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Has anyone tried the 8 hour Zen of the Pen vector drawing course for $29. Just wondering if it is something that would get one up to speed before the Butler workshop? I'm thinking of ordering it.
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I got back last night and think it was one of the best seminars I've ever attended. I've been working with Photoshop for ten years and learned new and better ways to use it. Especially where vectorizing handlettered art work is concerned. I've never used a tablet/pen, but am going to buy one now. I don't know anything about the Zen of the Pen, but a tablet and the knowledge I gained the past three VERY FULL days will definetly change my artwork for the better. Call me if you want to discuss anything. Mark
PS: It's NOT a design class, by the way. It's how to get YOUR hand lettered sketches into the computer and make them come alive. If you can't design pretty good right now, this class is not going to help you become a better designer. Mark
[ October 06, 2003, 04:18 PM: Message edited by: Mark Rogan ]
-------------------- Mark Rogan The Great Barrington Sign Company 2 Stilwell Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230 mark@gbsignco.com
"Sometimes I think my head is so big because it is so full of fonts" Posts: 332 | From: Great Barrington, MA | Registered: Mar 2003
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The Butler course is a lot like David's designs - imaginative and extremely well done. The course materials include a CD and a booklet with the lesson plans; they are easy to follow and include all the necessary instruction.
While you do need Photoshop 7, you don't need to know much in advance. The course assumes you have never worked in it, and teaches you the tools you need to accomplish the tasks of sign design. David doesn't claim to be a Photoshop "expert"; what he is teaching is his own experience in using this powerful program to create designs that can be manipulated and reproduced with the computer. The idea is to be able to turn a rough pencil sketch into a complete finished design, including both vectors for cutting and color seperations for print reproduction.
I'm not a specialist in computer design; before this course I had never opened Photoshop, had no idea what was involved in digitizing images, had never worked in "layers", and had always been somewhat frustrated by the limitations of signage programs (I'm a "Gerber baby") and available fonts, etc. David has done all the hard work of experimenting with Photshop and perfecting the means of creating your own custom designs on-screen.
The course is demanding, but the atmosphere and cameraderie is pure Letterhead - a sense of learning and sharing with a small group of highly talented and motivated people. Think of a panel-jam with 'puters, and you begin to get the idea.
Some folks have commented on the price. The cost is $495 plus your travel, lodging, etc. and whatever you spend on materials and equipment. In my case I couldn't bear to consider unhooking my office system and carting it to Portsmouth, so I sprung for a new laptop for the course (and took a last-minute run to Wal-Mart for a mouse!) By justification is this: I've already spent thousands for a computer, plotter, scanner, Edge, and the programs to operate them, and still found myself unable to do everything I wanted. Paying $500 for the priveledge of spending a weekend with a designer of David's calibre, for the specific purpose of solving that particular challenge, is short money in exchange for what I got out of it.
Speaking of what you get - the course runs a full eight hours for two days and another five or six on Sunday, during which you get the full dose of Butlerian design logic, including digitizing, coloring, photo manipulation, etc., starting from the very basics. Attendance is limited to allow for individual attention from David in answering questions and, more often than not, patiently going over and over the same points to make them clear and comprehensible. We also enjoyed the hospitality of our hosts Mike and Jill at their shop in Dover on Friday night, (which included a massive and unexpected feast of lobsters!), and most of us got together for a dinner out in Portsmouth Saturday night. In short, this was a Letterhead meet without paint - not as strange a concept as one might think, given the direction the industry is going.
To sum up, this is the kind of course attended by accomplished and talented people who never stop wanting to improve, taught by one of the best and most admired designers - and one of the finest people - in our industry. The best teaching the good how to get better.
It's a whole lot like an intelligent customer spending extra for a really nice sign - they see it as an investment, not an expense. Not all customers understand that. Oh well....
-------------------- "A wise man concerns himself with the truth, not with what people believe." - Aristotle
Cam Bortz Finest Kind Signs Pondside Iron works 256 S. Broad St. Pawcatuck, Ct. 06379 "Award winning Signs since 1988" Posts: 3051 | From: Pawcatuck,Connecticut USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Hey Pat, we've got one in Texas next week. There is still room available.
It's worth every penny just to be able to listen to David for three days. There are not many in our profession with the knowledge and creativity of Butler.
I'm brushing up on Photoshop and hoping to be able to keep up.
