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chipped-chimera · 1 year ago

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WIP WEDNESDAY - 21/06/23

(I mean it’s technically Friday now between timezones and spoons but have this otherwise I’ll keep forgetting) My first WIP Wednesday! Thanks @theviridianbunny for the tag! I’ve been really getting stuck into modding - as well as falling into my usual mod habit of ‘start like six project at once and end up with a million WIP files' but I guess I’ll talk about the major ones.

Graphic design is my passion ...

(Long) rambling about mods I'm making + things I've learned below the cut~

My V’s tatt project is still ongoing, and I’ve (somewhat begrudgingly) been trying out Substance Painter to work on bits of it, mainly polishing seams between UV maps. It’s definitely got a lot of benefits, especially for graphic placement in really tricky areas (like anywhere in the entire head mesh region for example) but I still think a lot of the heavy work will still be done in Photoshop so I’ll probably be writing up both experiences with them when I do that tutorial I keep hinting at for complex tatt work. I’ve started drafting a tumblr tutorial but I wonder if that’s the best format, maybe a PDF? Google doc? Github wikis look cool? (tho I think I need to pay for that) - if y’all got suggestions for tutorial formats pls let me know!

As for the other arguably overly-ambitious-project-where-I-bit-off-more-than-I-could-chew ...

H A I R.

Hair has been the bane of my existence for about the past week( ... weeks? Maybe two?), most of it involving cursing, a lot of reverse-engineering game meshes and smashing my head against blender. But if not already evident from my monowire post - I am a stubborn bitch with too much time on my hands so even though there were at least two moments where I wanted to curl up on the floor under my desk and just stay there - we got there.

This all started because my favourite hair mod which I cannot split from my V’s identity was acting funky and the shape of it had been altered since a physics update. It wasn’t her anymore. So I needed new hair. I tried editing the existing hair. I tried importing the old hair mesh. I tried so many things and they didn’t work out one way or they threw a million errors or there were an obnoxious amount of verts.

I even tried looking for replacement mod hair. None of them fit, all of them felt too ‘clean’ for my V. So I just concluded: FINE. I’ll make my own damn hair. From scratch. At least then I’ll actually KNOW what’s going on with the mesh, right?

Problem with hair is tutorials are very limited in respect to Cyberpunk, so I had to learn a lot of this by myself and looking at other processes used for building game hair. I’ve had a previous stint in game design at uni but it was very introductory and more broad-strokes concepts not specific stuff like what ‘real time hair’ is and how you actually go about placing hair-cards (there’s a million different ways btw) but after another 3 days smashing my head against blender I finally got shit to work to a satisfactory level using hair tools for blender and the particle hair grooming system (not the 3.5 blender system, maybe more on that at some point).

Putting together the hair cards I was 120% convinced this was going to blow up in my face, primarily through vert count. But this hair tool plugin? Alarmingly efficient. I was frequently checking my work against Alt's hair mesh (one I was planning on rigging to) and here's the final-ish stats -

This is with only Alt's hair mesh selected (no cap) and then only my mesh(s - lots of layering to build it up), and by comparison I felt I'd built up the density of a chinchilla. This is not a brag, this is mostly genuine confusion over how efficient this plugin is, all I did was smack around hair curves. It did all the UV mapping junk on the fly.

Although structurally complete, I still consider this a WIP (yes I know there's a reeeeal fun vert funkiness in that second render, it's been fixed) since I'm having to go back and fine-tune some of the UV's the plugins mapped that I'm not happy with and generally figuring out my density problem because if anything, after putting it in-game it felt too dense.

Because yes, somehow I got it in game.

WITH. PHYSICS.

This may have driven me absolutely up the wall between having to learn blender from scratch then what the heck real time hair is and how that works etc. etc. but ... god, seeing her move back from the mirror and just feeling that instant catharsis of 'IT'S HER!' made it so. Damn. Worth it.

It looks too thick - this might be because I chucked in the 'doubled' feature Wolvenkit comes with because I hadn't spent any time doing backfaces. But it also might be because it's black? That's going to need investigating.

The physics need a lot of work too, I did a pretty rushed weight painting job last night on a merged version of the mesh because I was worried whether it was even viable and I'd already dumped an insane amount of hours into this between trying to salvage the old hair and building a new one (with some more bells and whistles. Mainly - curly). That wasn't without it's issues -

This almost fucking cracked me, given this was one of the issues I was experiencing before trying to fix an existing mesh mod. Turns out I was just being dumb and forgetting to export the armature, which I'd thought I wasn't supposed to do after having blender throw a bunch of errors on other hair attempts. I gave it a try after one last shot and boom. Worked. (I dunno what those errors were about man but now I know armature? very important).

Will I release this hair? no damn clue, depends on if I can get it to a level I feel is 'releasable'. I already know what I'm calling it though - Venatrix her side-handle I've decided on.

I look forward to adapting it into maybe a comb-back version, as well as a tied up version, so I can show off both her undercut + have the option of NOT hiding every damn tatt I've obsessed over placing on her neck haha.

In other news -

My much-needed wacom tablet replacement arrived (as well as other things I was looking forward to 👀) meaning my Wacom Cintiq, workhorse of ten years can finally enjoy her retirement. Her controls were getting funky, she had a few dead pixels but man. I'm convinced they won't make them like her ever again. Either way she's done unfortunately - upgrading my monitor to 2k made this painfully obvious. I don't think it's even running in full HD, it's that old. And with Phantom Liberty coming out this year? I'm probably going to need a new videocard and DVI compatibility isn't really a thing anymore.

So for future I think I'll just stick to the basic tablet set up, invest in screens. Also now I FINALLY know what her hair is gonna look like and with the tablet here, I can get back to work on the tattoo bodysuit.

Anyways, that's it for now! (Jesus Christ did you really read all of this? If you did you're a fucking trooper). Sorry for the extended ramble but MAN I did a lot, I needed to yell.

Till next time Chooms! Thanks again @theviridianbunny for the tag~ <3

Oh shit wait, have the blender renders before I forget because hahah I figured out how to do that too lol -

#cyberpunk 2077 #my mods #wip wednesday #kerytalk #god I am sorry this is a fucking essay but I had a lot to talk about I guess #one can do a lot in a week with nothing but the power of autistic hyperfocus and the love for one's OC blorbo ok #cp2077 mods #cp2077 modding

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lb-the-escapist · 1 month ago

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(OPEN) So after taking time to figure out details, I am ready to announce that I am finally going to start doing commissions!!! For now, it’ll just be digital paintings. For the types of paintings I’m doing you can find the info in this post.

It’s probably not the best formatting (you can probably tell that graphic design is not my passion nor my speciality. That and I don’t know what my brand is at this point). So the formatting will hopefully improve in the future as I do this.

It is my first time doing this so please be extra patient with me as I figure this out. Like I said in the terms of service, I’m only going to do the first 4 people to request a commission. So please, don’t be too upset if you aren’t able to request one after all the slots are filled. There’s always a chance for a future commission.

If you can’t afford a commission but still want to financially support me, you can always go to my Kofi to tip me. That or buy something from my shops. Both of which are in the Linktree in my bio or pinned (depending on where you see this post). Don’t worry too much if you don’t have much money to spare right now. I appreciate any support I get including sharing my art or posts!

Be sure to read through everything, especially the terms of service. Enjoy!

Update for Tumblr: Since there is a 10 pic limit, the terms of service will be a reblog on this post.

#commissions #digital painting

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drsilverfish · 5 years ago

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Nine Minutes to Midnight

5x21 Two Minutes to Midnight

Nine episodes to beat God, and fifteen years since Kripke pitched his original On The Road fan-fiction meets folk horror.

I’ve had a lot of fun in this little corner of Tumblr SPN fandom, over the eight years I’ve been here. I arrived as a newbie in 2012, and people already here were kind to me. I’ve seen people come and go, get disillusioned with SPN and move onto new fandoms, or arrive latterly into this one, brimming with excitement.

