GD Tutorial: Episode 4 (Hardware)
Hello guys. I’m back for more. In this week tutorial, we’ll be talking about the hardware stuff for graphic design. I got to say, there are thousand of these stuff that will help you make your work EASIER. Not better. Your work won’t get any better without creativity. Some basic tolls of course screen, tablet pen, graphic card, and memory. But we’ll be taking these aspect more seriously than they actually are.
First, before we get into this topic deeply, I want you all to understand that there are no such thing as best keyboard or best mouse for graphic design or anything. When come to this topic, it actually a very personal topic. To get the best option actually is up to your own personal preferences. Example, for me, I like the big, lase, ergonomic mouse from Logitech and Microsoft. Some of you might don’t like this. Some of you like the small foldable mouse. The point here is when come the the hardware, you really need to feel it by yourself weather you are comfortable with it or not. But remember, before go out and buy something, always do your homework first on the reliability on the thing that you want to buy. Okay, enough about that. Let’s move on.
Screen
The is consider one of the most important aspect in graphic design. Remember:
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1) Try to get big screen with high resolution
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2) Get the screen with accurate colour management profile
One of the best screen I’ve seen out there is the 27” Dell UltraSharp U2711. I’ve used this monitor before and of course not mine, I used this when I was working in my friends studio. The white is so white, the black is so black, and the colour is so vibrant. I love it! But the price is around RM 2699 which is quite expensive for me. But there is some other option like the 23” Dell Ultrasharp. I’ve never seen it before but from what I heard, it is pretty descent for a 23” monitor. And the price is just around RM 600+ which is quite affordable!Anyway, my point I actually want to make is that a graphic designer really need a big screen with high resolution. Believe me on this. It is really painful to work on a small screen since…. you know… it’s just hard.
Graphic Card/RAM/CPU
Pay attention to this if you are a speed freak. Actually, software like Photoshop is very CPU (Central Processing Unit a.k.a processor) and GPU (Graphic Processing Unit a.k.a graphic processor) heavy. Editing software is a resources eater. To get the optimum performance from your hardware, first you will need to make sure that it wasn’t bottlenecking the stuff in your machine. You will need to find a perfect balance between hardware – hardware, and also software – hardware. Then you’ll get the optimized system. It easy actually if you already the concept of computer hardware. A powerful CPU must be paired with a powerful graphic card and powerful RAM. if not, the slower stuff in your computer will slow down your CPU. This also applied to graphic card, RAM and software. The video below will best demonstrate you what actually bottle neck is and how to avoid them.
And also always remember that editing software is always will eat up your RAM as much as they can. So, if your asking my suggestion, I would say 4 GB is a good point to choose on. But if just for fun usage, 2 GB will do just fine. It actually depends on the project that you are working on. If it’s a big size image, best to work on high capacity RAM. If it is just a small image, a little amount of RAM is enough. The more is better.
Input device
Don’t ever forget the most important device in graphic design which is called Pen and Paper. Even though you are a digital artist, pen and paper is really important to sketch out your idea. And the good thing is when you are converting your idea into digital format, the idea will just get better and better when improvement made in the process of converting. “What if I can’t draw?” No problem. You actually can. You just don’t try. In paper, you don’t have to draw you sketch perfectly. If so, what’s the point of using computer in graphic design right? As long as you, yourself can understand the drawing, if’s fine.
Talking about converting into digital format. There are so many tools that you can use to do this. he most common one the using the scanner. The second one is by using the tablet. But tablet is unnecessary for beginner. Just using scanner is just enough. I have use tablet before. One of the best one is the tablet from Wacom. This will cost you some money but again, for me, I think it is just unnecessary unless you are the really2 pro designer that make RM15k a month.
Okay. Enough for today. More coming this week. If any question, just leave it in the comment section below and I’ll try to reply it asap. Bye for now.
I can say that you have good common sense and a practical approach. Thanks.