Helpful Hint and suggestions to make your design experience great.
visualvoice | 07/30/2003 @281 | edit post

I have some "professional artist" posting tips if anyone cares: 1. Thumbnails that do not show major parts of your image are ridiculous. If I'm browsing say for a faery and the thumb is a close up of a mole on the cheek of the faery, and then you named the faery after your girlfriend so the title is " Mary's Garden" or some such thing, I'm probably going to pass, on viewing the image. Bringing me to #2 2. Titles are very important! I'll stay on the faery (fairy, faerie, faerae, fairie etc) thread. If you are doing a picture of a faery pretty please put faery somewhere in the title. Example: Faery in Water "Mary's Garden", then the person who is browsing thumbs will know that you have a picture of a faery even if your thumb is a picture of a mole. I know that everyone wants to have the super cool title and it gives an edge to an image to name it something cool, but this is show and tell here. You want people to know what you are doing first glance or you will be passed over, there are way too many images on the net, way too many sites like this to have to dig past titles like "sailors fortune" which could easily be named mermaid instead. The time to name a piece your super savage special name, is when the piece is published. I'm guessing that's what everyone here wants..... 3. Learn to spell. www.dictionary.com really helps me out when I don't know a word, and it's free. There are many ways to spell faery (fairy, faerie, faerae, fairie etc) so I always do a search for the main ones, faery-faerie-fairy-fairie, then people decide it isn't a faery but a pixie and then it's an elf or something else. Stick to the basics, if it's a wizard don't spell it wyzard just to be cool cuz the image will get buried. If it's a dragon call it a dragon and not a winged beast. And on and on. 4. Use the extra link button when submitting to show that you don't work at 72dpi at all times. Make sure you show a detail shot. This is the biggest nightmare for me. When I find the perfect image and contact the artist only to find out they work at 72dpi 6x8 inch and when that gets up to tee shirt size it will look like a Roy Lichtenstein with squares instead of dots because it was compressed with jpeg for the web and they saved instead of saved as. Work as large as you possibly can. This is the most important tip I can give you. Small images are fine for online but if you want it printed on anything except a Magic Card or stamp the BIGGER the BETTER! Actually as big as your computer will allow. Think 30megs flattened minimum. that's my 2¢ maybe it'll change to 4 at a later date OK I'm just about out of steam and need to go separate a Tee Shirt for The Southwest Indian Foundation. If you want to check out my company got to http://www.themountain.com then you can see I'm not just talking out of my butt =)

Re: I don
Nerfherder | 07/30/2003 @317 | edit post

Um I agree with the thumbnails showing important parts of the image, and I do like to see larger images for details, but that whole thing on simple names... I personally think you can keep that one. I like cool titles especially when they offer insight that I might have missed in the image like a mood or a setting. As for spelling, sure grammar helps, but I don't get all bent out of shape for a correct variation in spelling. As for working huge, some people don't work huge for a reason, THEY AREN'T PROS! People create stuff for fun too, so why would they work at 10k x 10k pixels? It isn't a major worry for most people here. "Tips" and "opinions" for us all I guess.

Re: I don
visualvoice | 07/30/2003 @354 | edit post

I was just giving my 2¢. I know everyone isn't a pro, but I kind of was talking to them I guess, maybe I should have added that in my topic heading. On the title thing, I'll happily disagree with you though, for the pros anyhow it's a pain doing a search for an image and missing it because it doesn't say what it is in the title or description, that's just my personal feelings though and this is a rant thread.

Re: I don
Martin | 07/30/2003 @371 | edit post

Yeah I also disagree on the name thing, but these are some very good points. I'd like to add one more: The discription makes the difference between beeing looked at and getting critique. Don't make people feel your hiding things, but take them with your through the process. Mention what was hard, mention what went wrong. This is where you can trigger people to react, use it.

Re: I don
klept | 07/30/2003 @570 | edit post

'Use the extra link button when submitting to show that you don't work at 72dpi at all times' hmm, or you could just mention the original size of the piece. what's the point of uploading pics over 72 dpi, that's the max res onscreen and i'm sure ppl appreciate the smaller file size. plus, if you post small res pics, you're making sure no one's going to use your pics 'offline' [eg: printing them without permission].

Re: I don
emarts | 07/30/2003 @587 | edit post

What irks me are posts without descriptions. If you don't have it in you to talk about your own work, then I don't have it in me to critique it.

Re: I don
Martin | 07/30/2003 @627 | edit post

Exactly. When martijn get's back I'll definately see if we can make a form check to stop artworks getting published without a title, or maybe even the description.

