Quote Originally Posted by FirstBlood View Post
Thanks for the critique andrew. I think you need to understand that this was all pretty hastily done, as the project for me was more of a "do this in your spare time" sort of thing.
Yeah, we all do the quick cash grab projects. It's part of the industry. You probably already know this but make sure you take some jobs, even if they pay less or nothing, to pad your portfolio with. The "i'm doing this for free so you'll fucking like it because i'm a pro" pro bono work gives you the kind of leverage you need to really build a great portfolio piece so long as you're confident enough to be firm with clients. For me, though, saying hell no to a dumb request is one of the funnest parts.

I still do free design pieces from time to time (i'm working on one right now as I browse TNL actually).

Plus this is the first design project I've worked on in more than two years. It felt good to get back into the swing of things, but It also reminded me of how technically unequipped I am (definitely need to delve into some advanced Illustrator techniques, oh and buy a god damn scanner).
I love scanners and hi-res photoshop brushes (and make sure they're hi-res, www.Brusheezy.com is a great site to leech). For illustrator concentrate on the pen tool. That's all you need to know from the start. Download images, logo's and lifestyle shots of people and trace them. Make sure the lines are perfect (so if you trace the Pepsi logo, make sure the curves don't have little kinks in them where the curve meets a straight edge). Illustrator is entirely about the pen tool. Everything else is secondary (except the undo key).