Donal Jolley's Photoshop Workshop to Support Johns Creek Art Center
A rare opportunity for people living in and around the city of Johns Creek will start on January 9th and run for 8 weeks. I will be presenting a 16+ hour Basic Photoshop class to benefit the Johns Creek Arts Center. The workshop will be aimed at people completely new to Photoshop, but throughout the classes I will be interspersing little tips and techniques most students of any skill level will find quite helpful. And best of all, the cost is simply amazing - $150 for JCAC members and $170 for non-members.
The flyer provides a blow-by-blow description of the curriculum over an eight week span. My classes always begin with a foundational session of how Photoshop "thinks," something I found many professionals had never been taught. Once an individual has that under their belt it becomes considerably easier to master this beast of a program. My classes are not only informative but are also quite a lot of fun! Art students, high school instructors, amateur and professional photographers and design students will all come away with a lot of valuable material in this special event.
So come on out, learn Photoshop and support the Johns Creek Arts Center while having a great time. Space will be limited by class size and participants will need to bring their own laptops and software. (Hot tip: The Wacom BAMBOO tablet costs $99 and comes with a license for Photoshop Elements, while Elements costs $79 online after a $20 mail-in rebate.) For online registration and more information go to http://www.johnscreekart.org or call them directly at (770) 623-8448.
Gladly Providing Financial Help to my Clients
Because of the poor economy many people are obviously suffering and businnesses struggling. My own priorities list has never included being a rich man, but high on the list has been giving what I can to assist others to have a better quality of life. I understand how really tough it is to make a living these days, so I have decided to provide my customers with a line item 30% discount on my work, and to not add any additional upcharge when purchasing supplies or resources for their jobs. This decision was made because I've always worked with the ethic that I am a partner with the clients with whom I work, and that if they can take that savings and apply it towards the high costs of employing other people who have families to support then that sacrifice is worth it. It's my investment in my clients–and my friends.
My clients are very important to me, not simply because they sign my paycheck, but because I like them as individuals. When I work with them I take a personal interest in their success, which makes it all that easier and more exciting to do really good work for them and keep myself loving what I do. It really chaps me to hear the horror stories so commonly associated with my field, the most having to do with excessive billing for even average work, much less the top-drawer caliber I particularly enjoy producing.
If you're looking for a freelance designer I'd love to be considered, but this isn't some gimmick to attract business. One of the risks of lowering prices is it can attract customers who are not a great "fit," but I'd rather have that than lose favorite clients because of the difficult times simply because the cost of my help is prohibitive.
In order to develop new business to help pay for this 30% reduction, I'm also offering a $100 cash referral fee to anyone who refers a new client my way. If the new client tells me the name of whoever told them about my work, I will send that person $100 upon receipt of the first check received in payment for services over $1000. (Obviously, the exception to this offer is whenever it's illegal or unethical, or even has the appearance of such.)
"The Illustrator CS5 WOW! Book" Connection...
I am the proud parent of work in three of the very top publications available for digital artists and designers!
For those who don't know, there are three book series published by Peachpit Press, one of the top publishers of digital design "how to" books in the world, that go by the name of the "WOW!" series. Those three are The Photoshop WOW! Book, The Painter WOW! Book and The Adobe Illustrator WOW! Book, and are generally considered to be about the best out there in the vast selection available.
Not 100% certain, but with my work used in Sharon Stauer's "The Adobe Illustrator CS5 WOW! Book," published by Peachpit Press, I'm the *only person ever to be in each of the three WOW! Books. While I've been in The Painter WOW! Books and The Photoshop WOW! Books for awhile, my Illustrator capabilities had flown under the radar. Sharon was happily surprised to discover my expertise with Adobe Illustrator and asked if I might be interested in doing a few things for the book. I ended up sending over work featuring both type effects and freehand illustrations demonstrating different brush effects, as well as some "doodling" for a fun chapter transition. And my plot to take over the digital art world has taken one more step...
Look for "The Adobe Illustrator CS5 WOW! Book" coming out on August 22, 2010, covering all of the outstanding new features of Illustrator CS5 as well as galleries and examples galore!
Sales Site goes live!...
So many people over the years have asked me if I sold my work. "I hadn't really pursued it too much," was the lame answer I'd give, looking for my shoes as though they were full of advice on the matter. With the unveiling of several new sports drawings comes the opening of The Jolley Studio Store! There you'll be able to transfer your entire life savings directly into my business account in return for fancy wallpaper and eventually a t-shirt, mug or other cheap trinkets.