Productivity Grows with Proper Art Department Gear

Follow these tips when shopping for equipment and software tools for your art department team.
Oct 1, 2008

It is recommended to have a drawing station well stocked with pencils, tracing paper, sketch pads and drawing pens. Ideally, you keep a variety of pens: ballpoint, felt tip markers, technical markers, etc. (Image courtesy of Mind's Eye Graphics).

If you're thinking about adding an art department to your business — or if you're just considering upgrading your existing one to make it current — you may be wondering where to begin. What kind of equipment do you really need? What kind of pens, pencils and brushes should you buy? What size computer and which software programs?

Not to worry. Equipping your art department with the right items is as simple as checking out the following shopping list, courtesy of two industry veterans: artists Dane Clement, president, Great Dane Graphics, Maple Grove, Minn., and Thomas Trimingham, consultant, Art4Screen.com, McHenry, Ill.

Furniture
Before you head to the electronics store to stock up on computers and software, you're going to need a place to put all the stuff, right? Here's what you'll need:

Desks. Look for desks that are height adjustable so that artists can position their monitors at the proper height: at eye line. Here's a chiropractor's tip: Are you having neck problems? These may be caused by the height of your monitor. You should be able to look straight ahead, not down. Avoid neck pain by making sure it's at the proper height.

Chairs. Purchase comfortable chairs that sit upright and provide plenty of support. Sounds obvious enough, but you'd be surprised how many business owners scrimp on chairs, only to leave their employees feeling uncomfortable — and unproductive.

Drawing tables. Many artists use drawing tables, which ideally should be positioned so they can be reached without leaving the desk. "You need at least one drawing table," says Clement. "Since most of the artwork will take place in the computer, you should be able to get by with using one station for the drawing area, even if you have several artists. Get a board that can be adjusted to a comfortable position for each artist."

A common worktable also is useful if space allows. Artists may need space to spread projects out or, if nothing else, it makes a repository for magazines, books, and other reference materials that various artists are using for jobs. Another great way to have reference materials handy is a display board. "I'm a fan of bulletin boards, where you can hang information about trends, artwork and shirt samples," Trimingham says.

"You need a common worktable that's free of clutter to lay out reference materials or mount color comps to art boards for presentations," Clement says. "It's also a good idea to have an empty wall that will be used to tack up design layouts for observation and critiquing from the staff."

Light tables. Unless your shop uses a process where the artists need to do multiple traces, you may not need a light table, Trimingham says. "A job goes faster if the art is finished clean on the computer, rather than spending a lot of time sketching by hand," he explains. Some shops still use light tables, others do not. Be guided by your employees' preferences.

Supplies. Pencils, tracing paper, sketch pads and drawing pens all may come in handy, especially if your artists do lots of tracing. Most importantly, though, is a variety of pens: ballpoint, felt tip markers, technical markers, etc. "For sketching, you also need a variety of papers, including clear vellum and marker paper," Trimingham says.

You may not find much use for supplies like brushes and charcoals, as most fine artwork is simulated on the computer nowadays, Trimingham says. "In the time it would take for you to get out your brushes and ink, you could just do it in [Adobe] Photoshop," he says. "You only need those kinds of supplies if you're doing original, high-end stuff."

Computers & Software
You've probably seen the commercials with actors portraying a Mac and a PC, each with totally different personality types — which begs the question, should your shop be a Mac or a PC? "It probably doesn't matter," says Clement. "The software required to get your job done comes cross platform."

What is more important is that you get the most powerful machine you can afford. "The faster the processor, the quicker your work will get done," Clement says. "For processor speed, hard drive and RAM, the easiest answer is to get as much as you can."

Another important computer consideration is its video card, which is essentially the go-between that feeds information from your computer to the monitor, Trimingham explains; a better card means your computer can draw images on screen faster (technically, it's called rendering). "It's a delicate purchase. You want the best video card, but you may not want a cutting-edge one because it may not be compatible with your graphics software," he says. "It can lock up and give you other problems."

Regardless of the computer's capabilities, be careful about purchasing it used. This is a critical tool in your art department, and you don't want to get stuck with outdated or poorly performing electronics. "Many computers are like cars: They don't come fully loaded so they're underpowered," Trimingham says. "Buy the very best processor, RAM (memory) and video card you can afford."

Laptops. As laptop computers get increasingly powerful, it has become possible to set up a sort of "virtual art department," where artists can work from home and connect into your shop's network. (Keep in mind that freelance or contract artists, illustrators or designers working from their home office computers also can use this type of setup.)

If you decide to explore this route, make sure that your artists are not saving their work only to the laptop hard drive; they should always be saving to your shop's network. "The laptop will break," cautions Trimingham. "Those little disks [notebook hard drives] spinning around will not last more than a few years."

Laptops may make sense if you allow flextime, where artists work a few days from home. Give this serious consideration, though, as you may not want expensive laptops going in and out the door every day.

Monitors. The more visual real estate you can give your artists, the better, so purchase large monitors. "I recommend a 24-inch, high-resolution flat-screen monitor," says Clement. "A 17-inch monitor is an absolute minimum."

Software. You'll need a number of software packages for your art department, chief among them being a vector-based drawing program and a continuous-tone, pixel-based image editor, Clement says.

