Some time ago I’ve migrated from PC to Mac so may be I can cover fare share of the most important differences between designing a logo on PC and designing a logo on Mac. Points described bellow are not ordered in some certain way and represent only my personal experience. Also they refer to the differences between PC laptop, using Windows XP and Macbook pro, using Snow Leopard.
- Most of the software is the same, but the shortcuts are different. You’ll need time and patience to get used.
- I adore the partial print-screen function in Mac – it helps me a lot for every design and every logo research. You don’t need to crop the file additionally – you can select a specific area of the screen and capture it with cmd+shift+4.
- The colors of your logos will be different on the two screens. The default Mac color profile is far more brighter and vivid than the PC. This might be a knife with two blades – it is a good thing if you present the logo on a Mac screen, but the PC preview is closer to the preview of the most people that will see your design lately. Of course – you can calibrate your Mac…
- You can backup your logo works automatically every day if you have a Mac and a Time Capsule. This is an extremely powerful combination.
- By default Mac has a very low percentage of screen freezing that needs restart. It’s not that I’m not saving my works – it’s that it’s very irritating to wait for the PC to reboot and continue with the design. Usually the muse is gone while one restarts all those design programs…
- The interface in Mac OS is far more convenient and intuitive. It will save you time to find your project or materials and it will save you time to find the right window among many; The browsing in the folders is nicer – you can watch a few levels simultaneously, etc. I was kind of reborn.
- The Macbook doesn’t have many usb ports and the few it has are situated too close to each other. So when you plug your Wacom tablet to draw the logos and you plug an external hard to check a client’s archive… there’s no room for anything else. Also if a usb stick is bigger and wider than the regular one – you have to unplug your tablet because there’s not enough free space. This could be really annoying, but there’s a workaround called usb-hub.
- When you are ready with your logo presentation and you need to go to a meeting with the client somewhere out of the office – you can just close your Macbook Pro ( without turning it off ) and go . On the meeting you can open it immediately any time. I find this feature very convenient because clients are usually busy and very impatient. PC needs a minute or so to start the OS and you need some additional time to the open the file itself…
- When I’m designing on a pc laptop – there are none inspiring logos around. When I’m designing on Mac – there’s one that’s glowing and it’s reminding me about the power of branding and the good logo design every single day. ( 9.1. Even the new HP logo is not so good ; 9.2. I like the Alienware logo, but their laptops are huge and also expensive )
- Simply a matter of image. If you are a good logo designer – in the client’s head – you are supposed to work on Mac. After all – Mac advertisements are watched not only by you, but also by your clients.. Why risk ? Please your clients :)
- Note – Overal – it seems that one should probably invest in Macbook Pro. If you do so – wait for the new model to be released so you can have more time to enjoy your new toy before the next generation Mac is out!
If you can think of more things that are part of your daily work as a designer and you think they matter – please comment :)