The free (GPL) application I use for vector graphics is called
Inkscape. It's basically the same type of program as Adobe
Illustrator (as opposed to Adobe
Photoshop, which is for raster graphics, i.e. graphics with pixels). There's a bit of a learning curve to get used to it, but it's quite a nice app. There a whole set of tutorials, although I got bored and just jumped in. You can also download some of my SVG files from
Dork Divers Logo Submissions to play around with some fully-formed files. (There's the DD logo, the ISOSAD logo, and this one.)
The great thing, of course, about doing graphics as vector art instead of raster art is that you can render it in any size without any loss of quality. The other great thing is that drawing using shapes and Bezier curves is a lot more fun than trying to build curves "lego-style" of of square pixels. :biggrin:
If I weren't now in "I'm leaving for Bonaire this Friday!" mode, I'd be loading up a T-shirt design by now. Sadly, Bonaire comes first.