So another post about one hit wonders has made me think about selling vectors.  I've been doing vectors for a couple of months now on Inkscape.  I've had a couple that have really taken off, especially on SS, at least comparatively speaking.  Now most of my vectors are pretty simplistic, mostly stylized objects, isolated objects and cartoony things.  In looking through the portfolios of some of the illustrators that are active on this site I've noticed that the general subject matter tends to be the same.  Floral backgrounds, icons, grunge, seamless backgrounds and backgrounds in general.  Most of these illustrations are exquisitely done and look like they took a lot of time.  I've also noticed that a lot of the more complex (looking) vectors seem to have very few dls.  I'm interested in the opinions of those of you who produce vectors and what the best sellers tend to be.  I'd love to make some of those beautiful floral backgrounds but is another one in a sea of thousands going to be worth the effort?  At this point though it doesn't really matter since I work in Inkscape and gradients don't translate into EPS, however I can get AI from school for about $200, but as a poor graduate student I really need to justify that cost.

Here's a link to my SS account if you feel like looking.

http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-154906p1.html 

Take advantage of your student discount. I know $200 looks like a lot right this moment, but it will be a huge discount for when you graduate. Check all the educational software sites for the best price, sometimes they have an additional sale going.  Illustrator is good software.  You may still be able to get the CS3 version and get a deeper discount.