APA Open Community

Folks, new to the group and semi new to the signs and awards part of the industry.  We have been a decorated apparel and promotional product company since the beginning.  While journeying through and getting more connected to these verticals I have been seeing a lot of bottle neck in the artwork and design part.  Would anyone be willing to take me under there wing and mentor me in this.  I personally operate in Coreldraw my "graphic designer" is in Photoshop, AI, and Indesign.  What I expect for vector art does not seem to be the expectations for the sign and awards section.  Would love some guidance and appreciate any and all feedback.  Thank you in advance. 

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Bobby Sullivan
Budget Graphics
Port Saint Lucie FL
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Are you using an in-house graphic designer?  If not, you will need to find someone else who has some modest experience with the production side of the industry so they know how to properly set up the artwork for your needs.

I've personally kept the artwork creation in-house using the CorelDRAW Graphic Suite, but am gradually outsourcing some of the design work using AI.  That has been a time saver and has opened up some new creative inspiration.  I also us SketchUp for creating more advanced 3-D renderings for custom award designs.

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David Takes
Expressions Engraved
Saint Joseph, MO
816.232.6000
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Corel is the most widely used in our industry. Though depending on your application (Laser/rotary engraving, sublimation/UV print), some machines have proprietary programs. What I have found pretty consistently is that we are PC based and Corel handles that really well. All our art is done in house, feel free to give me a buzz if you want to go over specifics. We've moved through the industry for 30 years and have a good idea of what is needed.

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Megan Raymond
Owner, Raymond's Trophy & Awards
Bakersfield, CA
661-323-4015
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We use :       art@esteemgraphix.in   they are very good, fast and inexpensive.

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Fred Schwartz
Quality One Engravers Inc
Rancho Cucamonga CA
909.989.3898
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