Re: I don
visualvoice | 07/30/2003 @950 | edit post

I guess I should introduce myself, because I just sort of showed up and started throwing tips around. My name is Michael, I' m the Art Director of The Mountain Corporation and The Creative Director for Tree-Free Greetings. The Mountain is a T-Shirt company and I work with around 150 different artists, reps and Licensing Houses worldwide. Tree-Free Greetings is a greeting card company that has about double the artists and reps, but I passed on the Art Direction because it took too much time to do both of them and the companies started suffering because of it. When I say Art Director, I'm not the guy that sits around a picks art and tell other people what to do that you all hate, I'm the hands on do everything art director. I pick art, talk out problems and concerns with artists, do contracts (and agreements), design teeshirts, scan, mask, separate images in house for tee shirts, design websites, logos, advertisment, POP displays, packaging, hang tags, labels and any other little annoying thing you can think of. And try and find time to do my own art on top of that (which is rare). I have one other person in the art dept. with me and he is the webmaster, catalog design, production guru. We are the art dept. for a $15million per year company, we do everything in house and it's 2 guys. But most of the artwork comes from outside sources. I'll expand on this later, but I hope it gives you an idea of what I can offer the community. I think I finally found my home here at gfx, I've been a member of all the others, elfwood, epilogue, renderosity etc, but I find this site to be the most "professional" and now that I have a "home" I think I'll really get into the forums and help out as much as possible. I've been leary to do so on the other sites, because there are too many amateurs or people just screwing around. And I'm not talking about people who are just starting out, I'm talking about people who put 10 minutes into a kpt generated fractal that comes default with the program and scans a faery from a greeting card and calls it "their art". I think I can really give people the insider info that will help them out, and as an artist myself, I'm prone to look out for the artist and pass on info that will help them become more successful. New tip #5: Never Ever sell an image outright (unless you need cash quick). Sell the licensing rights to whatever product they are producing. This allows you to "sell" your image over and over again to different companies. Selling an exclusive to them is fine, most companies want an exclusive and if it's a good company, you will do better in the long run with an exclusive. Always remain in ownership and control of your imagery. I'll expand upon this later, I was just stopping in, I'm working hard. [Message edited on 08/01 @178]

tip #6
visualvoice | 07/30/2003 @956 | edit post

tip #6: if you want people to find you (and you aren't doing it just for fun), make sure that there is a contact email or web address line on your physical posted image. As an art director I pull images off sites all the time looking for new tee shirt and greeting card artists and then when I go through the folder at the end of the day I'd say half the images have an unreadable signature or no contact information, then it takes me another day to track back and find where exactly I found the image. If you don't want to add contact info to the image itself just drop a small border around the image and type it out there. This is only an important tip if you want to be a professional artist and you want people to be able to contact you. 2 more ¢

Re: I don
visualvoice | 07/31/2003 @959 | edit post

klept I wasn't saying upload an image more than 72 dpi, I was saying select part of the image to show the detail is all. That way you can show the fine work you've done and not make it so an image can be stolen because of the size. You can always run a big ©artists name here banner across the image if you don't want people to steal your work as well. 2¢

Re: I don
RGH | 08/01/2003 @990 | edit post

Hiya Michael, I've worked in a lot of screenprint shops as an illustrator since college, which was about 20 years ago, before I got a real job, so I can stipple like you wouldn't believe, operate about 8 different antique stat camera's, and cut ruby AND amberlyth like a bastard. Hehe. Welcome aboard.

Re: I don
Martin | 08/01/2003 @998 | edit post

visualvoice, how would you feel about doing a periodically feature, or series of articles with experiences from your work and field of work? From what I read you see and hear a lot and have loads to share. I'd be great if we could provide the members with a little more about the industry than some press releases and interviews. Feel free to message me if you feel this is up you lane. This call isn't restricted to visualvoice alone of course. Anyone with experience who's willing to share a bit can contact me. We need to give a bit more body to the intellectual side of things and we can't do it all alone [Message edited on 08/01 @999]

Re: I don
ChrisThatGuy | 08/01/2003 @004 | edit post

I'm very glad visualvoice mentioned "Don't sell the image outright". That's some of the best advice you can give a starting artist. I've turned down pretty nice jobs because the client wanted to be able to resell my images (at a big markup, I'd bet). Thanks for bringing it up. [Message edited on 08/01 @005]

Re: I don
visualvoice | 08/01/2003 @191 | edit post

RGH Rubylith makes my head hurt, If I never see it again in my lifetime all would be good, I haven't seen it in a good 13 years now and that makes me happy daily. Thanks for the welcome. You got a real job, what... as an artist or something?...... how's that possible in this day and age I thought the only job anyone would ever want is sitting behind a computer separating other peoples art for tees =P Hmmm do I have a new tip tonite let's see, oh yeah, DO NOT under any circumstances let anyone tell you, that you have to use amberlith or rubylith, they are lying to you and puting you through some type of initiation ritual. If you ever run into rubylith run away fassssssssssssssssst. v v

Re: I don
emarts | 08/01/2003 @634 | edit post

Ha ha! When I first started in graphic arts, I was introduced to electronic color sepparation. I worked closely with an 70 year-old man (sorry, can't remember his name) who claimed to be involved with the development of rubylith. He was a hoot! Always had red tape stuck to his bottom lip. Very knowledgeable guy but seemed depressed about knowing that his "invention" was dissappearing. It was nice to work with him.

