Photoshop Fanboyism
As a web developer I can really appreciate a well designed website (very much unlike this one). The drawing tools available have made it possible for creative minds to invent some very attractive designs.
Unfortunately some of these tools allow even the most colorblind web junkies to feel like an artist. Adobe Photoshop, in particular, is especially guilty of this. Evaluating the name Photoshop clearly indicates that it is meant for editing photos. Sure, you can make some slick designs if you’ve got a creative edge in you. The ones that missed the talent bus are particularly skilled at using the Filter menu. Yes, you are now an abstract artist thanks to the Gaussian Blur tool. Congratulations.
If only there were a tool that didn’t allow such easy manipulation. You know, something that forced you to make a shape or two before letting the Filter menu spoon feed you creativity. Unless you’re a mental midget, there’s really no need to pick the low hanging fruit on this one.
A better idea would probably be to try out some drawing programs such as Adobe Illustrator as opposed to the painting (like paint by numbers) programs such as Photoshop. They will force you to make lines and shapes and designs. You’ll be starting from scratch instead of enhancing a preconceived piece of art. The nice thing about drawing programs is that they generate vector graphics instead of bitmaps. The difference is that vector graphics are mathematically derived using lines and color fills whereas bitmap graphics are calculated on a per-pixel basis. The vector graphics can be resized indefinitely without distortion while the bitmaps are constrained to each pixel relying on its neighbor to help define its identity.
Out of the few things I learned from high school art class, and I stress few, was the most important distinction between art and crap is detail. Well, no shit. But what I really mean is that you can add things to a picture and enhance it or you can add things to a picture and degrade it. Remember the old saying, “Garbage in, garbage out!” Details are what will enhance it and clutter will degrade it. A lot of people confuse details with small things placed randomly throughout the picture. No, details aren’t just small things. They are there to make what’s already there better. They are the icing on the cake so to speak. They are the buttons on the coat. They are the… details! Generally they should make people notice that something is different but not be able to put their finger on it.
An interesting way to illustrate this concept is to imagine an abstract scene of shapes and lines. It does not have to represent anything other than art. It is abstract after all. If you told someone to add something to the image they would either add another object to the image or they would add detail to an object already on the image. Which one do you think would be better? Usually adding detail will be the wiser decision. It may seem obvious but you would be surprised how many times I saw the poor choice taking place. When you use Photoshop you seem to end up with more filtered images with less detail. Good artists know what they are doing but the larger majority do not.
Look at it this way, if you’re trying to, uh, illustrate something such as a logo, layout, or icon you will probably want to use Illustrator. If you would rather remove the red-eye from the photo of your kitty, Mrs. Buttersworth, than you will definitely want to use Photoshop.
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