"You'll use your vector program — Adobe Freehand, Adobe Illustrator, or CorelDRAW — for the majority of your work, including adding text to your design and creating logos," he explains. "For the image editor, I recommend Adobe Photoshop; it's the industry standard. Most new separation software comes in the form of a Photoshop plug-in." CorelDRAW Graphics Suite does have a large market share among apparel decorators and sign shops. It's considerably less expensive than the corresponding Adobe products, but is Windows-only.

Other software goodies include third-party plug-ins, filters and other tools that can add spice and speed to the department's output. "Budget for things like Eye Candy, royalty-free artwork and photo CDs," says Clement. "Anything that helps the artist create better artwork faster is a money-maker."

Scanners. The most important things to consider when purchasing a scanner are the optical resolution, the bit depth or color depth, and scanning bed size. "The larger the scanning bed, the higher the price of the scanner," says Clement. "You can get an excellent quality letter-size scanner for $100 to $200, but I suggest a legal-size scan bed as a minimum."

However, Trimingham says a standard letter-size scanner can work. "A larger scanner is a big chunk of change, and you can just tile larger images that won't fit on the smaller scanner," he explains. "Just make sure it can handle up to 1200 dots per inch — that's 'true' DPI, not magnified DPI."

Output devices. A laser printer can be used to proof art and documents, and to produce finished film separations. "Laser printers can print upwards of 1200 dpi, with a page size of 13" x 35" — that's pretty amazing, but it may be overkill for screen printers," Clement says. "A 600 dpi output printer that can print a page size of 13"x 19" will more than meet the requirements of a screen print art department."

Laser printers with Postscript capability make great output devices, Trimingham says, because they print so much quicker than inkjet devices. "You're waiting up to two minutes, where a laser printer takes about 10 seconds," he explains.

Laser printers run about $800 for an 11" x 17" unit, Trimingham says, while inkjet devices that can print 13" x 17" start at about $1,000. Ideally, says Trimingham, have at least one of each — "an inkjet printer for perfect registration on halftone work, and a laser printer for economical one- and two-color solutions."

"Look for a color printer capable of printing a design at actual size or as close to actual size as possible," Clement says. "Depending on the software and print drivers that come with your printer, you may need to purchase a software RIP to print your film positives with halftone screens."

"Color laser printers are more expensive but faster and much cheaper on toner. Inkjets are cheaper to buy, but more expensive on ink by far. My recommendation is color laser because the cost per print is so much less," says Trimingham.

Digitizing tablets. Your artists may like using pressure-sensitive tablets, which many find to be more ergonomically friendly than a mouse alone, Trimingham says. "Any artist who has been in the industry for more than 10 years will get carpal tunnel syndrome unless she has taken steps to use an ergonomic mouse and pressure-sensitive tablet," he says. "For screen printers, the standard 4"x 5" by Wacom is the one to use, although you may want a larger one if you're doing lots of illustrating."

Clement says a pen tablet will allow your artists "to be much more expressive and natural in his approach to a design. Many people think of these as optional luxuries, I consider mine an absolute necessity."

Printer/copier/fax machine. If your shop doesn't already have a printer, copier and fax machine (whether as an all-in-one unit or three separate units), you'll need it for your art department for proofing.

Storage devices. The prices of removable hard drives have fallen dramatically, as has the cost of DVD and CD burners, meaning there's no excuse for your art department not to have backup storage for all artwork files. "You can get a 500 gigabyte hard drive for about $100," Trimingham says. "They're more reliable than DVDs because they don't get scratched."

Even a less-expensive CD burner can do the trick, Clement says. "The cost of burning a disk is less than $1," he says. "You also can use it for sending files to clients or as a backup system. I burn two archive disks. One stays at the office, the other I take home with me. This allows me to have a full backup of all artwork in two separate locations."

FTP access. While DVDs are handy if you need to ship files back and forth to customers, another option is to set up a third-party FTP (file transfer protocol) account, which lets you exchange large files with customers. "You can get free accounts from companies like YouSendIt, or you can purchase accounts for larger files," Trimingham says. "I send things electronically whenever I can."

Also, if you have pay for a commercial Web site hosting plan, it's very likely your hosting service offers at least one FTP account with your plan.

Backup power. Imagine artists working for hours on end on a demanding piece of artwork, only to lose everything due to a power surge or failure. "You need an alternative power source, like a battery backup," Trimingham says. "Get one that's powerful enough that your computer can run for up to an hour. That way, you can save your files and close things down. These units aren't cheap, but they're worth every penny."

Adds Clement: "This may be one of the least glamorous parts to your system, but it's an important component. More than just a surge protector, these units use battery power to keep your system running in the event of a power failure."

Other Resources
A library of inspirational art books is a helpful resource — albeit an expensive one, with publications costing as much as $1,200. "You also can get online stuff for inspiration," Trimingham says.

"Your art department should be stocked with reference books — books with lots of pictures covering a broad range of subject matter," Clement says. "These books need not be purchased new. You can look in used bookstores, or garage sales to add to your library. You can also create a set of files used to store pictures of things, such as cats, trucks, boats, etc. These photos, magazine clippings, etc. should be stored alphabetically for easy retrieval."

Equally inspirational is a trend board, Trimingham says, where you clip and post graphics from movies, magazines and Web sites. "You can show the latest trends, and that's more current and useful than a book," he says.

Deborah Sexton, the former editor of Impressions, has been in the decorated apparel industry for more than 25 years. She currently does marketing and public relations for decorated apparel companies. To comment on this article or for more information, contact Deborah at dsexton@sbcglobal.net.

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