Basic art for the programmer?

Question

This perhaps isn't really a programming question, but it's something I'm sure lots of programmers other than me have faced!

I've almost finished an iphone application I've been working on, the only thing I'm missing is a spot of art - a title screen, small and large icons, that kind of thing. I have no artistic talent, but I've been finding it hard to get anyone to do this for me, despite offering a share of future profits.

Anyone got any experience of either where to get artists, or the best way to do a tiny spot of artwork yourself?

Please don't just answer 'GIMP' or 'Photoshop', unless you can provide a reasonably good tutorial to getting started with those apps as well! It would be even better if your solution works well for 1-button mouse Macbook owners!

Answer 1

I've found photos and artwork at iStockphoto. You could also try Wikimedia Commons.

Answer 2

StackOverflow used a graphic artist's equivalent of "rentacoder" called 99 Designs (thanks, Wolfie). It did some sort of contest where Joel and Jeff put up a fixed amount of prize money and their requirements, and graphic artists submitted designs, and they choose which one won the prize.

Answer 3

Go to deviantart.com they have a place where you can advertise artistic jobs.

Answer 4

In my experience it's best to give in and pay someone. If you don't know any designers offhand, start with some of the free icon sites like interfacelift.com and look for icons that fit the style of your application. You can't use the icons in your software, but it's a good place to find links for freelancers and design firms. There are some free icon sets floating around out there, but the ones that are well designed, match the style you're aiming for, and don't have restrictive licenses are pretty rare.

It's hard to pay $500 or more out of pocket, but if you pick a good designer I think in most cases it will add a level of polish that you wouldn't be able to accomplish by yourself or with free graphics. If your application is solid otherwise, that extra polish should pay for itself in the long run.

The link below has some links you might find useful if you do decide to hire someone:

http://delicious.com/mbcharbonneau/Icons

Answer 5

Another idea is the program Paint Shop Pro. I've only used version 7, but it has a feature called tubes. This includes pre-drawn items that you can "paint" with. For instance, you can use a tree tube to paint a forest. It won't make you an artist, but it could help if you don't have any art skills (like me).

There are also thousands of Photoshop tutorials out there. If you search for "[what you want to draw] photoshop tutorial", you will probably find one that will point you in the right direction.

Answer 6

A good source of information is Smashing Magazine. Here's a link to their icons tag.

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/tag/icons/

They have a ton of free graphics and inspiration.

Answer 7

Stack Over Flow : Where can i get free icons images this might help you for you icons.

Answer 8

Maybe something a little less web and a little more in person is something you're looking for? You've probably got friends that doodle. Have a look at their old doodles. If you find something that fits and you like it, ask them if you can use it and if they say yes, copy it/scan it/digitize it, do whatever you need to do to get it into a format you can use.

Answer 9

Coming up with art isn't an easy task. If you can't find someone to do it for you, put something you feel is good together, find someone who can recognize good design and have them go over your rough drafts so you can refine them. We easily become blind to problems in our own work, so having someone else critiquing it can help take you ok design and make it much better.

As for resources go Smashing Magazine has lots and lots of free icons, in addition to other resources. Have a look around http://www.smashingmagazine.com for ideas.

I particularly like the Silk icon set by famfamfam - http://www.famfamfam.com/lab/icons/silk/

If you find yourself needing stock photos stock.xchng is a free site with many good photos you can use. http://www.sxc.hu/

Something to keep in mind, while you may be able to come up with something work able by assembling these professionally designed parts, you will end up with a much better look and result if you hire a professional graphics designer. Just because you have access to the same tools, does not mean that you will achieve the same results. Graphics design is a talent that takes time to practice, nurture and develop - much the same way that you developed your programming skills. Just because someone has access to a compiler, does not mean they can write a program - just because you have Photoshop and does not mean that you have the skill and talent developed to use it.

Answer 10

I'll second the "in person" answer, but go further: network. Do you know someone who does graphic design, design, art, or animation? Start there. Or ask someone who might know people like that.

The long-term answer is to meet more people like that. I realize that it doesn't help you specifically solve the right now problem, but the truth is that any programmer is going to do better work if they can find talented people to fill out any potential team.

Specialized roles like DBAs and Information Architects might seem like more obvious teammates for a programmer, but I find designers & artists to be worth their weight in gold if they are the type of person who I can communicate with and get great work from.

When I ran a contest on 99designs awhile back, I picked a winner (one of the people who was also able to communicate very well) & worked with the winning designer, but I also got contact information from the best 5 designers and keep it on file.

Getting off topic: the same goes for other specializations: besides the usual roles, I have in my list of contacts: sound guys (producers, etc.), musicians, marketing & ad folk, voice artists, video editors, 3d animation, IT support technicians, network engineers, and hardware purchasing people.

Answer 11

Tons of Photoshop tutorials in http://www.photoshop-pack.com/

Answer 12

See also http://stackoverflow.com/questions/58833/hiring-a-freelance-graphics-person

Answer 13

few ideas for a fast start:

http://www.icon-king.com/projects/nuvola/

http://tango.freedesktop.org/Tango_Icon_Gallery

Answer 14

Other people have some good suggestions on where to find designers. I tried to create my icon using stock libraries, but the big lesson that I learned is to pay very close attention to the licence.

I made the mistake of using clip-art that was really designed for PowerPoint and not distribution in software. The licence agreement was not clear, but it looked as though they wanted to claim copyright on the whole "derived item" and claim an absurd royalty rate. (Full story on my applications website.)

The other thing to bear in mind is that you're effectively using their artwork as your trademark. (From the other side, your trademark would be freely available for other people to use too.)

In short: probably best to get someone to design the artwork for you, even if it is a little more expensive up front.