making your own flyers...

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making your own flyers...
Posted on: 07.08.2012 by Ada Matzkin
i have a gig in a few weeks and im responsible for most of the promotion myself on this one, im wondering if anyone can point me to a easy to use and FREE graphics program that has some decent fonts and stuff for flyer making. any suggestions?
Ulysses Vittetoe
10.08.2012
Originally Posted by rotebass
You had me up until the flaming letters. Seriously, they don't look good at all, you need something that pops out and tells the viewer all the vital info they need to know about your event. Flaming letters pop out and tell the viewer that you probably suck at life.
Those letters look more like they have plants growing out of them. Lol
Cassie Sangermano
10.08.2012
Originally Posted by Eliot Han
http://www.gimp.org/

it is an open source program that runs similar to photoshop. and it's free
This^^


(Just realised that I missed out reading 3 whole pages of this thread when i posted this!! Seems a bit out of context now!)
Ada Matzkin
10.08.2012
Originally Posted by rotebass
You had me up until the flaming letters. Seriously, they don't look good at all, you need something that pops out and tells the viewer all the vital info they need to know about your event. Flaming letters pop out and tell the viewer that you probably suck at life.

And u suck at reading...its not for an event.now post something of yours unless you're scared.
Lela Umanskaya
10.08.2012
Originally Posted by Deejaesnafu
Attachment 11701well this isnt my flyer but something i put together doing some tutorials..
You had me up until the flaming letters. Seriously, they don't look good at all, you need something that pops out and tells the viewer all the vital info they need to know about your event. Flaming letters pop out and tell the viewer that you probably suck at life.
Ada Matzkin
10.08.2012		swampy.jpgwell this isnt my flyer but something i put together doing some tutorials..
Margie Pavell
09.08.2012		I say we should have a flyer making contest...

Maybe some people will shut up and see that you don't need a professional to do a good job that you are proud of and maybe some other people will shut up and leave things like this to professionals.

but in anycase...alot of people shut up...
Lela Umanskaya
09.08.2012
Originally Posted by sobi
You're right. I should get used to the fact that the bar is being lowered. Those of us with a passion for quality in the arts should get used to the DIYer's making half assed work acceptable... or at least the norm.
Story of my life. I work full time as an Audio Engineer and also selling and servicing pro sound gear (as well as MI), if you want to look at a market that is chock full of un-qualified ankle-biters, look no further.
Freida Leash
09.08.2012		There are some excellent design books that can teach the principles of shape and color the one that comes to mind that I enjoyed is http://www.amazon.com/Picture-This-H.../dp/1587170299 this coupled with some basic concepts on page layout that are intuitive for most people with an eye for it, and I don't see why you can't knock out a fair enough flyer for a bar gig printed off a photocopier. Everyone has to start somewhere and you might find you enjoy making flyers and keep learning.

I don't see why everyone is up on your case for doing something... it is more than most people ever get around to doing. Not like you are shooting to have your flyer and event get a write up in URB.

Photocopy flyers can be really cool too, in some ways the limitations make it more fun, choosing a colored paper and running a tight graphic that is bold can be super striking. They can have a nice super legit feel for an underground event. I've been to parties that drew 450 or so people on a photocopy flyer advertising a evening at a crappy venue that was a ton of fun.
Shalon Jaranilla
09.08.2012		Well, it's all in the eye and ear of the beholder, It has always been and always stay's like this, give people some credit and let them judge for them selves what they like. Some will walk with the masses some will like to walk with the different orientated and some like to walk alone.

And dj dwonka don't let them get under your skin, you seem to be a young kid, and kudos for you for trying to get something going.
Darren Teboe
10.08.2012
Originally Posted by Deejaesnafu
all kinds of "professionals" are being replaced by people that have figured out that these things arent that hard to learn.
You're right. I should get used to the fact that the bar is being lowered. Those of us with a passion for quality in the arts should get used to the DIYer's making half assed work acceptable... or at least the norm.
Ada Matzkin
09.08.2012		"i don't see anyone on here saying fuck designers and i don't see why it's such a big deal for anyone to create their own flyer with free software. you have no idea how creative these people are and yet you are casting judgements about them without even seeing their work or knowing them. "


this^^

seriously this is a 100 dollar gig late evening at a bar... i should hire a designer, maybe a street team, get some merch made up and find some dancers? people need to understand that not every gig/dj is going to need this kind of work on promotional stuff...in fact if i had a super pro flyer handed to me and then showed up to this, id be more let down than getting a simple and to the point B&W flyer that lets people know what to expect and NOT show up looking for frank sinatra.


with some youtube and programs like gimp anyone (with some artistic drive) can produce a nice flyer...sorry once again if your field of expertise whether DJing OR designing is being over run by the DIY crowd , but you arent the first..back in my day we had these things called travel agents..replaced by interwebz...we had CD stores...replaced by interwebz...all kinds of "professionals" are being replaced by people that have figured out that these things arent that hard to learn.