This is a weird social media platform, and I doubt it will be around forever, as one of its joys is how singularly bad it has been at integrating advertising.

Some of my favourite things here have been;

Comments in the tags, often funny, thinky, joyful - love this element of Tumblr.

Coda fic - this short-form story-style, which leaps into the fan-fiction gaps, loud silences and lacunae of the text - what a joy.

All the different roles people take on in fandom, as labours of love - gif makers, fic and meta writers, artists, vidders, archivists, signal-boosters, enthusiastic readers and beta-readers, art-lovers, networkers, collaborators, question-askers and answerers, and participants of all kinds (introvert and extrovert).

Completely unrelated to SPN, posts which are full of puns and hilarity, from “lik the bred” to Brits vs Americans on the subject of drinking tea. I still love Tumblr’s collective sense of humour; it’s witty and charming.

The language of gifs; those delightful comtemporary hieroglyphics of emotive expression.

The diversity - English is the shared language, but gradually it’s apparent that despite US dominance of the site, there are people from all over the world here, whose native tongues range from Russian to Italian to Brazilian Portuguese.

The collective meta experience - sharing “live” textual analysis has been huge fun. Viewing a text in a hive mind this way always shows you something you’d have missed on your own. It’s like holding up a crystal to a thousand lights and watching all the different refractions happening at once.

Again, not SPN specific, but experts in various subjects, from Egyptology to Medieval History suddenly emerging from the depths to provide a passionate and erudite exposition on their topic. Often prefaced with, “My time has come...”

Fandom has a dark side. It can be a coping mechansim, for many, in a healthy or less healthy way. There are unfortunately, always the formation of various “in-groups” and “out-groups”, ship wars, harrassment (of other fans, cast and crew), entitlement, and wild unpleasantness. And, that scourge of the internet in general; performative outrage (otherwise known as the outrage economy) which turns up the dial on provocative statements and negative emotion because that acts as catnip for engagement. A lot of people act out their shadow-selves online, projecting their own internal stuff onto others, from behind the screen.

Almost no media texts get to run as long as SPN (fifteen years) but my first fandom was (and is) Doctor Who and that has been going for over 50. It has some absolutely horrendously toxic spaces and places online, and many of pure joy. My advice is - find the joy.

Stories, by inviting us into the shoes of others, teach us at their (and our) best, the invaluable gift of empathy.

Take care of yourselves. Endings are hard, no doubt.

Special shout-out to fellow LGBTQ+ fans - hold onto your hearts.

It can be complicated loving a story telling its queer (romantic/ erotic) love story implicitly (i.e. in subtext).

Don’t forget (as I always say in my tags) subtext is part of narrative - meaning, the totality of a text contains its explicit and implicit elements; its text and its subtext, just like Metatron (aka Robbie T) told us in 9x18 Metafiction.

I wasn’t in the fandom myself, here on Tumblr, but I saw some of the fall-out from BBC Sherlock S4, and it was particularly distressing to see so many young LGBTQ+ fans feeling deeply hurt and even suicidal, because they’d read all the (extensively crafted) queer subtext in that show as a promise which would, inevitably, lead to an unequivocal queer “coming out” for John and Sherlock.

Those queer fans weren’t “self-queerbaiting” - they were just reading the totality of the text. And after all, why not read the subtext that way, as a promise? Being of a generation who’d already gotten to see many explicitly out queer characters on-screen; why not dare to imagine the subtext was a slow-burn romance with an inevitable “out” climax? Especially because Mark Gatiss (one of the writers) is out and queer himself, young queer fans were even more certain that his Sherlock would be the first “out” queer Sherlock on-screen (The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, 1970, which Gatiss is on record as being a fan of, had previously queer-coded Holmes, as indeed does Downey’s version, in Sherlock, 2009, and Sherlock 2: A Game of Shadows, 2011.)

Of course, the corporate and production politics were no doubt complex behind the scenes at the BBC, and Gatiss himself (apparently) saw things differently saying (in an interview in Oct 2010):

“No, I don’t think I’d make a kind of gay programme. It’s much more interesting when it’s not about a single issue. And equally, I find flirting with the homoeroticism in Sherlock much more interesting.” (Buzz Magazine Oct 2010: p10).

All of which, is why I’ve been adding a disclaimer to my readings of SPN’s queer subtext for a while now - namely, that reading the subtext doesn’t promise a rainbow of obviousness at the end.

As I said, take care of your hearts, lovelies.

Perhaps we shouldn’t need the narrative closet any longer.

But, we are walking between worlds, an old one and a new, both of them currently existing simultaneously, especially in a globalised world.

Queer audience fractions are, generally, more attuned to queer subtext, because it often uses codes derived from queer culture (although reading cinematic/ television subtext of all kinds is a learned skill, and no one is born with text-reading gaydar). So, whilst queer subtext may appear “loud” to some audience fractions, it remains invisible to others. That is, historically, by design, because, whilst “out” queer characters have gradually emerged on-screen since the 1950s [and the end of the Hays Code in Hollywood] queerness was, and still is (depending on where one is in the world) subject to legal penalty, state censorship or corporate production censorship.

A contemporary kind of state censorship is e.g. in China, where overt LGBTQ+ themes and characters cannot be depicted on-screen (hence, the queer subtext in The Untamed). A contemporary commodity kind of censorship might be e.g. notes from the Network, or TPTB at Marvel Studios with an eye on box-office. Queer subtext has the ability to slip past the censors, or be tolerated by them; because, now you see it/ now you don’t. A character with a straight “surface” reading and a queer subtextual one may (depending on the film/ TV product and its market etc,) be seen to pose less risk as a commercial product, whilst being able to appeal to different audience fractions simultaneously. For example, Captain Marvel (2019) and, as above, BBC Sherlock (2010-2017).

And yes, it’s complicated, because in the midst of that still extant censorship, which queer writers and other creatives on set may indeed be trying to work around by using queer subtext, we can see another world is possible. More out queer stories are being told. And, although we may love to see implicit queerness rather than no queerness at all, and indeed although implicit queerness may (arguably) have the freedom (still) to tell less boundaried or stereotyped stories than explicit queerness (with powerful effects on the audience fractions, both queer and straight, who do “see” it) we can’t deny that it does suit corporate entities, in some cases, to be able to appeal to a dual audience without the perceived “risk” of “outness”. A form of “queer-sploitation” which leads to the charge of “queer-baiting”.

The issue is, perhaps, particularly one surrounding male hero characters in Hollywood (and here in the UK) a) because “queer stories” are (still) often, not seen as likely to have universal appeal for broader audiences, whereas “straight stories” are not framed as “straight stories” but as universal ones, and b) because of the persistence of the prejudiced belief in particular that “queerness” undermines masculinity, especially “heroic” masculinity (here we have diverged markedly from the ancient Greeks). It’s somewhat different for female characters, but that’s another post. Fantasy, in the on-screen medium (if less so in fiction or comics) appears to be a more regressive genre than, say, comedy, in terms of the depiction of “out” queer central (rather than side) characters, with the exception of the Wachowskis’ Sense8 (2015-18) in which pretty much everyone is queer. I know there’s Ruby’ Rose’s Batwoman (2019- ) which I haven’t had a chance to check out yet, and we’ve got some queer Marvel (side) heroes upcoming, apparently; Valkyrie in Thor: Love and Thunder and Phastos in The Eternals - let’s see how that goes.

Moreover, queer subtext doesn’t have an exact analogy i.e. a “straight subtext” equivalent. Yes, many films and TV shows imply romantic/ sexual tension and interest between M/ F (pre)couples before it is “confirmed” they’re into each other in the text. However, because straight is the default assumption, audiences may muse and disagree about the potential for a M/ F romance at the implicit stage (as they have done in SPN fandom re Sam/ Rowena) but they don’t ask - “Does this mean they might be straight ????” It is assumed. Queerness, on the other hand, in order to be widely recognised (rather than solely by the subtext-reading audience fraction) must “come out” in some manner, explicitly, in the text (I don’t mean graphically, but “beyond reasonable doubt”). In other words, as painful as it is, we are not starting on a level playing field. It’s not fair, but it is the deal.

