best software for clothing/logo design

[zedsgn]

what is the best software for designing logos,etc.? which is the easiest to learn?

[mojoprime]

all professional diesng software is going to have a learning curve. basically, if you don't take the time to learn it, it'll show in the work.

that having been said, for logo design, i would stick with adobe illustrator cs3. it's basically the industry standard vector drawing program.

[CkretAjint]

I use Illustrator CS3 for shirts and logos.

[Craig B]

As mojo said, easy to learn (although aspirational) shouldn't be as big a concern as what the proper tool is: Adobe Illustrator. However, it's generally regarded as one of the more difficult programs to learn and master.

[SurfPark]

Designing graphics for clothing is mostly going to be done with a vector editor. Most silk screening can be done with 4 colors max. Here is a list on some of your options, which I put in my preference order:
Adobe Illustrator (http://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator/)
This is the industry standard now. It comes packaged with Adobe Creative Suite and works well with the other applications.
Inkscape (http://www.inkscape.org/)
An open-source vector editor. Its also free!
CorelDraw (http://coreldraw.com/)
One of the original vector editors. Works great too.
Adobe Fireworks (http://www.adobe.com/products/fireworks/)
This is also part of the Creative Suite. It handles vector and traditional bitmap images at the same time.
Xara Xtreme Illustration (http://www.xara.com/products/xtreme/default.asp)
A windows-only vector editor by Microsoft.The thing to remember with printing for clothing is that your printer is going to have specific preferences. For example, gradients may not show up well on certain materials. Design your graphics and then consult with your printer. You may have to alter designs based on color, texture, and other factors.

[PrintDriver]

No no no. Consult with your printer FIRST. What good is wasting time designing if you have to redesign after your call?

[doubting_thomas]

PD has a good point. Normally files going to embroidery vendors
need to be able to be exported in a special format that their
machinery will read. Not knowing what they need from you could
force you to redesign the piece after it's been signed off on by your
client. Some vendors may be able to convert a wide range of formats,
while others may use a very select type of file.

[Kool]

Designing graphics for clothing is mostly going to be done with a vector editor. Most silk screening can be done with 4 colors max. Here is a list on some of your options, which I put in my preference order:

Xara Xtreme Illustration (http://www.xara.com/products/xtreme/default.asp)
A windows-only vector editor by Microsoft.

Just a note: Xara is an independent company and is not affiliated with Microsoft. :)

[budafist]

PD has a good point. Normally files going to embroidery vendors
need to be able to be exported in a special format that their
machinery will read. Not knowing what they need from you could
force you to redesign the piece after it's been signed off on by your
client. Some vendors may be able to convert a wide range of formats,
while others may use a very select type of file.

Embroidery software is too expensive for any of us to buy just for a couple of jobs. It's better to pay the embroidery company $50 to redraw your design. When they redraw your design it's not really about redrawing it, it's more about planning where and which way the stitches go. Planning where and which way the stitches go is probably something best left up to your embroidery company. Even if you do end buying the software!

[doubting_thomas]

Did I say the OP should go buy the kit? :p

[budafist]

Nope, but you should never need to redraw a piece to go to your embroiderer since they will be redrawing it anyway whatever you do. I think...