Dont hate the playa...hate the game
Joselyn Supina
08.08.2012
Originally Posted by keithace
get gimp and a fontviewer. There are tons of free font sites. Make it very simple and very easy to read. Years ago when i would make my design my own for the evening s i used to do i would just rob cool pics and use the empty spaces for the info. I thought flyers should look cool but also convey the info effortlessly.

I taught myself on a pirated copy of photoshop 5. I'd like to believe they looked pretty damn good
I do flyers for my office to hand out at trade shows...this is essentially what I do. I go through my photos to find something relevant to the trade show (I work in the pet industry, so pictures of my pets usually end up on the flyer) and use the negative space for my company info.

KISS
Celine Surico
08.08.2012		... restaurant gigs... worst things you could pull off... Avoid offending any customer. Maybe play Frank Sinatra.
Cole Maroto
08.08.2012
Originally Posted by sobi
I've seen countless people agree on here that it just isn't right to hire shit DJ's who don't know what they are doing and have no experience. It takes jobs out of the hands of other DJ's who have worked hard for a long time that love their craft. It makes it harder for experienced guys to find gigs because the market gets flooded with kids who just pirate software, download the beatport top 10 lists, and play it all with no idea of what they are doing. You get the point
personally i don't care if a venue hires "a shit dj who doesn't know what they are doing." if i go to a place where this happens frequently, i will not be returning to support it. if that venue can consistently pull in people and money by doing this, then they are making a business decision that's working for them. my guess would be that over time, bad dj, after bad dj will affect their business negatively and they will have to re-evaluate who they are hiring. unfortunately this probably does happen to some degree and is just the nature of business. you either have to have enough passion to come out the other end still doing what you love, or just throw the towel in if it's that bad in your eyes. support places that you love that are helping the dj community. use tools like yelp and review the good and bad places accordingly. generally ranting on community s about this isn't going to help or change anything.

also, i find it hard to believe that it is taking that much business out of the hands of these so-called professionals or experienced djs. you cannot honestly tell me that little kids with no experience are generally landing that many professional club/bar gigs consistently. i believe some of the times people are delusional and believe they are these professionals who make and spin great music when that really isn't the case. i know several of them and they are always the first to blame people who use laptops and controllers and play shitty top 10 beatport music as the cause of them not getting any professional gigs. really what they should be doing is evaluating themselves to see what they can do better to get paid for djing. i know a guy like this who trainwrecks hard trance songs when he djs, writes dissonant terribly produced hard trance songs, and is trying to charge $900 hour with a 2 hour minimum, once a week with a forced 3 month contract and believes that other people using laptops are why he is not getting gigs.

back when i first started djing it was basically impossible for me to get a gig in environment where i could make a little money. i did and still do it because i love it. there was maybe a handful of bars that had an open mic kind of situation and a few others that would allow you to bring in all your own gear and sound system to play for no money. now, many bars out here have legitimate setups and will pay people a bit to come in and do what they love for a couple of hours. even though there are probably more people djing now (some of whom are not any good), there are definitely more outlets for us to play at in most areas and cream will always rise to the top in my eyes.

I find it hypocritical that as DJ's, we find it permissible to talk that out of one side of our mouths and then virtually try to do the same thing to other areas of the creative fields. We shouldn't short change fellow DJ's and always do the right thing as far as the music goes, but when it comes to designers, fuck them? find a workaround and go on the cheap? Fuck that. As a professional who makes their living in the design field, I find it offensive.
i don't see anyone on here saying fuck designers and i don't see why it's such a big deal for anyone to create their own flyer with free software. you have no idea how creative these people are and yet you are casting judgements about them without even seeing their work or knowing them. i used to be a good designer way back in the days of photoshop 2/3 (i believe). i took many college courses and i still have that spark in me to some degree but i don't really do it any longer. if i wanted to create a flyer on free software and you came in with your comments like you did i would take offense in your blind judgement of my skill and creativity.

as a designer and member of this community you could have easily opted to help the op out and let him know your prices on work or maybe recommend some people that could help for his budget. you may have gotten a client in him or maybe not. you may have even made a client in the future when someone finds this thread looking for help. instead you opted for sarcasm and negativity, which generally doesn't help a professional in getting business.