That doesn’t mean we can’t love contemporary queer subtextual stories, just that it’s important to acknowledge it can be painful, for some, to do so, and just as it’s important to acknowlege it’s OK to find them too painful to love, also (historical texts obviously operated under different circumstances).

Queer audiences are not homogenous. We can, and do, see things differently from one another, perhaps particularly across generations.

It is the case however, I think, that the structuring of a story by the narrative closet, as SPN has been structured by the narrative closet (up to this point, mid S15) (by which I mean its queerness is transparent to some, invisible to others, by design) cannot help but remind many queer audience members of our own struggles with the real world closet. Indeed that may make the story attractive, or unattractive, to different folk.

Incidentally, which is why I avoid it, I think the “it’s canon”/ “it’s subtext” debate is a false dichotomy and a bit confusing, as there are two, perfectly legitimate (within their own terms) definitions of “canon”. In the fandom sense, where “canon” means a romantic/ erotic pairing explicitly confirmed in the text, Destiel (meaning romantic/ erotic orientation between Dean and Cas) is not “canon” (as at 15x11). It is implied. Of course, it is explicit text that they care deeply for one another - “You’re my family. I love you, I love all of you” (12x12 Stuck in the Middle with You), “You’re my best friend” (15x09 The Trap). The exact nature of that relationship remains, however, deliberately, ambiguous.

In the literary sense, in which “canon” means “the official body of work”, SPN’s official body of work contains a metric tonne of implicit romantic/ erotic Dean/ Cas, so, it is part of the SPN “canon” in that sense - “subtextual canon” if you like. Although, of course, because implied, therefore open to interpretation.... deliberately transparent to some and invisible to others.

Despite all this complexity, and, indeed despite other elements of the SPN narrative which I have struggled with personally (the early seasons’ misogyny is off the charts sometimes, the brutally insensitive manner of Charlie’s death) I have loved this story, Supernatural, truly, madly, deeply, in large part because of its (implicit) queerness. And for may other reasons additionally, from its folkloric beginnings and dark initial cinematographic palette, to its melodrama, to its, eventual, Ourboros structure, and its Jungian alchemical journey marrying the cosmic to the earthly.

Reading the show without the queer subtext remains possible, but oh boy is that analogous to only considering the above sea-level portion of an iceberg.

I would prefer a rainbow of obviousness at The EndTM, but I don’t expect one. What I expect is continued, deliberate, ambiguity. Something I am sure we will be debating the ethics of, long after.

I could be wrong :-). But I am taking my own advice, and taking care of my heart.

For now, it’s nine minutes to midnight; let’s see how the story ends.

And afterwards, however the chips may fall, the characters will (as this most meta-narrative of seasons has been busy telling us) be set free of “Chuck’s” control. They will belong to us, in a thousand thousand fan-works, for as long as we care to keep on loving them.

#Supernatural #SPN meta #Meta #5x21 #Two Minutes to Midnight #Endings are hard #Who am I kidding #Fandom is going to go wild #Whatever happens #The great queerbaiting debate #Reading Subtext #Dean is bisexual #Destiel #Still subtext #But subtext is part of narrative

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brokingyoking364 · 4 years ago

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How to connect a gaming router to a modem

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shaonsim · 5 years ago

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What did you like the most about Meghna Dubey while creating her?

Thank you so much for asking!!! Meghna is very close to my heart, so I loved this opportunity to gush about her, and to collect my thoughts as to what I want out of her character arc. Thank you!

Meghna Dubey was a character I built for a RP (which, for the uninitiated, is a form of writing where multiple writers collaborate to write a story, each only controlling their characters and influencing the story via the things done by their characters. There are a lot of these on tumblr. Thankfully mine was hosted somewhere else, and the format was much cleaner and now I have lost the focus of this post...) Anyway, let's get back to the matter at hand. Unlike my other RPs, I had this one fully planned, as in I knew where I wanted to take this story. So Meghna's character arc was more or less clear to me, and I built her according to what will happen in the story, and what ideas I wanted to explore with her character.

Let's side track once again and learn more about her story because it will explain my reasoning a bit, as to why I created her the way I did, and such.

THIS was supposed to be a retelling of an ITV classic, rich boy (son of a business tycoon and lives abroad) crossing paths with middle class girl (small town girl with a big heart and a nasty habit to meddle in other people's business), coming together to reunite star crossed lovers and falling hard and fast for each other, ending with the classic rich guy abandoning his girlfriend for the past X years.

Meghna is the ex girlfriend in this story.

You know, the one who is also super rich, lives abroad, comes from a business family (she might be very career-oriented, but that's a cute bonus, not a requirement to fit into the trope). She would be mean spirited and a snob and she will create a ruckus before and after the breakup, and will lose her mind and hire goons and plan murder.

Only, my Meghna is not the vamp of this story. She is a flawed human, who loves too deeply, suffers through the heartbreak and gathers herself together to wish for happy things for all of them.

This is her story.

Now that you know about the plot and where I wanted to take it (as of yet, it has been put on an indefinite hiatus), let me come around and answer your question.

What is my favourite thing about Meghna? Her passion for her work, her dedication to the business, and how, Meghna Dubey of Saroja Jewelleries is a separate entity from the Meghna who had fallen in love with Ankit (the guy, my writing partner's character). Meghna goes through a lot, and it is the family business that helps to keep her head above the water.

Was it really necessary to make her fall so deeply in love with the guy, especially when I knew they wouldn't be together? Yes. I wanted to explore the mindset of a girl who had planned her whole life with a person, and who does NOT turn into a psychopath in her grief, but comes out of it the same, positive person she had been, if only a little jaded and bearing the scars of her first love. She never really fully recovers from that, although she does get her happy ending with her husband (Ajitesh). Her first love remains in a corner of her heart, whereas Ajitesh occupies most of the place. I even made a graphic to explain this mindset, and although this isn't my most favourite thing about her, it ranks pretty high up there. Sharing the graphic just because -

((Meri kahani toh Ankit se hi shuru hota hai aur ussi pe khatam.

Jane kaise, kab, kahan, meri duniya ussise takrayi, aur bas, pyaar hogaya. Mai toh wohi par atki rahi, par woh age bar gaya. Ajitesh bohot acha hai, aur mai bohot khush bhi hoon. Par phir bhi. Dil he ki maanta nehi. Pehle pyaar ki peheli nishaani hoke Ankit mere dil me rah gaya. Waise, mera dil hai bohot bada. Mera bita hua kaal aur mera jeevan sathi, dono ek hi jagah pe khusi-khusi rahte hain. Aap soch rahe honge, ki main kaun hoon? Mera naam kya hain?

Main MEGHNA, aur yeh, meri kahani hai.))

⬆️Transcript because the font is hard to read.

Coming back to the importance of her career, I wanted to give her something, and no, not as a hobby. A full blown career, and I wrote in the conflict with her orthodox aunt as a side plot for her cousin, but let's just focus on Meghna.

The only child of business tycoon Ronit Dubey, and sole Heiress of Saroja Jewelleries, Meghna stood on solid ground. A lot of the hard work was already done for her, though I did emphasise on how she had been very involved in the business from early on, and how she keeps coming up with new designs at random points, because her work is always there in her head. It is a huge, HUGE part of who she is. She is MEGHNA DUBEY, and that never leaves her.

She has a legacy to uphold, a society to fight with.

And when Ankit’s absence leaves her broken and without a sense of self (because she did go all out in her life. Back when they were dating, she had moulded herself into the role of his girlfriend < and future wife > and had it not been for Saroja Jewelleries, we could have lost Meghna to the shadow of a woman whose life revolved around Ankit), this connection, this purpose, is what motivates her. This is what makes her realise that she was much more than Ankit’s Meghna, and she comes up like a phoenix rising from its ashes and becomes her own person. She blooms.

