conclusion

Keep in mind that I'm not advocating the total replacement of Flash's creative tools with those of FreeHand or any other vector-based illustration tool ”I am, rather, playing to each tool's strength and taking advantage of its strong interconnection. FreeHand has 10 years of R&D behind it, making it a very creative, flexible illustration tool. Although many of the effects possible in FreeHand can be replicated in Flash, many would take much more effort and time.

In summary, FreeHand or other vector-based illustration tools give you a number of advantages that Flash alone does not afford:

• A powerful and quick design space for developing ideas and studying them over time.

• Presentation boards that allow you to strategically communicate your design intent to the clients .

• The deliverables necessary to give the clients security in understanding where the project is going.

• A safe presentation environment that is free from any technological hiccups.

• A powerful production environment that allows you to quickly study and realize your project.

• A strategic process that sets you up to cost effectively develop additional work for the client in the future.

I have tried to shed light on a working situation that works with your Flash skillset to empower you to be a better designer and a better communicator. When you bring a tool like FreeHand or another vector-based illustration application that allows you to output print, you can tap into a fast, flexible, and effective development process. Most importantly, you have the tools you need to present and sell your Flash designs to clients without spending the entire budget just to get the approval to proceed. Large output storyboards have been a key factor in the success of Juxt Interactive and they have allowed us to push our design envelope, giving us more creative freedom. I think that is the bottom line for us designers; if we are going to do lame design, we would be better off as postmen. So why not empower your design projects with the tools necessary to sell that great idea to the clients (without going broke in the process ) and giving yourself opportunity to expand the scope of services at the same time.