Craigslist Ad:

We are a small & casual restaurant in downtown Vancouver and we are looking for solo musicians to play in our restaurant to promote their work and sell their CD. This is not a daily job, but only for special events which will eventually turn into a evening ly event if we get positive response. More jazz, rock, & smooth type music, around the world and mixed cultural music. Are you interested to promote your work? Please reply back ASAP.

A Musician’s Reply:

Happy new year! I am a musician with a big house looking for a restauranteur to come to my house to promote his/her restaurant by making dinner for me and my friends. This is not a daily job, but only for special events which will eventually turn into a evening ly event if we get a positive response. More fine dining & exotic meals mixed with some ethnic fusion cuisine. Are you interested to promote your restaurant? Please reply back ASAP.
i saw this thread and i get the point that is trying to be made but i don't believe it's quite accurate and it doesn't really work both ways (i did get a laugh when i read it though).

let me explain why it doesn't quite work. the restaurant is offering for you to promote yourself in front of their customers and then sell your goods to make money. it's then inferred that once it's a normal engagement you will probably be making money from it. even if not from the business you're selling goods to a shifting client base and getting your name out there in a public business. i've seen this occur in restaurants and the bands always have tip jars. if they are good, then the jar is generally full when they leave. if they can sell some cds, then that's even more money for doing what they love.

on the other hand inviting chefs to a house isn't going to promote them or make them any money. it would be more fair to say, i'm a dj/musician at "cool spot bar" downtown and they currently don't serve any food there. would you be willing to come in and promote your restaurant to our patrons and sell some of your gift cards or desserts, chocolates, etc. and yes, this has happened in my area through yelp events and the like, so it does occur. many small businesses would be happy to promote themselves in a proper environment and eat some cost in order to increase their overall business. it can be beneficial to both parties, but if you don't want a gig like this, then you are more than welcome to decline it.
Lela Umanskaya
08.08.2012
Originally Posted by Dwonka27
Well my apologies for using the resources i have to try and do something i love. Im not good with any photoshop (or similiar program) so kiss my ass and when u pay big bucks for a flyer that 90 percent of the people throw away go for it! happy flyer making u cocky assholes
You don't have to pay big bucks to get a good looking flyer. Just stay the hell away from http://www4.flamingtext.com/
Margie Pavell
08.08.2012		i thought this was a thread about someone asking for help...

not someone asking to be ridiculed...
Ardell Lafranchi
08.08.2012
Originally Posted by BFLY
Its a shit flyer but at least they are trying to do something. But yeah, the flyer is shit someone else should do it.
Well my apologies for using the resources i have to try and do something i love. Im not good with any photoshop (or similiar program) so kiss my ass and when u pay big bucks for a flyer that 90 percent of the people throw away go for it! happy flyer making u cocky assholes
Lela Umanskaya
08.08.2012
Originally Posted by sobi
Seriously.... if you believe I was saying cheap design will ruin EDM or DJ sets, it's pointless to try and explain, but I will anyhow.
I've seen countless people agree on here that it just isn't right to hire shit DJ's who don't know what they are doing and have no experience. It takes jobs out of the hands of other DJ's who have worked hard for a long time that love their craft. It makes it harder for experienced guys to find gigs because the market gets flooded with kids who just pirate software, download the beatport top 10 lists, and play it all with no idea of what they are doing. You get the point
I find it hypocritical that as DJ's, we find it permissible to talk that out of one side of our mouths and then virtually try to do the same thing to other areas of the creative fields. We shouldn't short change fellow DJ's and always do the right thing as far as the music goes, but when it comes to designers, fuck them? find a workaround and go on the cheap? Fuck that. As a professional who makes their living in the design field, I find it offensive.
If you replace the musician with a designer, there is no difference in the following.
+1, it's not that hard to find a friend who does design work for a living. Get them a comp ticket, or a bottle of their favourite drink, and get them to throw something together. We have a bulletin board at the shop I work at, I couldn't even describe how shitty most of the flyers are.
Darren Teboe
08.08.2012		Seriously.... if you believe I was saying cheap design will ruin EDM or DJ sets, it's pointless to try and explain, but I will anyhow.
I've seen countless people agree on here that it just isn't right to hire shit DJ's who don't know what they are doing and have no experience. It takes jobs out of the hands of other DJ's who have worked hard for a long time that love their craft. It makes it harder for experienced guys to find gigs because the market gets flooded with kids who just pirate software, download the beatport top 10 lists, and play it all with no idea of what they are doing. You get the point
I find it hypocritical that as DJ's, we find it permissible to talk that out of one side of our mouths and then virtually try to do the same thing to other areas of the creative fields. We shouldn't short change fellow DJ's and always do the right thing as far as the music goes, but when it comes to designers, fuck them? find a workaround and go on the cheap? Fuck that. As a professional who makes their living in the design field, I find it offensive.
If you replace the musician with a designer, there is no difference in the following.