Which is funny, because life was simpler and happier before, but even before Ankit had stepped into her life, she had built her identity around her business, and it is this same habit that made her switch targets and orbit around Ankit.

And now, the Meghna that comes out of all this is a person, an individual, and in my opinion, that's the best thing.

The thing I loved most when creating Meghna Dubey?

Her journey.

#please leave a message || asks #tag: my ch #tag: M Dubey

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asterythm · 6 years ago

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Spectral’s Sanders Sides Masterpost

All my Thomas Sanders content in one place! All links lead to tumblr posts unless stated otherwise; AO3 links can be found on the posts where applicable. You’ll also find a few non-writing creations at the end (music, graphic design, etc.). A [*] denotes personal favourites. Happy exploring!

Writing tag || Singing tag || Creativity tag || AO3 || YouTube

A is for Amour – Ongoing (10/?)*

High school/college AU. Slow burn. Eventual Logicality. Eventual Prinxiety. 48k.

Twice a week, tenth-grade Patton Foley meets up with his new tutor and fellow student Logan Berry to try and raise his Math and English grades before the end of the term. In return, Patton accidentally teaches Logan all about this crazy thing called love. Meanwhile, Patton’s older brother Roman Foley does not have the perfect life and perfect boyfriend that he says he does… but he’s so far in at this point that it’ll take a miracle to get him out. That is, either a miracle, or the next best thing: meeting the incredible-yet-insecure Virgil Xia.

one || two || three || four || five || six || seven || eight || nine || ten || eleven (in progress)

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of delirium and dandelions – On hiatus (2/10)

Horror family AU. 4k.

Ah – what a shame. Patton’s gotten his new apron dirty, and dried bloodstains are just so difficult to wash out, you see.

one || two || three || four || five || six || seven || eight || nine || ten

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Oneshots

and maybe one day i’ll get around to fixing myself, too Patton’s getting real sick of this. 8k, platonic LAMP.

blink and you’ll miss it* The third time Roman C. Knightly looks up, his breath is taken away. The man approaching him is nimble fingers and shameless smiles and the warmth of freshly-dried laundry in the mornings, and Roman’s most expensive moleskine notebook falls to the ground, forgotten. He thinks he might be falling, too. And goodness, have you ever heard of anything more cliché? 4k, Royality.

Born of the Same Impulse* After an experiment goes wrong, a wizard-slash-scientist named Logan finds himself stranded in an alternate, magic-less dimension – but the more he explores, the less anxious he is to find his way back home again. 13k, LAMP.

No Winning On Halloween The Sides’ annual costume party is going great… right up until an unexpected guest shows up. 3k, platonic DLAMP.

To the Beat of Our Hearts Virgil was salted caramel ice cream. Virgil was the smell of freshly-cut grass. Virgil was double-knotted shoelaces, so he wouldn’t trip over them when he danced his way into Logan’s heart, twisting and twirling until Logan was positively loopy with love. 2k, Analogical.

with a comma after dearest Roman has several passions. Letter-writing is one of them. Logan has several passions, too. Editing his roommate’s love letters is not one of them, but being a decent person, he’s willing to do it anyway. 6k (script format), Logince.

--- --- ---

Misc. Writing

Read my most recent vignette (AO3)

A-spec Sides Headcanons

and he sat*

TS Telepathy AU*

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Music

A New Year of Lying To Myself (A Capella)

Constants (Virgil’s Song)*

Logan in the Corner (Michael in the Bathroom Rewrite)

Tale of the Mountain (Roman’s Song)*

The Gospel We Used to Share (Mashup)

--- --- ---

Graphic Design

A Lesson in Practicality*

Fractured (Book cover)*

Joan Appreciation Day (Tag yourself)

living in the real world (Book cover)

nothing gold can stay (Book cover)

Springtime edits*

Profile photos: 1 2

#sanders sides #sanders sides fic #sanders sides fanfic #thomas sanders #thatsthat24 #masterpost #spec made something

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looksora-blog · 5 years ago

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first of all, please excuse the formatting on this post!! i’m at work and on my phone and normally i’d just wait until i get home but i’ll likely be phoneward bound for a while and was too excited to get an intro up.. i promise i usually make prettier posts. graphic design is my passion.

ANYWAYS let me introduce you to hayashi sora! an up and coming makeup and beauty vlogger who i would describe as having chaotic sweetheart energy. while his primary platform is his youtube channel, he’s also quite active on instagram and he’s kinda blown up in the last two-ish years. you can read up more on him here.

i may be stuck on my phone but i’m more than happy to start plotting in the meantime! tumblr ims are super hit or miss for me, but i can plot via discord or twitter, both available upon request in ims! i’m super excited to get involved here and am looking forward to meeting everyone’s muses!!

#.ooc #i’ll probably format this nicer when i can get on a computer again 😭#so if you see this after its pretty... just know it was originally Ugly DHSGSJS

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lodyart-blog · 6 years ago

Video

youtube

Jack WhoAmI Comic Strip Promo Video 1

I want to share my world of creativity with my Patrons, offering a wide range of digital artwork in several genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic, Horror, Dystopian Futuristic, Cyber-Punk, Noir, and Classic Golden Age and Modern Super Hero. NEW RELEASES: The "Jack WhoAmI" weekly Comic Strip is now live, available to my patrons, at the Level 3 VIP Access ($3 per month level) The "Jack WhoAmI" promo video 1 and 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m99qBTOodQ8 youtube.com/watch?v=TMGL6PDUngg Dungeon and Terrain Tile Collection 1 Includes 19 Large Format High-Res Printable Gaming Tiles 10x10 Inches (3000x3000px) in PDF format. 9x9 Squares. Includes cobblestone roads with grass and water. Great for RPGs and Miniature War Gaming. Lody Art - Fantasy Poster Art Book -Halfling Adventurer - Book 1 This book features the Halfling adventurer in 24 different poses. This printable art work in this book is great a portrait of your player character in a fantasy RPG, or to this just hang up as poster art. Several other digital Graphic Novels and Comic Strips of mine are currently in production with a variety of related content will be available to my patrons in the near future. Genres include Dystopian Cyber-Punk, High Fantasy, Classic Super-Hero, Noir, and Horror. Also in production are digital rule sets for my Fold-Up Miniatures Battle Game, as well my own original Role-playing System. Several Rule Supplements and Adventure Scenarios will released shortly after the launch of both rule sets. Printable generic Maps, Dungeon Tiles, Fold-Up Miniatures, and Gaming Templates will also be available, usable for any game system. Working professionally as a graphic designer and illustrator for over 20 years, I’m constantly looking for new techniques and expanding my knowledge base to perfect my creative process. Previous projects include Posters, Flyers, Banners, Album Covers, Cartography, 3D Illustration, and Book Cover Art and more. Now I offer that same professional level of creativity and passion to all my patrons. I fell the most alive when I’m being creative, my imagination fuels my passion. Active Patrons receive will special discounts for my Graphic Design Services at LODYGRAPHICS.COM YOUTUBE https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5dmtRCpng5bqpHDi... SOCIETY 6 You can now order t-shirts, posters, framed prints, metal prints, HD prints and more: https://society6.com/lodyart FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/LODYARTCHICAGO/ TUMBLR https://lodyart.tumblr.com/ DEVIANT ART https://www.deviantart.com/lodyart TWITTER https://twitter.com/LodyGraphics606 INSTRAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/lodygraphicschicago/

#jackwhoami comic comicbooks comicstrip lodyart art

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casscutting · 5 years ago

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Cover Designer Breakdown: What You Should Know Before Hiring A Designer

Let’s talk more about cover design if you couldn’t tell Graphic Design is a big passion of mine. It’s up there with storytelling, my dogs, video games, books… Okay, you get it lol.