Re: I don
disenchanted | 08/01/2003 @953 | edit post

Another posting tip: You are given a space that is 640 pixels wide to display your work. Use the pixels! Showing an image that's only 200x200 (with no link to a larger version) is silly.

Re: I don
visualvoice | 08/02/2003 @092 | edit post

Good tip, though there might be reasons why they post that size though, they may not know how to size an image correctly or how to convert it to a smaller more compressed file. They may have bandwith problems, or storage solution problems or they may just be stupid (was that insensitive?). Anyhow, I'm going to do an article on posting and if anyone wants to help contribute I'd be happy to add in your tips, it would also help me to address some other issues, like correct sizing the first time (disenchanted's) and smarter jpeg making aka. save for web in photoshop. Anyhow if you want to help out or have any tips PM me and I'll make sure your word gets out. Vv

Re: I don
Duracel | 08/02/2003 @524 | edit post

Good points around here. Thx for tips.

Re: I don
DEVARSHY | 08/03/2003 @024 | edit post

hi Visualvoice, I was wondering weather at any place on entire gfx... there is any advice on any legends? I mean tips on html code to use when trying to hyperlink text..things like that....and other features if available , apart from the smiley legend.Excuse me if there is already someplace.I might have skipped it. Thanks.

Re: I don
visualvoice | 08/03/2003 @029 | edit post

Glad you could join us duracel, please feel free to post some of your own. Vv

Re: I don
Martin | 08/03/2003 @069 | edit post

Actually, it's all in the FAQ: http://www.gfxartist.com/about/FAQ also found in about > FAQ. Quite poorly structured and not very accessible at this time, though that should change soon.

Re: I don
visualvoice | 08/05/2003 @171 | edit post

tip # something or other.... if you change your email address or your webpage remember to keep others informed. The same goes with change of address or change of phone number, I work with a lot of artists who I guess don't like to be paid. They change physical addresses, and their check comes back to accounting. Some do that and change an email address, ph # or web addy and I can't contact them either. This is kind of a lamer tip, but the weather is so moist like a marathon runner's sock that it's mushing my mind. Vv

Re: Professional posting tips.... and general tips
visualvoice | 08/29/2003 @311 | edit post

I've been working diligently on rules and guide lines for a tee shirt contest. I kind of got whacked with a major proposal for one of our biggest customers, this is why I haven't been around. Fear not, we are working on a major contest for you all, so get your wacom pens a ready. v v

Re: Professional posting tips.... and general tips
JenniThePirate | 08/29/2003 @643 | edit post

It's really great to notice the number of professionals here. I think the posted tips are great, on the name thing though, I like the format VisualVoice put it in. I think it would be a good idea to start posting the title like this: 3 descriptive words "Title" Truth is, I can't stand seeing beautiful artwork by some of the most creative people titled something like "Bowl of Apples" or "Girl with Flower" because it's stating the obvious, but for search purposes on the Internet I would have to say that these kind of titles are a good idea, just put the real title next to it! I don't have any tips of my own... I guess in light of recent events, I would suggest that people choose a better route when dealing with teenage art kleptomaniacs. I can't think of anyone here that stands out as a problem, but on other communities/forums the mobs tend to do worse things then the cheats. You would be amazed what a simple, polite, and most of all, professional eMail can do. And when it doesn't work, all you have to do is contact the host of the web site. There's no need for all this eMail bomb, post name/address/phone number stuff. It's easy to forget that you're dealing with real people on the Internet, but one shouldn't forget that they could be dealing with a child, who is just playing a prank or doesn't know better. (I'm not defending art thieves, by the way.) And on the spell checking thing, here's a free online spell checker: spellcheck.net. It works well, i've found. [Message edited on 08/29 @644]

Re: Professional posting tips.... and general tips
Hybridos | 08/29/2003 @931 | edit post

CONTESTS i wanna CONTESTS more CONTEST!!! Seriusly, some contest then and there wont hurt anybody here at GFX. Creating some character contest or the t-shirt contest would be verry cool here! # And Some times when i try to use some thumb of the picture i cant reconize anything there (just a mess of ink points), so i make my thumb of the main character's face (if there are more than one). So a thumb of all the pic is not always usefull, a close-up of the face work better for me # When doing the thumbnail use some "Sharpen" efect so the blur form the size transform will gone. # When scanning some pencil or ink artwork use some "Brigthness and Contrast" so your lines will be more visible and some "Auto Levels" will do the job # If your art is not complete please use the forum trend of "Work in Progress" please only finished art in the Member Galery (this one is just a sugestion )

Re: Professional posting tips.... and general tips
crystl | 08/30/2003 @970 | edit post

your wasting a LOT of money, throwing out all those '2 cents' hehe