Clip art? Or no clip art?
Leaky Penny (2616 pencils) | Wed, 2009-10-21 01:45So as some of you might have noticed there are some posters that presented work using clip art. Some using it lightly, some heavily depending on it. At first, to be honest, I was kind of turned off. But I did a bit of research and there are others that use clip art. I just wanted to know, when is it appropriate? When is it not? What are the "rules" of handing in a project to a client with clip art? Where does the jump from Graphic Designer to Graphix Guy take place?
I'd really love to hear what you guys think about it.
Cheers
—
Leaky Penny
Check out what I've been up to lately!
http://petersonjoseph.com
I'm going to print it out and eat it.
-Unknown Artist
Commenting on this Forum topic is closed.
I think it's not appropriate to use in branding because when you create a trademark uniqueness is extremely important. Everywhere else it's ok to use them. But of course how you use them is a different question.
I think to be able to answer the question you have to understand what clip art really is,
Personally i use my clip art catalogue as a reference, i am able to hand it to my clients and say, what do you like? what style best suits you? and is a great way of getting into my clients way of thinking quickly.
I never use the art work but can create something similar to what they have seen.
Clip art has made non artistic people able to create something that looks half decent, it has evolved to help the masses, wether that be a people at home making birthday cards or companies which rely on it every day ( sign makers for example )
People have made clip art for everything and every type of industry, you can be sure that anything you come up with can be identified to a piece of clip art somewhere.
The thing that always gets me thinking, is a pre determined shape or illustration clipart. Take Superman for example, everyone knows who he is and what he looks like, his image has always been the same but people have drawn him in different ways. Is a comic book full of clip art because the pages are full of illustrations that are copies of an original concept?
How much has to change before your illustration has enough identity of its own but still has a visual resemblance to the original clip art?
There is a very fine line between using a drawing or clipart, they both have their uses and different people will always prefer one to the other,
Unfortunately in my profession (Signage) the choice for my designers to reach for the DVD catalogue or the tablet is only dependant on one thing, the Price of the job.
Freehand wins it everytime for me, i would hate to drive my van down the road and see pretty much the same logo on another van.
I dont think there is an answer to the question, in todays society everybody wants everything now and this is just a way for designers etc to offer a turnaround time that the public are becoming accustom to.
16 billion colours and you choose the one i cant create !??!
I guess I've always had a diefferent view of clip art than others. I just think that it is something that shouldn't even exist. When clients wanted to to get a quick idea of what a concept is going to look like, thumbnails and colour comps were always the way to go for me. Quick comps of course, about 20 minutes spent on each. I suppose if you take some clip art and modify it enough so that it is unrecognizable could be a start, but it seems to me that it's just a crutch. To me, all designers should know how to draw, whether on paper or with a Wacom tablet. I'm not talking photorealistic drawings here, but enough to get your ideas across. You can really see the difference between someone who went straight to computer and someone who thumbnailed first.
i believe if you're going to use it, like robbie said, use it to give an idea to the client of what the work will look like. But to just grab a few, dump them on a page and throw in some effects and decorative font, to me that's not design. That's "graphix" work. That requires no skill IMO. I don't believe it's doing any favours to design in general. It's jst as detrimental as spec work.
Leaky Penny
Check out what I've been up to lately!
http://petersonjoseph.com
I'm going to print it out and eat it.
-Unknown Artist
im not sure about designers having to be able to draw, does a hair dresser have to have hair?
The next generation are computer taught, i expect that one day they will be able to pass all their exams including Art without even picking up a pencil. But they will be able to create amazing things on the computer.
Its like saying that modern art is not art because it can be just shapes and colours ( i think i have just opened a whole can of worms)
I do agree with what your saying about it killing design, but like everything that comes along or is invented these days it is there just to make our live easier .
and before anyone starts moaning, yes other types of tablet are available.
16 billion colours and you choose the one i cant create !??!
