Is it art or the technology

[masque]

How many people would admit to being more interested in the software (Xara or other), the upgrades and bug identification and subsequent fixes etc. and of course the hardware it all sits on, than in actually using it to produce drawings, illustrations and layouts for work or personal pleasure?
I ask this as I used to belong to a photographic society (club) years ago where the predominant interest of many was in the cameras and the ability of this or that lens to resolve more lines to the inch when taking pictures of a test chart than in producing interesting photographs.
Similarly I have had over the year’s friends / acquaintances with very expensive proper hi-fi systems but have little interest in music beyond how well the system reproduces various recordings.
No implied criticism or judgment in asking this question so no need to be anything but honest in answering it, just genuine interest on my part.
Derek

[TimS]

Hi Derek, for me, my only interest is in creating art, I have zero interest in how it's done.

[pauland]

You will always get people who want to impress with their knowledge of the software/company/equipment and will make great efforts to have the latest and greatest.

I've sometimes been caught up in the debate about Xara and Extreme and often it's not just because of producing artwork, it's more about seeing the software and company thrive - supporting, encouraging and influencing the underdog.

With the recent takeover I feel a bit more relaxed about it all -no longer is Xara fighting the big boys it been absorbed and I can't feel the same enthusiasm.

All that said, I still love Xara, wish it would do more things for me, and hope it's character won't change too much. Maybe that enthusiasm will come back.

I do like doing work with Xtreme, but it's more a workday tool for me rather than an outlet of artistic talent!

Paul

[MarkMyWords]

This is a trap I often fall into, but if you are constantly striving for new and better techniques and results, which serious 'artists' should be, it is always a danger.

Keeping your eye on the ball is the trick, it's the art that counts. Of course for programmers, the software is their art, but for the rest of us it is only a tool.

[Xhris]

This is an interesting point I've been thinking about myself recently. An understanding of how it works is what I appreciate most (which is a form of art in itself), as I have a scientific, thinking mind. I suspect this form of appreciation applies to the Xara team themselves. However, I do appreciate the art, but again mainly from a “how to create the art” point of view. I'm not a great graphic artist, as I haven’t been trained, and haven’t invested the time to figure it all out myself. I can begin dimly to understand what the artistic processes are, and I enjoy watching YouTube clips for example of people using Xara to create art. Other than Xara, my pleasure comes both from knowing how to do as well as the doing/result. I just can’t do the latter in Xara (yet).

[gwpriester]

My observation over the years is that people who participate in on-line software forums are more interested in the technical aspects of the software than say a professional designer who uses the software as a tool to produce her or his design.

This may have changed over the years but I doubt it. And this is the reason why Illustrator is still the tool of choice for design professionals. They learn how to make it do what they need it to do and that's it. They don't want to learn a new program, even if it is better. And they don't read software manuals in bed and they don't subscribe to computer magazines.

That's my take.

Gary

[juergen]

Derek,

here things are really moderate. If you look at the places where software developers like me usually are expected to go, people really like to look at stuff from a really different angle of perception.
Same is true for the HiFi folks as well. They don't use speakers but an oscilloscope to "listen" to the sound of their favorite disk, as a speaker would fail to show the real quality of the record player, amp or whatever.

Here, most people still show art, at least from my point of view. I wont mention names as inevitably some would feel left out, but most people who present work here (except of me) would be able to do the same with just a pencil.

In the photographers world you mentioned, you have many people that can afford sophisticated equipment that simply makes up for a lack of skills. In many cases, a Canon L lens is the equivalent of an Armani suit, cool wristwatch or the likes. Talking about technical details keeps you away from using the tools you own.

In the Xara world, I didn't notice such yet.

I personally like Xara as it is. The current trend and interest towards DTP is a bit disturbing for my taste. I for myself want a mixture between a vector and pixel tool for every days use.

If we talk about text editors, I fall prey to what you mention though and like features which are technically interesting, but being left behind on the daily use.

Juergen

[raynerj1]

Although I have a technical background I like my graphics tools like I like my lady. Slim, elegant and easy. You can keep the bloatware and the idiotware neither do anything for me.

Sarah X is my babe...

[DAL]

I think for me it's making things with it. Although it's always great to have the bugs worked out and so on if the program itself isn't usable then it's just going to sit there no matter how much fancy stuff it can do. Hence the reason why Photoshop hasn't seen the light of day in ages. I've seen people make great art with it, don't get me wrong. Obviously it can do some nifty things. For me though it's more trouble than it's worth and in the end I don't end up purchasing upgrades. Makes no sense to me if I'm already not using it. That's what I like so much about PSP7 and Xara. I'm nowhere close to some of the stuff I've seen done here but I feel the programs are usable so all I need is time and practice. I'd rather work on that then spend a billion hours reading the net and manuals because I just cant sus out how to do something. This is my recreation so I want it to at least be occasionally fun.

[handrawn]

Interesting Derek

They are about equal for me.
I like both for their own sake and I also like the way in which they compliment each other.
They way that a drawing challenge can be resolved by software application, and the way software application can throw up new possibilities for drawing and more besides.

Although I have a technical background I like my graphics tools like I like my lady. Slim, elegant and easy. You can keep the bloatware and the idiotware neither do anything for me.

Sarah X is my babe...

Couldn't agree more - lots of fast compact tools.
Would that xara was concentrating on vector: vector fill and vector paint.
If they really must have bitmap editing of the photoshop kind, for me it would be better as a completely separate module so that those who don't want it don't need to install it.