In my previous post, I barely scratched the surface of cover design so I want to expand on what I started and give you all a true breakdown of what you should do when you’re looking to hire a cover designer. Now, these tips are more tailored to those of you who are going the Indie publishing route. HOWEVER, since there are still a lot of things left up to the author who goes Traditional these tips can apply if you need bookmarks, banners for cons, business cards, etc.

Just a note before we get into the steps make sure your book is fully ready for print before you commission a designer. Make sure your book is formatted and any extra little pages you need/want to include ie the copyright page, the acknowledgments, maps and artwork, etc. is all accounted for because ACCURATE PAGE COUNT MATTERS because it determines the sign of the design for printing. If you don’t have this done and you get your covers designed you may have to go back and pay MORE to have the whole design adjusted to fit the proper size.

Inspiration! When you hire a cover designer you’ll usually be asked to provide images of book covers you like that fit within the context of your book. For example, if you are writing a cutesy YA contemporary romance about two teens who go away to a summer camp hating each other only to fall in love by the end of the summer you would want to give them covers that reflect that vision. Now the whole cover doesn’t have to fit your book but if there is some aspect of it that you like that does work for your story save it.

The other thing that would be smart to give but is not as important as the book covers themselves is fonts. If you see a font that you like, you should also send that to your designer as well.

Now a note with fonts not all fonts are free to use in a commercial since which a book cover would fall under. So depending on the designer, you may be charged extra if that designer has to purchase a specific font. Usually, these fonts licenses are no more than $25.00 American though I have seen some bat shit crazy prices like $150.00+ which is stupid and I’d never pay that for a font.

I personally have font licenses covered in my pricing then again I have roughly 1,500 fonts that are either free for commercial use or that I own licenses for. That goes for most designers as well we all have a catalog of fonts.

But like I said this is not a requirement in the least because even if you send a font to the designer there is no way of telling right off the back if that specific font will work with the overall design.

Finding A Designer There are several ways you can go about finding a designer. Social media: You can look on Instagram under the #CoverDesigner #GraphicDesigner or #BookCoverArtist hashtags.

Websites: 99Designs which is strickly for graphic designers and then there are Fiverr and Freelancer who also houses a large number of freelance Graphic Designers. I have also seen more and more graphic artists and designers on Etsy offering cover designs. Hell, even here on Tumblr you can find graphic designers selling book cover if you look. There are a lot of options out there.

Ask Indie Authors: More and more Indie Authors are taking advantage of graphic designers (THANK YOU) so if you see a book that is Indie Published DM that author and tell them that you really loved their cover and was wondering if you could get the name of their designer. Now they may not want to give you that information and that’s their choice but most of them will.

Indie Editors: A lot of indie editors work with cover designers and can put you in contact with them if you ask. Some of them even offer packages that include edits for your book along with cover designs.

Graphic Design Companies: I put this option last because it is by far the most expensive. There are thousands of these all over the world thus making them easy to find. I live in a SMALL town and there are 3 different graphic design companies within 30 minutes of me. A plus side of going with this option you’re less likely to have to plan so far in advance to book one of their artists but you will pay for that convenience.

A lot of designers especially the more widely known designers have a backlog of clients and thus usually have a post on their websites and or social media accounts stating if they are open to new clients or not.

No matter who you choose or what method you find them the one thing above all others is that you like their work, liking them as a person is also a really good plus lol.

Consultation & Booking Now that you’ve found a designer(s) you like its time for the Consultation. Most designers will have a price list/breakdown on their websites but on the off chance they don’t message them and say: Hello, my name is NAME I found you on Instagram (or wherever) I am looking for a cover designer I liked your portfolio and was wondering about your price list because I didn’t see one on your site. Thank you, NAME” or something to that extent. It is best to be professional.

If their prices are within your budget then message them back and say that their prices work for you and you would like to talk about having them design a cover for you. Tell them that you are looking for a book cover (Hardcover, Paperback, E-book, and or Audiobook) Tell them about your book usually the synopsis will do. Tell them that you have inspiration pictures of other book covers that you think fit this book in some way.

If they are open to new commissions they will let you know and if they like the concept aka your synopsis. Some designers will take any client but most of us won’t want our name on something we don’t believe in. For example, if somewhere to come to me with a book about how Transgender people are the worst and should be killed. I’d be as “professional” as I could and let them know that a Transgender Graphic Designer isn’t the best choice for their project. True that is an EXTREME example but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

You will give them any ideas you’ve had for the cover most authors/writers I know, myself included, have at least a basic vague idea of what they want for their book’s cover. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t just make sure you communicate that to the designer.

As I stated in my previous post depending on the designer you will most likely have to pay at least a portion of the coast up front and the rest before you’re given the final print ready copy. To keep it strictly business and to protect both you, the author, and the designer a contract will likely be sent over for you to read through and sign most of the ones I’ve seen break down like this:

The author agrees to pay this set amount unless extra work is requested that goes above and beyond the stated arrangement ie 5 revisions and fixes, etc. set forth by the designer.

The Author agrees to pay this amount upfront before any work is to start.

The designer has this period of time in which to complete this work baring unforeseen illness and or death.

The author is to pay the remaining balance before they are given the high quality unwatermarked version of the design.

If the designer fails to meet the deadline and grace period of a set number of days has elapsed they designer forfeits the remainder of the contracted payment and is to finish the design within a timely manner and the design in question is to be given to the author who commissioned the work.

If for any reason the author fails to pay within a set time and grace period has elapsed they forfeit the design and said design can be used going forward by the designer as they see fit.

Then both parties sign and things proceed from there.

There are also stipulations within some contracts that I’ve seen that say if you as the author make the payments and get your product and you turn around and file a claim with PayPal (if that is the method of money transfer) to get your money back thus stealing from the designer you open yourself to litigation for usually double if not triple the original amount of the original contract plus any bank fees and lawyer and court costs. So think long and hard before you want to steal from someone.

Just like in the traditional publishing world people talk and if someone were to do this the designer will make sure that no one works with you at least not without knowing what took place.

The first payment is usually always made upon signing of the contract or within a set amount of time. The contracts even when signed, unless your designer is a monster, usually won’t be valid until that first payment is made and the money is in the designer’s position.

There you have it a more in-depth breakdown of what the cover process is likely to be. I hope this helps you on your journey to publication.

#books #writing #writer #amwriting #self publishing #independent publishing #graphic design #graphic designer #book cover #book cover design #book cover designer #Cover design #cover designer #how to find a cover designer #how to find a graphic designer #self publishing resources #Self published books #publishing #publishing strategy

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makemoneyonlineprofit-blog · 6 years ago

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Using Pinterest as a Self-Promo Tool