Craigslist Ad:

We are a small & casual restaurant in downtown Vancouver and we are looking for solo musicians to play in our restaurant to promote their work and sell their CD. This is not a daily job, but only for special events which will eventually turn into a evening ly event if we get positive response. More jazz, rock, & smooth type music, around the world and mixed cultural music. Are you interested to promote your work? Please reply back ASAP.

A Musician’s Reply:

Happy new year! I am a musician with a big house looking for a restauranteur to come to my house to promote his/her restaurant by making dinner for me and my friends. This is not a daily job, but only for special events which will eventually turn into a evening ly event if we get a positive response. More fine dining & exotic meals mixed with some ethnic fusion cuisine. Are you interested to promote your restaurant? Please reply back ASAP.
Kasi Marget
08.08.2012		Funny how older people believe they over the top. Just like cops. A date of birth (or a uniform) doesn't make your idea to do a flyer without any skills better.

Anyway, if you want some fonts : Dafont.com. Thousands of fonts in all styles.
All the fonts are free, however, there might be some conditions (non commercial use bla bla bla) that are written usually in a .txt inside the .rar archive.
Ada Matzkin
08.08.2012		first off thanks for the suggestion of gimp, after a bit of head scratching ive come up with something i like. thanks!im hoping next time tiesto plays at this sports bar im going to be playing at, he wont be too bummed out about it.

now i just have to say: i am almost 40 years old so if you get out your calculator app youll find ive been part of this scene for longer than some of you could pronounce the word EDM. when i started out i actually used to make hand drawn flyers for raves, yah talk about low budget low tech, im sure just one of those flyers could completely ruin the careers of at least 5 "edm professionals", but hey the parties were fun. but this was before "EDM" was born and we just called it "underground"... now its all above ground and any 10 year old with an ipod can do what any "EDM professional" could do 10 years ago with 10 grand worth of gear . so im sorry if your "career" is being threatened , id hate to see anyone actually have to do any real "work". but at least i can comfort myself with the knowledge that somewhere , someone will see my flyer and say " hey ...these arent the 500 dollar 2 sided 600 color flyers they use for corporate raves sponsored by red bull and macys, id rather stay home and watch bachelor pad" and my gig will be better off when they stay home.
Freida Leash
08.08.2012
Originally Posted by keithace
raise your hand if you ever used Kinko's to make copies of flyers!!!


meeeee!!! <raises hand>
as a professional designer, i've recommended photocopies to meet budget and quantity. before professional loved making crazy photocopies, there is a lot that can be done with an exacto knife and a photocopier, screw photoshop, make a ransom letter.
Lawana Spratlen
08.08.2012		Its a shit flyer but at least they are trying to do something. But yeah, the flyer is shit someone else should do it.
Lela Umanskaya
07.08.2012		I was gonna agree with everyone else and then I saw...

Originally Posted by Dwonka27
Attachment 11663
...that, and now I have to agree with sobi...
Cole Maroto
07.08.2012
Originally Posted by LanceBlaise
He is entitled to his own opinion. I 100% agree with him. Its shitty flyers, terrible parties, club owners, djs, promoters etc. that are making this business so shitty for the professionals. It goes back to the old adage, you are only as strong as your weakest link. If one thing is done by a hack then it just trickles down the line... You have some dude who has never once used a design program trying to design a flyer, its just plain stupid in my opinion... others may feel differently and that is their opinion...
when people ask me what's making this business so bad for edm professionals i always tell them it's the shitty flyers.
Cole Maroto
07.08.2012
Originally Posted by sobi
Hey guys, I have a design job I have to do for a evening that I'm supposed to be supplying music for as well. Anyone know of any cheap or FREE music sites I can use to get music for the evening ?
i'm failing to see what is wrong with either of these things really. why couldn't a person who is doing a design gig pick music that they like in order to showcase their art? their show would be mostly about art and the music could be played to accompany that show. there are plenty of legal, free sources of music where they can accomplish this pretty easily. you don't need to be a dj to pick good music that fits your style.