Your analogy doesn't really work, btu I understand what you're saying. It isn't about being able to draw pretty pictures. It's about being able to jot down ideas quickly onto paper, more quickly than say sitting down at the computer and creating layouts. You know when you get that sudden surge of creativity about a project, and ideas are going through your mind at a million miles a minute? It's hard (next to impossible) to capture them all on computer. But in quick, 20 - 30 second thumbnails, you can get most of yoru dieas down. More ideas, better concepts, better project. You're suffocating yourself my limiting your brainstorming ideas to a slow computer.
Good lord, how I miss the days of non-repro blue pencils and rubber cement, cutting off bits of my finger with an exacto blade and laying down low tack frisket for air-brushing.
Leaky Penny
Check out what I've been up to lately!
http://petersonjoseph.com
I'm going to print it out and eat it.
-Unknown Artist
ah, nostalgia. For me it was sketching letters on the side of a boat getting ready for my ex-boss to paint!
what i would of given for a plotter back then!
nearly 1000 leaky, better make it a good one!!!!!!
16 billion colours and you choose the one i cant create !??!
great question thou leaky,
16 billion colours and you choose the one i cant create !??!
Clip art, stock photography/images, wingdings, photoshop filters, etc are all part of a designer's arsenal. As long as you understand them as tools (and realise the dangers of using something that anyone else in the world has access to) then they can be used, and used well.
The designer themselves is responsible for the result, not the tools that they use.
I think Alex hit the nail on the head. It's all a part of your toolbox, just like ProTools and effects pedals for a musician. But in the end, it's up to the designer to use or not use tools and technology to achieve the final, tasteful, and unique result.
I think you have to be very very careful when using clip art. It can really muddy a concept at times. If it is appropriate to your concept I would give it the okay to be used. I also think of clipart as being very flat and one dimensional. Today, the new trend feels very 3D and web 2.0, just something to keep in mind.
i avoid using it because it tends to have a "feel" to it that just doesn't come across as professional. especially since today everyone and their sister has access to thousands and thousands of pieces of cheap clipart. it's just not worth using for me.
and 99% of the time i see it used, it's at best "cutesy" or superfluous and usually a cop out. i see things i used clipart or cliparty kinds of things for as a young designer now and cringe. but i don't always toss them, i keep them as a reminder of where i have evolved from.
Clip art is a newspaper's best friend. I would imagine that is where the idea originally took hold - for newspaper ads. Clip art has it's place - low end down and dirty ads that you're not really getting paid to design (ie: a client buys ad space and they want the newspaper to... ahem... "design" an ad for them). Sure the artist could draw the parrot or the boat or whatever - but it's a lot faster to just clip it out and paste it down. One of the problems in recent years is the quality of clip art - like typography - has fallen dramatically due to computers. It used to be artists specialized in clip art and created some very nice illustrations for the big clip art books newspapers subscribed to back in the day. Now you get a million pieces of clip art for $79. - obviously they're not putting the same amount of work into the actual art as they once did. So clip art has it's place in the business. The other thing it's good for is using bits and pieces to create something new. The reason a lot of clip art is easily recognizable from other ads and such is people have pretty much dropped the practice of manipulating the art before using it. But my favorite use of clip art will always be.... GET YOUR WAR ON!!!
Start at the beginning and relive the entire Iraq war thru clip art...
http://www.mnftiu.cc/category/gywo/war1/
Awesome strip, thats a good use for clip art!
Leaky Penny
Check out what I've been up to lately!
http://petersonjoseph.com
I'm going to print it out and eat it.
-Unknown Artist
It was even funnier when taken in the context of the time it was actually happening. Some of those strips almost made me wet my pants they were so dead on funny. And the guy was giving it away for years - it was only near the end that he started selling it to alternative papers and websites.
Clip art is for an 8th grader's history project.
Clip art is for your Grandma's personalized birthday cards.
Clip art is used to advertise yard sales in the newspaper.
Clip art says "Hey I know this is crappy, but at least I took the time to search for 'basketball player clip art' on google."
Clip art is not for designers.
If it doesn't sell, it isn't creative.