https://120profit.com/?p=2611&utm_source=SocialAutoPoster&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Tumblr As Pinterest continues to gain followers (it currently has more than 25.3 million unique visitors), it’s become an increasingly valuable marketing tool for designers. The visual nature of the social media site also makes it an ideal platform for showcasing one’s creative capabilities. Interactive professionals, for instance, can post high-quality screenshots of their web, mobile or app designs to the online bulletin board. If you have your own website (or a presence on online portfolio sites like Behance), you can upload images that link back to the original source. If you don’t, posting on Pinterest provides a quick way to get your work in front of a broad audience. How to Use Pinterest to Promote Your Work Not yet a pinning pro? Here’s a primer on using the virtual pinboard for career-related purposes: Categorize carefully. Pinterest enables you to arrange images and other media (“pins”) by topic into collections known as “boards.” First and foremost, separate your designs from others’ work, which you can organize into boards such as “Inspiration” or “Artwork I Like.” If you have a robust portfolio, consider dividing your work into boards defined by specific categories—like “My Web Work” and “My Print Work”—so viewers can quickly find what they’re looking for. Aim for clear, concise titles. At The Dieline Packaging Design Conference, Steve Kazanjian, global creative VP at MeadWestvaco, will be talking about how brands and the designers who support them can create eye-catching packaging designs in this social media era. Check out Tweet, Pin, Post, and Text: Designing Your Digital Moment Of Truth and other Dieline sessions at HOW Design Live. Craft compelling captions. Context is key, so give people perusing your pins an overview of each work sample. Include the client’s name (if you have permission), project objective, role you played and any positive outcomes. Example: “This website redesign I led for XYZ Corp. exceeded the client’s goal, boosting monthly page views by 20 percent.” Check your settings to ensure your profile is open to search engine indexing. Use keywords, such as web design or digital typography, in your captions so users searching for boards on a certain topic are directed to your content. Be a follower. You want to gain followers so more people will be exposed to your work. The fastest way to do so is to frequently engage with others. Follow boards and users who share your professional interests. Many top creative shops and talented designers are on Pinterest. The Creative Group’s Pinterest page, for instance, contains design resources, creative inspiration and industry news. Like and comment on work you find striking. Or share it with your followers by “repinning” it—basically, reposting it to your own collection. Just be sure to honor Pinterest etiquette and give appropriate credit to the image’s original source. In short, show some love to your fellow pinners, and they’ll be more apt to return the favor. Keep it clean. The goal should be to build your personal brand and share relevant content, not to shock others or stir up controversy. While you certainly can offer some insight into your personality, passions and pastimes, err on the side of caution when it comes to your boards. Just as you can undermine your reputation with a single ill-advised tweet or Faceboook update, the same is true of your pins. There’s little upside to posting a potentially offensive image or pinning an inflammatory quotation. Get (info)graphic. Sure, you can post a PDF of your resume on Pinterest. But it’s more advantageous to create an eye-catching infographic resume. Eliminate the boring bulleted text and convey your professional skills, background and achievements through colorful illustrations, graphs, charts and other visuals. This increasingly popular resume format makes it easy for potential clients and employers to scan and digest. Stay committed. Adding new content consistently is the name of the game on Pinterest. Regardless of how impressive the designs you initially post, you won’t derive much benefit if you let your boards go dark for weeks at a time. After completing work you’re proud of, take a few minutes to update your boards. Remember: If you’re out of sight, you’re out of mind. Love Pinterest as much as the HOW team does? Be sure to follow our pins! More self-promotion resources for creative pros 120profit.com - https://120profit.com/?p=2611&utm_source=SocialAutoPoster&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Tumblr

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yvonnelozano-blog · 6 years ago

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Walk the Writing Talk: Business in Writing.

Running Your Business with your Author Platform.

You’re Author Platform is your ability to connect with potential readers and sell your books to them. If your Author Platform isn’t growing, your business isn’t growing.

· Target Market- this is what is known in the writing world as “Target Audience.” This is who you are planning to sell your product/ Service to. For example, if you write Young Adult novels, you’d want to connect with potential readers in this demographic by posting your content where they would be so they can find you. Don’t be afraid to research where fans of your genre would be as well, they are just as important.

· Theme – This is the reason or reasons why readers will choose to read your book. You are your business. The walking/talking embodiment of a company. So what is your theme or voice? Every business has one and it’s what sets them apart from all the other businesses that do exactly what they do. The writing world is extremely saturated, and standing out from the masses can feel overwhelming. But whatever your voice or theme is, be authentic with it. People will find you and like you, and in turn buy your book.

Marketing/ Sales Strategy

This section should detail your strategies for reaching your target audience and developing their interest in yourself/your book. You should also include a sales strategy to demonstrate how you will sell your product/service to your target market.

Communications Strategy – find social media platforms(Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, and so on) and websites to not only promote your bookish goodies, but to connect with your Target Audience. For example, Snapchat and YouTube is where you will find most YA readers, so this is where you’ll want to spend most of your time if your genre is YA.

Since the business side of writing can be very overwhelming, places like Storiad.com that are specifically designed to help connect authors with their audiences and market their stories an easy to understand guide are really amazing and definitely worth looking into to find the right website that works for you.

· Marketing Strategy – your marketing strategy is to build your author platform. Relying on twitter, Tumblr and other social media sites related to those are not enough. You need to spread yourself out to other places. This would be podcasts, online conferences, exchanges and interviews with other authors—anything that will get you in front of someone else’s audience who has a target audience related to yours.

· Giving away products for free: I hear a lot that writers/authors feel a negative type of way about ‘giving their books way for free.’ they need to get over that hurdle.

Businesses give away products or services for free to someone they know will get their product out to a wider range of people—and that’s where they get a return on their investment and make sales which in turn equals profits.

Going back to the YA example used earlier, say you gave your book (aka, product) to another YA author who has an established or growing audience such as yours is a great idea. Having them talk about your book in front of their audience is how more people discover you and thus your platform/business will also grow by extension.

You should also do the same for other authors and pay it forward.

Staffing and Operations

Aspiring writers often don’t know there are “Operation costs” that come with publishing a book. If you’re traditionally publishing, then your operation costs are in your marketing budget, minus your Author Website. For self-published authors, on the other hand, it’s all on them. Regardless of which route you take, it is important for you to know the Operating Costs of your business. Look, there is NO ‘one size fits all’ number when it comes to Operation Costs in writing. A lot of the prices vary depending on who you hire. So because of that, unless you see an actual number by any of the listed below, then go ahead and fill in “prices vary” under that category.

Outline the intended number of employees –

· The professional editor: very common for authors to hire multiple editors because there are such a wide range of different specialist. Such as, Copy Editors, Line Editors, Developmental Editors as well as Proofreaders, which is an optional edit.

· Format: formatting varies between your book sizes (i.e. an 8x5inch book will not have the same format as a 10x5inch book.) as well as eBooks. So you will need someone who knows how to format for all the various ways you plan to publish.

· Cover art: People judge books by their covers, so don’t skimp on hiring a graphic designer to make yours attention grabbing.

Costs of Operation:

Publishing does not cost you a dime no matter which publishing route you decided to take, though there are places like Ingramspark.com that do charge—but they also give you a bunch of other tools to help you succeed so it might be worth looking into.

Copy Right: to do this electronically it costs $35. It takes months, so remember that before posting any ‘release day’ info to your fans. The Copy Right is done when your story is completely written and edited. No more changes are being made to your novel at this point.

There is also printing costs, which is always deducted from your Author profit (if you self-published) on whatever site you used. But it does cost you money to order a shipment if you want a physical copy. Luckily this cost is just the cost to print it and nothing else.

Marketing: Since we already touched on the different ways to market, I won’t go over it again here. No matter which publishing route you took, you will pay out of pocket to market your book.

Author Website: You do not need to pay for your author website, but it looks better if you do. Yes, you need a website for your fans to find even if you interact with them mostly on social media. If you look up a business and see they do not have a website, how likely are you to buy their product/work with them? Exactly, the same applies to your business—which is you and your books.

Funding Requirements

You need to start saving up money for your business as soon as possible. You need to know what you can afford, when you can afford it, and how long it will take you to get to the amount you required to run your business. Keep a detailed account of where any money you’re spending for your business is going and make sure you stay within your budget plan.

Research is very important, especially in a career as saturated as being an Author. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed, take a deep breath, and remember this is your business, your dream, your passion—and when you get your thoughts in order, keep hustling and make your money.

I’m always down to learn, so post in the comments below if you can think of something to add.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and IG: @Writer_Yvonne and @author_yvonnelozano

I also have a website, where I post more about my current projects and novels.

https://www.authoryvonnelozano.com/

With that, lovelies, stay safe.

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brendagilliam2 · 7 years ago

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10 tips for a killer design portfolio

As a creative professional you live and die by the quality of your design portfolio. It sums you and your work up and is the first port of call for anyone looking to hire or commission you. It needs to show the breadth of your output, your skills and experience, how you generate and execute ideas, basically your whole creative process.

Get Adobe Portfolio free with Creative Cloud

When done well, a creative’s portfolio should impress and surprise the viewer, demonstrating how you and your work will be an invaluable asset to the viewer, whether that be as a full time member of staff or on a freelance basis.