there are also free design programs that will work fine for what the op needs. the flyer isn't going to be the centerpiece of his gig and is probably the least important aspect of that evening. with that said, if he does a bad job it probably won't attract people to come see the show. i believe even if he does a great job it probably won't attract that many more people to come see his show. i guess it may depend on the area. i live in vegas and i see more nicely created flyers in a day than most will see in their lives, and never once, NEVER has a flyer design made me go see a show. that could just be me though...i have no idea of what increase a good flyer can actually bring you. i'm more about what comes out of the speakers than the paper of advertisement.
Ada Matzkin
07.08.2012		i sure have
Margie Pavell
07.08.2012		raise your hand if you ever used Kinko's to make copies of flyers!!!


meeeee!!! <raises hand>
Ada Matzkin
07.08.2012
Originally Posted by LanceBlaise
He is entitled to his own opinion. I 100% agree with him. Its shitty flyers, terrible parties, club owners, djs, promoters etc. that are making this business so shitty for the professionals. It goes back to the old adage, you are only as strong as your weakest link. If one thing is done by a hack then it just trickles down the line... You have some dude who has never once used a design program trying to design a flyer, its just plain stupid in my opinion... others may feel differently and that is their opinion...
sorry no "professionals" play in my neck of the woods, so its just us hacks trying to put on a evening or 2 and have a good time. sorry someone pissed in your listerine though.
Margie Pavell
07.08.2012		get gimp and a fontviewer. There are tons of free font sites. Make it very simple and very easy to read. Years ago when i would make my design my own for the evening s i used to do i would just rob cool pics and use the empty spaces for the info. I thought flyers should look cool but also convey the info effortlessly.

I taught myself on a pirated copy of photoshop 5. I'd like to believe they looked pretty damn good
Efrain Scharr
07.08.2012
Originally Posted by firebr4nd
Why even bother posting in the thread if you're just going to be snarky and not provide any help?
He is entitled to his own opinion. I 100% agree with him. Its shitty flyers, terrible parties, club owners, djs, promoters etc. that are making this business so shitty for the professionals. It goes back to the old adage, you are only as strong as your weakest link. If one thing is done by a hack then it just trickles down the line... You have some dude who has never once used a design program trying to design a flyer, its just plain stupid in my opinion... others may feel differently and that is their opinion...
Efrain Scharr
07.08.2012
Originally Posted by sobi
Hey guys, I have a design job I have to do for a evening that I'm supposed to be supplying music for as well. Anyone know of any cheap or FREE music sites I can use to get music for the evening ?

$$ lol
Stanley Topoleski
07.08.2012		Gimp gimp :d inkscape inkscape :d
Ulysses Vittetoe
07.08.2012		Grab gimp or a photoshop 30 day trial and go through a few tutorials online (http://www.good-tutorials.com/ is your best friend). Make a cool background, mess around with some fonts until you find one that looks nice, do some blending (don't go over the top) and you should be done. It's not going to look completely professional, but you can't really expect that given your situation.


Originally Posted by sobi
Hey guys, I have a design job I have to do for a evening that I'm supposed to be supplying music for as well. Anyone know of any cheap or FREE music sites I can use to get music for the evening ?
Why even bother posting in the thread if you're just going to be snarky and not provide any help?
Celine Surico
07.08.2012		Pages (Mac)
Ardell Lafranchi
07.08.2012		Use MS Paint and this web sight (down Arrow)
http://www4.flamingtext.com/

Took me about an hour but i made this and was pretty satisfied with it and it defintely got the job done!
Flyer1.jpg

And as far as printing I went to office max had two flyers per piece of paper (glossy which is like 7 cents TOTALLY WORTH IT BTW) and made 100 which costed 14 dollars so 200 flyers for 14 dollars couldnt beat it!!!!
Geri Jarra
07.08.2012		you should sub-contract a DJ
Darren Teboe
07.08.2012		Hey guys, I have a design job I have to do for a evening that I'm supposed to be supplying music for as well. Anyone know of any cheap or FREE music sites I can use to get music for the evening ?
Darren Teboe
07.08.2012		............................................______ __
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Ciara Cuttill
07.08.2012		http://www.gimp.org/

it is an open source program that runs similar to photoshop. and it's free

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