What you print reflects on YOU.

[mimosatexas]

I'm a one man shop so I am my artist. My rep is based on the whole package, from art to print quality, to turn around timw, to my relationship with clients, to pricing, etc. All of my business is also word of mouth

[Inkworks]

I use clipart occasionally for components of designs, it's the integration and assembly of the whole that make or break the finished design. Bad art we call "clipart collages" when people use 3-4 pieces of clipart without imagination or consideration for cohesion of the end result.

I'm no artist, but I'm great at graphic assembly and layout. What I consider a true "Artists" tend to come with attitude and often some drama as they tend to treat the project as "theirs". I just do what the client wants, whether they like my suggestions or not is immaterial.

[theMadArtist]

I'm a one man shop so I am my artist. My rep is based on the whole package, from art to print quality, to turn around timw, to my relationship with clients, to pricing, etc. All of my business is also word of mouth

Outstanding!

[theMadArtist]

I'm a one man shop so I am my artist. My rep is based on the whole package, from art to print quality, to turn around timw, to my relationship with clients, to pricing, etc. All of my business is also word of mouth

Outstanding!

Also outstanding! The artists I've met I couldn't STAND! Heh!@
I'm more of a salesman than an artist....since people offered me money to draw, I do it.....

[Sbrem]

I'm a one man shop so I am my artist. My rep is based on the whole package, from art to print quality, to turn around timw, to my relationship with clients, to pricing, etc. All of my business is also word of mouth

Outstanding!

Also outstanding! The artists I've met I couldn't STAND! Heh!@
I'm more of a salesman than an artist....since people offered me money to draw, I do it.....

This is why I call myself an ARTER, as opposed to artist; I only do it for customers, my personal time I play music. "I'm an Artist!" (pronounced very dramatically) kills me. One's work speaks for itself, without the "I'm so special" bit to go along with it.
Regarding clip art, a lot of it is very good, and serves the purpose. I'll get jpegs a customer snags off the web, and I can tell it was vector, and is usually available for $10 from Shutterstock or similar art houses; it saves a ton of time and the customer gets exactly what they want. We also design from scratch, and get paid for it. So very often, it's that clip art, plus adding text; make it look great and your reputation will grow.

Steve

Steve

[theMadArtist]

All I'm saying, is that when the customer gives you art to print that's not very good, jazzing it up a little will add to your good reputation....

[larryk]

All I'm saying, is that when the customer gives you art to print that's not very good, jazzing it up a little will add to your good reputation....
I agree 100% with that statement.... There are times when the customer brings in a POS art or an idea for a shirt that we will refuse to print solely because we don't want people to see stuff like that coming from our shop. Not talking PC stuff but just crap in general. At that time we show them what is possible and usually are able to get the job done with the resources we have available at a price that is agreeable with them= clip art. I think that most small shops like Mimosa, myself and countless others take great pride in what we do and will go to any means to turn out better than average work and when the budget allows we do spend that extra 2 or 3 hundred for a quality artist to make our work look even better. But for us to shovel our work off to someone else just because they can make it look nicer is not always an option.

[mk162]

you wouldn't believe how many people i've offending by politely recommending we can print a better design.

[ebscreen]

you wouldn't believe how many people i've offending by politely recommending we can print a better design.

It's like telling your mom her dress is ugly. Even if it's true there's no way to say it nicely and it will never go over well.
If client seems open to suggestion we certainly do, but otherwise stay quiet.

[mimosatexas]

I rarely change finished looking client supplied art unless I know the client is already open to me doing my thing or hints at being open to changes.  Typically they either have a "designer" on staff, have already paid someone to make the art, or made it themselves and are proud of it.  If I suggested changes to all the shitty art I see I would lose business rather than gain it, I can guarantee it.

That said, it is pretty easy usually to tell when someone is open to improvement.  Usually, people will simply tell you, by saying something like "you're the expert so if you want to spruce it up that would be great" if they are open to changes, or they will simply provide clearly unfinished art or just the elements and the text and ask you to put them together, which of course opens up the opportunity for improving it.  Pretty much any time I get a file in word/powerpoint, a screenshot from custom ink, art that uses default system fonts, or full color clip art when they only want to pay for one or two colors it is usually obvious that they are open to changes.  In those cases I usually say something like "this will have to be remade due to the format or the resolution, or will need adjustments to make it print well." Gauge their reaction, then ask clarifying and leading questions like "Did you want this particular font or did you have another style of font you might like that would fit the style of the image?"  If they say yes I want the original font, you say "of course, no problem, but do you happen to have the name so I can recreate it to your liking?". 

It's about baby steps and leading questions that seem like you're just trying to help them see their vision while giving them the opportunity to suggest they are open to changes.  You can tell pretty quickly usually if someone wants it pixel for pixel vs something you "fix".  If they are at all open to changes I usually try to go all out (within reason and based on discussions with the client) to make it something I am proud to print.  In those cased they are THRILLED at the results 99.9% of the time in my experience.

larry: I definitely do not turn down work due to horrible art, but I also wouldn't show it off in my shop or on social media etc.  I have printed some terrible, terrible art, sometimes even after suggesting changes and being shot down.  business is still business   The ones that drive me crazy are awkward layouts, like when text that should be centered is off center for no reason, or when you have curved text along a path around a circle and the path doesnt line up with the circle, or line spacings are inconsistent in multi-line text.  I usually will ask if the file is correct, usually suggesting that it could be an issue with file formatting on different computers, but sometimes people just want it to be "wrong" because it matches other stuff they have printed in the past or because they can't admit they made a mistake.  They want to pay for it though, fine with me.

[Rockers]

In the end we all provide a service, which is printing a customers design onto their choice of garments. Now if they would want us to add another service to it which is redesigning their artwork I`m sure the majority of clients would tell so right away. But to suggest to someone that their art is not worth the garment its going to be printed on, well I find pretty disrespectful close to insulting. I don`t think any right minded customers cares if you feel badly represented by printing his art. And anyway who says that your interpretation of his artwork meets the clients taste in the first place? It`s such a designers arrogance I can feel here.

[theMadArtist]

When I'm given art that needs to be vectorized- I ALWAYS take the time to tweak it, making subtle changes to make it look better. In over 30 years I have NEVER had a customer reject it, complain about it, or have me crap-it back as the original. Usually, but not always, they tell the printer what a great job they did!

[theMadArtist]

I remember in the early 80s- before computer graphics for screen printing, I hand stippled this on acetate to be printed in white ink on a navy blue sweater- and the printer thanked me profusely telling me how they RAVED about it. Between my wanting to do great art, and the fact that that printer had done ME a lot of favors- I put FAR more time into it than what I was paid...but it brought me a LOT of work!

It looked better than THIS; this is from a photo of the art and a test print on black....

[theMadArtist]

The printer decided to add ivory for the moon- and it sizzled!