There are lots of varying opinions on exactly what a design portfolio should contain (especially what format it should take) but there are some golden rules and theories that will set you in good stead when putting yours together.

Read on for my 10 top tips for creating a killer portfolio, gleamed from over a decade’s industry experience as a commissioning designer and art editor, not to mention my own experience of preparing portfolios and attending interviews. I’ll also showcase some portfolio examples from fellow designers that I think work particularly well.

01. All killer, no filler

This should really be common sense, but you’d be surprised how often it isn’t followed. Only ever show your very best work in your portfolio and if you aren’t 100 per cent happy with the outcome then don’t feature it.

It’s fine to show a creative journey through your work but people don’t want to see way back to your college years (unless of course you’re a recent graduate) and the old adage that ‘you’re only as good as your last job’ should spring to mind.

It’s often hard to self-edit, but it’s important to be quite ruthless when selecting the work to ensure that all of it is up to scratch and of a standard that you’re happy with.

02. Start and end with key pieces

Photographer Valerie Phillips makes a lasting impression on her landing page through the use of full window imagery that cycles though different images as you hover over the sections

This is something that I learned quite early on: to begin with a really strong killer piece that will grab people’s attention, and then finish on a similarly striking talking point that will leave them wanting more.

It’s easy to see how this can apply to a traditional print portfolio, but the same thinking can be applied to an iPad folio or indeed a simple PDF attachment in an email.

03. Leave them wanting more

As mentioned above, its important to leave the viewer wanting more, especially on initial application as you don’t want to arrive at a meeting or interview with nothing left to talk about.

Also, remember not to overdo it in certain areas of your portfolio. If you’ve done some infographic work then feature a few key pieces and then show something different, the last thing you want is to bore someone with 100 examples of the same kind of work.

04. Get an online portfolio

There is simply no excuse for not having an online portfolio in this day and age, even if you are predominantly a print designer. You don’t have to know any code to take advantage of the features that sites like Cargo Collective and SquareSpace offer, not to mention an abundance of ready made and beautifully designed Tumblr and WordPress themes. Not forgetting the social portfolio platform behemoths, Adobe Portfolio and Behance.

Cargo is a great platform enabling creatives to quickly set up an online portfolio and customise it by editing the CSS or HTML

If you do wish to edit the look and feel of some of these sites then most allow you to edit the HTML or CSS directly and it only takes a conversation with a code savvy friend to learn the (very) basics. Or failing that, Google is always your friend.

05. Let the work speak for itself

Don’t be tempted to over-embellish your online portfolio (or printed portfolio for that matter). Allow the work to do the talking by making projects easy to view in large formats.

I spoke to Rob Gonzalez from the UK based design studio SAWDUST and asked him why they chose to design their portfolio site the way they did:

“The idea was essentially to make viewing work as easy and accessible as possible. We wanted all of our projects on one page at the same time, which would allow anyone commissioning us to easily be able to scan projects until finding the desired reference.”

SAWDUST’s slick portfolio site has proved to be a great calling card for the cutting edge design outfit

SAWDUST’s site is a great example of a clean and concise online portfolio that’s easily navigable and puts the work at the forefront. I can speak from experience and say that on more then one occasion I’ve ended up not commissioning someone because the user journey was too convoluted or it took too long to load the images.

06. Curate for the job you want

If sending out a PDF sampler or curating your portfolio for an interview, always make a bespoke selection of work each time that’s tailored to that specific client.

Although it may be the thing that you’re most proud of, a potential corporate client probably isn’t interested in the experimental fashion shoot you’ve just worked on. This applies to whole selections of work on websites as well; only show the kind of work that you want to get commissioned for or hired to create.

07. Self initiated work

I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve heard fellow creatives state how important self initiated work is to their practice. Potential employers are also interested in seeing you flex your creative muscles and express your individual voice, to the point that I actually saw it specifically stated as a requirement on a job ad.

Colour and the Kids use their bluff alongside their main portfolio site to showcase personal and work in progress pieces

Including self initiated work helps the employer to see where your passions lie and the kind of work that you’d choose to do if not restricted by a tight client brief. Also, unless you’re at a senior/art director level then it’s sometimes hard to tell how integral a role someone played within the creation of a large project, and whether or not they were working to strict guidelines and design systems.

08. Show your working

Along with seeing self initiated projects, its can also be valuable to show your working and the journey you went through to realise the outcome to a given brief. This may be the journey from marque creation to implementation within a branding project or the craft based process behind an analogue piece of work.

Kyle Wilkinson showcases behind the scenes shots on his portfolio site, giving an insight into his creative process

I asked Kyle Wilkinson, who often works with real world materials, why he thinks it’s important to show the process behind his stunning images.

“Showing things going off behind the scenes when creating your work gives an instant understanding to the viewer on how it was made, as well as the depth and level of your capabilities as a designer.”

“And unlike showing your working in a maths lesson, demonstrating your techniques and craft can be beneficial – as the image style may not be quite what a potential client is looking for, but they now know you are equipped with the skillset they’re after that you could apply to their brief.”

09. Choose the right format

To iPad or not to iPad. The general consensus is that the traditional print portfolio is redundant when attending interviews, and that displaying work on an iPad is a much easier, convenient and contemporary way to display your work.

My personal advice would be to take both, but perhaps a box folio for actual printed matter is preferable to the traditional leather flip book. There’s nothing wrong with a PDF on an iPad or indeed a keynote presentation, but when dealing with print I think wherever possible it’s nice to see the actual pieces and feel the tactility of the product.

It makes sense that printing out digital projects is a pretty pointless activity, and photoshoots and illustration both look great on iPad, but if you’ve been working with different paper stocks and finishes it’s nice to see those pieces in the flesh. Ultimately use your common sense and choose the best format to display the kind of work that you produce.

10. Be confident and tell your story

Finally, the key to any portfolio presentation is the ability to deliver and talk confidently about the work within it. There’s nothing worse than going through someones portfolio who has little or nothing to say about their work.

Ensure that all the pieces that you include are ones that you’re very proud of and can talk confidently and enthusiastically about in a meeting, explaining the back story and journey you went through to get there. Go get em!

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from Brenda Gilliam https://brendagilliam.com/10-tips-for-a-killer-design-portfolio/

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teratomart · 7 years ago

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2018 Commission Prices

My commissions are OPEN, and here's what you need to know:

Read the Commissions Terms of Service BEFORE commissioning me.

Pricing

Traditional Media:

Traditional Sketch

waist up: $20

full body: $35

sketch page: flat $50

Traditional Ink

waist up: $35

full body: $45

Digital Media

All of my digital media is now priced by the hour! My rate is $15 to open, and $12 an hour, rounded up to the nearest dollar. Please see my Terms and Conditions for pricing specifics. Digital media comes in:

(New!) Icons ($25 flat)

Chibis ($25 flat)

Sketches (1-2 hrs)

Inks (2-5 hrs)

Flat color (5-6 hrs)

(New!) Lineless (2-4 hrs)

Shading (6-8+ hrs)

(New!) Full rendering (10+ hours)

Sketch pages (2-4 hrs)

Shipping: Shipping prices will vary by size! I am available to ship internationally (as long as you’re willing to pay for the shipping!).

Additional characters are available! Pricing does NOT change when characters are added to a single project, but if you plan on dedicating each character to a separate project, the initial $15 fee will apply to each.

Prices are based off of character complexity, estimated finish time, and detail put into the work. Prices usually fall in the mid-to-low range unless your character is particularly complex or a lot of concept design has to go into the work. However, I, the artist, reserve the right to price my commissions as I see fit. I'd be happy to review your character references for consideration, please feel free to ask me questions about my pricing!

New! - Returning customers no longer have to pay the initial starting fee! All repeat customers will only be charged $12/hr for single projects!

New! - Late fees will now be applied for overdue invoices. See below.