-------------------- Chapman Sign Studio Temple, Texas chapmanstudio@sbcglobal.net Posts: 6306 | From: Temple, Texas, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Mark & Cam's comments reflect exactly what I found when I attended the Denver Workshop. Was it worth the money?? HELL YEAH!!!!
I almost canceled my reservation when I saw the list of folks attending (wondering "what have I got myself into THIS time?"). I mean, I know a good design when I see it but MY design skills are somewhat simplistic (I'm probably one of the world's oldest rookie's) and I figured that either it'd be over my head or I'd be a drag on the class. Of course, the chance just to be there & learn whatever I could AND meet a bunch of folks I'd only heard about for years proved to be simply irresistable!! Any doubts I had were put aside after talking with Susie & completely evaporated as soon as I arrived!! I enjoyed the weekend so much I kept my room for an extra day (Monday) and went back over the workbook, just relaxed & let everything soak in!!
Cam's remarks about the price are right on target also!! I replaced my laptop & installed PhotoShop & Illustrator (trial versions) just before I left which added about $850 to the price. I'm not currently involved with signs or design on a daily basis but I still feel that I more than got my money's worth from the weekend!! If you're interested, especialy if you derive a good chuck of your income from signs, I'd highly recommend that you contact David or Susie and reserve a seat!! I'm sure that you'll be glad you did!
p.s. I'll post more about the 1st Workshop later but the class included 3 of the Original 7 Letterheads along with an all-star cast of attendees (except me of course, I'm a rookie)!! And if you're wondering why it's taken me so long to post anything about it, my social skills haven't disappeared....I've just been damn busy!! So.....that's my story & I'm stickin' with it!!
-------------------- Chris Elliott 1longshot@classicnet.net cell 62084two2232 Posts: 686 | From: Scottsdale, AZ & Anthony, KS, USA | Registered: Dec 1999
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One coming up in Florida in November too folks!
I owe a few of you who have contacted me asking about it a response with info. I will be contacting you with some details real soon.
Anyone else interested, call me at 727-821-3789, or email me at janette@janettebalogh.com . You may get in touch with David & Susie for even more detailed info also.
When it comes to Photoshop, we all know there is a lot to learn. These workshops sure look like some prime opportunities to do it!
Nettie
-------------------- "When Love and Skill Work Together ... Expect a Masterpiece"
I will just add that it was worth every penny and the some, What we learn in 3 days would have taken me months many of them if not years to learn on my own, so you do the math on your time, and what it is worth. This class will inspire all who attend to better themselves with their skills both in photoshop and in design.
Not to mention spending time with top notch letterheads, it was simply an awesome experience.
Those who take it will be not look at things the same again. The class is intense but david is an awesome teacher, and patient lol. There were times where it just humbled me as I stumbled like a drunken sailor, to get through certain parts of our project.
I have a job to do tomorrwo that this class will make so much easier and produce a better drawing.
This class is a pure investment in anyones skills for a future in this business. I see it as helping to bring back individual character to signs that got lost in the computer revolution.
I cant actually beleive I enjoy photoshop now.
lol
[ October 06, 2003, 09:30 PM: Message edited by: Bob Rochon ]
-------------------- Bob Rochon Creative Signworks Millbury, MA 508-865-7330
"Life is Like an Echo, what you put out, comes back to you." Posts: 5149 | From: Millbury, Mass. U.S. | Registered: Nov 1998
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Thanks for all the responses. My boss has one question. The seminars that she's experienced have had the slower, less experienced attendees slowing down the class significantly for the more advanced ones. Was this a factor in the classes and if so, how is that addressed.
David has this Huge slingshot, he keeps it attached to the main table and for those who fall behind and hold up the class he fires them right out into the parkinglot.
trust me its a real good motivator once you see the first guy smash like a pumpkin!
[ October 09, 2003, 06:07 PM: Message edited by: Bob Rochon ]
-------------------- Bob Rochon Creative Signworks Millbury, MA 508-865-7330
"Life is Like an Echo, what you put out, comes back to you." Posts: 5149 | From: Millbury, Mass. U.S. | Registered: Nov 1998
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Actually Don David does a great job keeping the class going right along. He also supplies a great booklet that practically takes you right through in complete detail. Once you get up and running he allows others to move ahead while he will help others struggling. He handles it very well.
-------------------- Bob Rochon Creative Signworks Millbury, MA 508-865-7330
"Life is Like an Echo, what you put out, comes back to you." Posts: 5149 | From: Millbury, Mass. U.S. | Registered: Nov 1998
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Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. — Charles Mingus Posts: 6799 | From: Mendocino, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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