If Blogs were soil, mine would be seriously decaying.
The number of visits hasn't been as low since the time I began to write this blog. Ouch.
Where to start?
In this era where creativity must meet with technology, I decided to do a training on how to use Adobe Illustrator.
After many hours of attempt at using the tool and in order to save you time and money, here is what I retain of the software.
This tool is seriously evil.
In
theory, it seems a great concept. Adobe Illustrator is a vector
graphics editor allowing to draw, create geometrical shapes, symmetrical
curves and even make a vector copy of your photos. Developed and
marketed by Adobe Systems you would think that it is bound to be
perfected and user-friendly with its latest version (Illustrator CS5)
the fifteenth generation in the product line by now. But you would be
wrong.
Instead of making a list of what the tool brought me, I began to make a list in my head of what the tool took away from me.
Here is this list:
1) It'll take the creativity out of you.
The tool is so illogical and unintuitive, it's frankly ridiculous.
The guy who created this software must have the artistic mindset of a dinosaur. In fact it has probably killed a lot of artists' spirits over the years. A simple task of creating a shadow on an apple will require you to do 4 or 5 actions. None of them are easy to guess. I have used more often the CTRL+Z (undo task) than I have done "stuff."
2) It'll take the fun out of you.
Those damn Layers.
I can see how one morning that guy who created this software decided to be clever by creating the notion of layers making hundred of us suffer for it.
In his perfectly organised life, where Order made perfect sense, from the inside of his fridge to his shirts neatly ironed, this guy decided that layers were the key to design and without it, well nothing really would work. If by inadvertence, you've just clicked on the wrong layer, you can't edit nothing. Same pb if you forgot to unlock a layer or view a layer. Every layer has to be named. One layer above or below another layer will change the complete outlook of your design. All in all, if you don't have discipline, Adobe Illustrator will grind this quality into you, layer by layer.
3) It'll take forever to open.
About 2 minutes which is crazy and that's because it's a heavy tool. It uses a massive amount of memory from your pc.
4)It'll take money out of your wallet.
That's right. 600 $ ( not cheap) You can use the trial for free for 30 days. But why would you pay that when you can have a similar tool for free? Inkscape is an Open Source vector graphics editor which works similarly to Adobe Illustrator. At least if you get a headache, you'll have a headache for free.
http://inkscape.org/
5) It'll take every ounce of patience you have.
A simple drawing, let's say the drawing of a pig with nice eyes and a nice little curly tail, will take 4 or 5 hours.
If you don't believe me, here's a link to a guy's website who did a humming bird.
In appearance, it seem a very simple design to make. Only it took him 6 hours to do it.
http://www.jackthe7th.com/tech/hatred-adobe-illustrator/
Summary.
So there you go. Adobe Terminator, I
mean, Illustrator will l take everything from you and will give you
nothing back. Except maybe a headache. Or a few. Depending on how
serious you are about learning how to use the tool.
Was it worth it?
Yes.
Would I do it again?
Yes.
Only because there's no escaping from it if you want to know how designing graphics works.
Was the course interesting?
Yes.
Would I design a better tool if I was a genius?
Definitely.
Would I unleash my frustration on the designer of that tool if he was in front of me?
Probably.
Any comments on that tool? Have you ever used it? Do you like it? Dislike it?
Here and now is the time to tell the world about it.
