I have a question......I'm in a new band and we are booking gigs and I need to whip up a band logo and also have some cool graphic gig announcements I can put together so I can post on facebook. Is there any good home software that I can pick up that would do this that wont break the bank? Thanks, Ken 

I don't know how much it costs but Photoshop Essentials will introduce you to Photoshop.

There are dozens off other free and cheap choices... but imo all roads lead to Photoshop so I'd reccomend you just start building skill with that family of apps.


If you want to try an alternative... perhaps you'd enjoy Gimp.

http://www.gimp.org


Also, Don't discount the idea of using traditional paste up 2d art and simply photographing it with your iphone... that still works too.


best regards,
mike

+1 to Mike's suggestions, I'd say Gimp has a much steeper learning curve though.

I guess it's all high tech now days but we had a fan who was a good artist/graphic designer come up to us at a gig and show us something he drew as a logo for us.... we paid him for that logo and had it printed up on flyers and T-shirts and then used a big overhead projector to paint it by hand on the sides of our truck. We also painted it on a big black curtain which we hung behind us.

He made some good money doing that same thing for a bunch of bands in that town. 

Dude could draw!

Is that a top hat?


:-)


Yeah man.

I discovered that I have Microsoft publication in my office 2010. I did the job!

Just like Herb to show up with an SG at a gun fight.

keneds


I have a question......I'm in a new band and we are booking gigs and I need to whip up a band logo and also have some cool graphic gig announcements I can put together so I can post on facebook. Is there any good home software that I can pick up that would do this that wont break the bank? Thanks, Ken 

I would be more concerned in creating an "image" for the band that might not be there tomorrow when a musician leaves and another takes his/her place.
 
The logo idea is good, but other than the Rolling Stones logo, in general, most band's having a logo is more of a commercial thing than anything else ... although in some cases it makes sense ... but conceptually it ties you down ...
 
And my favorite ... on the next CD/Album you put a picture of the members of the band in the cover ... not the logo worn by a Playboy Bunny (for example!) .... and the whole thing begins to lose value! So it begs the question ... what's the point of spending money on it?
 
Write me a check ... instead!

Yeah... that was a top hat of sorts... nothing like a stove pipe but made of felt.... 

The Logo of the band.... the cowboy with the double barrel stayed the same with all the changes of personnel. 

The guy in the blue shirt was our second drummer... (holding my 18 1/4 " 12 gauge). 

The SG is the same one I have today.... it was originally red but after the second time it was stolen from me and I got it back it had some serious gouges in the finish so I decided to "re-paint" it after stripping it down.  White was not a good choice.... it looked nice but got dirty very quickly.... so I redid it again and that time went with a clear coat over the wood.... that's how it is to this day. 

I think I still have those suspenders in a drawer somewhere.... but I doubt the elastic is any good....