Where can I commission vector art?

October 14, 2008 5:03 AM

Where might I commission a reasonably priced vector illustration?

I have a blog logo that needs some sprucing up for a redesign, and I'd love to find someone to convert it into vector while being as faithful as possible to the original. Any websites where I can request this kind of work, or find artists who might do it?

posted by grrarrgh00 to media & arts (9 comments total)

You could try elance, maybe the Illustrator and Graphic Design sections.
posted by Z303 at 5:42 AM on October 14, 2008

If you have some basic artistic skills you might want to pick up a copy of Inkscape and have at it yourself.
posted by JJ86 at 5:57 AM on October 14, 2008

jobs.metafilter.com ?

The SitePoint Marketplace is also a good option.

You could also try running it through VectorMagic & see if that gives you anything usable. Even if it isn't perfect, you could then try editing it with Inkscape, like JJ86 mentioned.
posted by belladonna at 6:03 AM on October 14, 2008

I've had some good luck with istockphoto. I look through the illustrations to find someone whose designs fit the style of what I'm looking for, then I contact them through their profile. I've hired several folks that way for freelance gigs.
posted by twiki at 6:05 AM on October 14, 2008

I second twiki's comment about istockphoto. I have co-workers who have done that, and typically it is pretty reasonable.
posted by mjcon at 7:06 AM on October 14, 2008

Have you considered an automated conversion to vector format? If you are willing to do the sprucing up yourself and aren't immensely picky, you'll probably be pretty happy with a Vector Magic conversion.
posted by ssg at 7:20 AM on October 14, 2008

2nding Vector Magic. I've used it for some complex military logos and it did an amazing job, near perfect and easy to retouch in the online app. You get two free trials which should be more than enough for you.
posted by furtive at 7:37 AM on October 14, 2008

Automated conversion is probably the most economical route, and I was impressed with Vector Magic when I tried it.

If that doesn't work, my former employer Logoworks did stuff like this all the time. The "silver" package listed on this page would probably get you what you were looking for. Logoworks also had some discount outlets online like Business Logos that offered some cheaper variations on those packages... I'm not sure they do this still (I've been gone for two years), but if so, you could get a vectorization plus some variations for about $200.
posted by weston at 9:53 AM on October 14, 2008

Just rediscovered this in my bookmarks: The Monster List of Freelancing Job Sites if Vector magic doesn't work out
posted by Z303 at 6:53 AM on October 17, 2008