to improve your talents and understanding of design.
25. Dont just know how to use one program, know as many as possible.
26. Learn good time management skills.
27. Educate the client whenever possible.
28. Dont get too defensive about creative feedback. Be able to offer solid reasons for your design decisions and be prepared to offer alternative suggestions as a compromise.
29. There is always a way to make a good layout, better.
30. A starburst is a method for poor designers to draw attention to the copy points that should have been addressed through better layout.
31. Never blindly trust a file sent to you by another designer unless you truly trust the designer.
32. The designer that doesnt keep up with current technology wont be a designer for long.
33. Always pay attention to changing design trends.
34. You will find yourself identifying typefaces on billboards as you drive down the interstate (Note: This will drive your family and friends nuts).
35. No one but designers and artists will ever truly understand the creative process.
36. Just because you have a computer and a program does not automatically mean that you are a graphic designer.
37. Only production artists and bosses seem to have 9-5 workdays.
38. No matter how many hours you work, make sure you set aside enough time to let your creative mind recharge.
39. A solid marketing plan can help poor creative. Good creative will never help a poor marketing plan.
40. Never underestimate the importance of being able ********.
41. A good designer needs to know how to fix his own computer.
42. A good designer can be effective w

Well crap. I guess I hit my limit and it's too late for me to go back and edit. So here are the rules that are missing:
42. A good designer can be effective without wearing shoes, but not without wearing socks (this is one of those deep, philosophical statements).
43. Always keep a good digital camera handy. You never know when youll need to stage an impromptu photo shoot.
44. The creative mind works best when it works uninterrupted.
45. Dirty balls suck. Go optical.
46. The bigger the size of the project, the less it should say (in reference to copy on billboards, banners and posters).
47. Keep the Bevel and Emboss layer effects in Photoshop to a minimum.
48. You dont have to have formal training in graphic design to be successful, but it sure does help.
49. Take whatever steps are necessary to get the creative juices flowing.
50. More often than not, you cant fix it in post.
51. Get the client to sign off on everything before doing any printing or production.
52. That which doesnt kill you will only try harder the next time.
53. If in doubt, talk to the printer.
54. The key to defending yourself against backseat designers: Back up your chair suddenly.
55. Changing the keyboard layout on your fellow designers computer is a great way to break up the monotony of a stressful workday.
56. In advertising, sex sells. In graphic design, sex usually means youre hogging up all the bandwidth and have a sticky keyboard.
57. Never be afraid to push the limits of good taste (case in point, rule #56).
58. Never accept less for a job than you believe your time and effort is worth and get it in writing.
59. A good designer is thinking at least five steps ahead of the step hes currently on.
60. Never be afraid to walk away from a design and start over.

2013 MacBook Air for graphic design?

I've been looking at the new 2013 13-inch MacBook Air for quite some time now. I'm a graphic designer, so I'll be looking to use Adobe CS6 (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat) and Aperture. Also of course, the general things such as Safari, Mail and iPhoto.
I have the new 27-inch iMac at home, which serves as my main machine. 3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6 GHz, 32GB RAM (8GB at the moment - upgrading soon), 1TB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX with 1GB. I love it!
I absoloutely love the MacBook Air - it's a lovely design, so lightweight and the new 12 hour battery life is just epic!
If I were to get the MacBook Air, I would definite upgrade to these specs;
- 1.7GHz dual core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz (although I'm told the i7 will drain battery quicker, and isn't much faster?)
- 8GB RAM
- 128GB Flash Storage (or possibly 256GB - bare in mind, I have a 1TB external hard drive).
So I guess the big question is... Will the new 2013 13-inch MacBook Air, with these specs, be sufficient for my needs?
Thanks in advance!

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
The problem of the MacBook Air is the GPU, and Adobe apps don't support the GPU of your MacBook officially because it's an integrated GPU.
Sincerely, if you want to use that type of applications, the only valid Mac is the 15-inch MacBook Pro. It includes a quad-core processor, 4 GB of RAM (with the possibility to add up to 16 GB), a 500 GB HDD (with possibilities for bigger HDDs and SSDs) and a NVIDIA GPU which will work with your applications without any problem. Also, you can modify the RAM and hard drive without voiding the warranty.
If you want to give the MacBook Air a try, buy it and see if your applications work properly. You have 14 days to return it if it doesn't work as you expected, but to be sure, go for the 15-inch MacBook Pro. The MacBook Air is designed for home tasks

I've got a MacBook pro 15' running 10.6.6. I want to use an external monitor for my graphic design work running Adobe software and thought I'd try an HD TV. I ran a Mini Display to HDMI lead to the TV but the picture quality was disappointing.

I've got a MacBook Pro 15' running 10.6.6. I want to use an external monitor for my graphic design work using Adobe software and thought I'd try an HD TV. I ran a Mini Display to HDMI lead to the TV but the picture quality was disappointing. I also tried a Mini Display to VGA lead and that wasn't much better. I tried all variations of resolutions in System prefs - Displays but nothing helped. Am I getting something wrong? Thanks all.

In addition to pixel density, you are up against the translation driver card in the TV.
If you read the fine print of computer-resolution-capability in the TV user guide, you will see a chart as tall as the manual page. At the top is the smallest resolution capable, at the bottom is the full use of the 1080p in the TV.
Mac falls into the top 25% of the page, maxing out at 1366x768 often. This is because the TV control card is expected to do too much of the work, but is not designed for computer-monitor processing.
I looked at the resolution charts on 2 TVs before deciding to buy a 1080p LCD monitor that has a TV interface/connector. Computer monitor first, TV second. But the thing is only 27 in. Good thing TV is not as important to me as it is to others.

24" iMac for Graphic Design studio workstation?

Hi there, I've been using macs since the early 90s for graphic design and have always bought their "professional" models, ie towers. These days it seems the line between iMacs and towers is getting a bit blurred... iMacs are pretty darn powerful. So I need to add a workstation to the design studio and am considering just getting a 24" iMac instead of a tower + apple display. I use Adobe CS2 apps (photoshop, indesign, illustrator, etc.) Rarely, I deal with 500meg layered photoshop images, but I don't do any sound/video stuff.
So my big question... is the iMac good enough for a full time graphic designer's workstation or should I stick with a tower? The difference is over a $grand.
G5 tower Mac OS X (10.4.8)

The 24" iMac is a perfect match for a graphic designer.
On the plus side, the large screen is actually 4 inches larger than the smallest Cinema Display (20"), meaning great value. Secondly, you have the small form factor and the conveinience of an all-in-one unit, and the RAM is extremely easy to upgrade, with a ceiling of 3GB; plenty to run Photoshop or Aperture. The Nvidia graphics card is very potent as well; a must for people working with high-res images.
On the downside, you still won't get the sheer performance that a tower such as the Mac Pro will offer. You also won't get the expandability. You can't upgrade the graphics card in the iMac. You also can't upgrade the hard drive easily, and USB and firewire card upgrades (necessary to keep up with todays latest connection methods for digital cameras) are out of the question.
The 24" iMac is superb. It will give you the horsepower to run even a small graphics design business. But if you are serious about graphic design as a career, still go for a tower. You will be glad you did. I wouldn't be surprised if you found yourself selling the iMac and upgrading your system 3 or 4 years from now. However, if you expect to upgrade in that time anyway, the iMac is a better value.
Good Luck with your decision. I know you will be happy no matter which machine you choose!

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