Breakdown

My commission types and what you’ll get with each commission, in order:

Traditional sketches: Variable size, quick, detailed pencil sketches of your character(s). When ordering a sketch page, pages typically include a handful of headshots, a couple waist-up pieces, a full body or two, and possibly a handful of chibis. Regardless, you’re definitely getting your money’s worth. Sketch pages are available to be mailed at your request!

Traditional ink: These pieces are large, high-detail, black or sepia ink graphics of your character. You may also include a single color to be used with the ink that will be added in copic marker or colored pencil. Ink pieces can be mailed at the your request!

(New!) Icons: Simple, small icons. Headshots of your character done in a graphic style to show them off. Can be done in a circle or a square!

Chibis: Small, cutesy, expressive representations of your characters.

Digital sketches: Just about the same as traditional ones, but digital. Smallish, messy, sketchy pieces of your character(s). I have a few sketching styles you can select from! A sketch sheet contains what a traditional sketch sheet usually does: 1 full body, a couple waist-up sketches, and a handful of headshots/busts!

Digital ink: These pieces are large and incredibly detailed black or colored ink. I am very passionate about my ink work and have multiple styles for you to choose from! These are my favorite to do :3c

Flat color: Simple, flat, with a fair amount of detail and no shading, and few additional effects. Typically ink work with color, but this can be changed to be a colored sketch.

(New!) Lineless: A messy, free-flowing, lineless style. Quick and easy, though detailed and tons of fun.

Shading: A shaded commission will vary in appearance, contain cel shading, and have more in-depth color than a flat color or colored sketch.

(New!) Fully rendered: Fully rendered pieces are my most extensive commission type. These commissions take hours upon hours, and play will numerous complex shading techniques, but are painstakingly crafted to be just right. These commissions are HIGHLY experimental, but the result will be worth it.

Media

As you see above, my commissions are broken into traditional and digital media. I am available to mail traditional commissions! Please contact me about shipping prices if you wish to receive your commission in the mail.

Digital commissions will be sent to the client in full resolution and size, and I will also send PNG flat files of the individual layers at your request. I will NOT provide the .psd/.sai/.mmd file for your use (with very limited exceptions). Digital commissions will be sent in the form of a .zip/.rar file at the client's request, to avoid the compression of images.

How do I get one?

Instructions:

Request a hold* on a slot purchase if necessary/available. The preferred/default hold time is seven days (1 week), and the maximum hold time is fourteen days (2 weeks).

Establish a payment plan, if applicable. Purchases $50 and over are available for a payment plan. Purchases under $50 must be paid up front before commission materials will be delivered.

Send me a thorough visual reference of your character, or VERY well-written description. Either format requires: Height, body type, color palette, and a brief description of their personality and behavior. I reserve the right to properly judge my ability to illustrate your character in the format requested, and the to decline a commission request based on my current skills. Creating concept art of characters without a previously established visual will take a LOT of extra time. Be mindful of this when providing characters without a clear reference.

Inquire through email by contacting me at [email protected], or private message me a valid email address via your preferred social media site. My available platforms are: DeviantArt, Tumblr, Twitter, Toyhouse, and Instagram.

Pay the invoice you receive from PayPal in your inbox. Credit, Debit, and PayPal payments are accepted. While payment is pending, the commission process and your commission slot (if applicable) will be put on hold. You are given ten days to pay your invoice after the completion of your project. Afterwards, late fees will be applied.

If you do not pay your invoice on time, you will be subject to an additional $5/day late fee. These fees are non-negotiable and will be sent with reminders for each late day.

Yes... You may purchase a commission from me with DeviantArt points. However, I greatly favor USD over points due to the high percentage that DeviantArt takes from me when converting points into cash through the commission widget, and the fact that points given to me personally cannot be exchanged for money. Clients who offer USD WILL take priority over those who offer points. Sorry, a zombie's gotta eat.

* - Holds are a temporary pause of the payment and commission process to allow for payment. Want a commission before the queue fills up, but you don’t get your paycheck until next weekend? Request a hold!

What I won't draw:.

Reference pages. Honestly, I’ve barely made ref pages for my own OC’s.

Comic pages.

Pixel art. I’m still figuring out my style!

Animations. Still learning!

Vehicles/mechs.

Complex scenery/nature.

Complex architecture.

Political statements.

Fetishes.

NSFW work. Nudity is acceptable when it’s tasteful, but I won’t do sex scenes.

Anything that includes hate symbols or has association with racism or hate. This includes any racism/discrimination-related symbols or slang, or hate directed towards any people in particular. Hateful content includes: abrasive commentary concerning race, orientation, kin or specific person/organization, hateful commentary concerning race, orientation, kin or specific person/organization, or slanderous political ideals.

Scenes self harm. This includes anything drug related, characters actively harming or attempting to harm themselves, or other requests along those lines. Mild gore is acceptable, such as bloodied hands, blood spatter, or bleeding eyes/blood tears, but I reserve the right to refuse a commission if I deem it too extreme. Please inquire if necessary.

Scenes of potentially triggering, sensitive, or disturbing material. Self-explanatory. I’d like to keep my work as much of a safe place as possible.

Transformation scenes.

Hypermuscular/obese scenes.

Current Queue:

Srirachaflash - Abigail + Calvin and Hobbes <3 (complete)

TrustyArts - 3 icons (complete) and 1 gem mural

Qh0sties - 1 shaded fullbody

NN7 - 1 icon

FULL! Check back later for more openings!

Additional Notes: Feel free to ask me for samples of a certain commission type! There are many present across a small handful of sites. I'd be happy to show you what you're getting!

~ Charlie

(see the original, alternate post HERE)

#me #txt #18th #June #2017 #June 18th 2017 #commission #commissions #comms

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lodyart-blog · 6 years ago

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Jack WhoAmI Weekly Comic Strip NOW LIVE! Check out patreon.com/lodyart Watch the offical promo video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=m99qBT… I want to share my world of creativity with my Patrons, offering a wide range of digital artwork in several genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic, Horror, Dystopian Futuristic, Cyber-Punk, Noir, and Classic Golden Age and Modern Super Hero. NEW RELEASES: The "Jack WhoAmI" weekly Comic Strip is now live, available to my patrons, at the Level 3 VIP Access ($3 per month level) The "Jack WhoAmI" promo video youtube.com/watch?v=m99qBTOodQ8 Dungeon and Terrain Tile Collection 1 Includes 19 Large Format High-Res Printable Gaming Tiles 10x10 Inches (3000x3000px) in PDF format. 9x9 Squares. Includes cobblestone roads with grass and water. Great for RPGs and Miniature War Gaming. Lody Art - Fantasy Poster Art Book -Halfling Adventurer - Book 1 This book features the Halfling adventurer in 24 different poses. This printable art work in this book is great a portrait of your player character in a fantasy RPG, or to this just hang up as poster art. Several other digital Graphic Novels and Comic Strips of mine are currently in production with a variety of related content will be available to my patrons in the near future. Genres include Dystopian Cyber-Punk, High Fantasy, Classic Super-Hero, Noir, and Horror. Also in production are digital rule sets for my Fold-Up Miniatures Battle Game, as well my own original Role-playing System. Several Rule Supplements and Adventure Scenarios will released shortly after the launch of both rule sets. Printable generic Maps, Dungeon Tiles, Fold-Up Miniatures, and Gaming Templates will also be available, usable for any game system. Working professionally as a graphic designer and illustrator for over 20 years, I’m constantly looking for new techniques and expanding my knowledge base to perfect my creative process. Previous projects include Posters, Flyers, Banners, Album Covers, Cartography, 3D Illustration, and Book Cover Art and more. Now I offer that same professional level of creativity and passion to all my patrons. I fell the most alive when I’m being creative, my imagination fuels my passion. Active Patrons receive will special discounts for my Graphic Design Services at LODYGRAPHICS.COM YOUTUBE www.youtube.com/channel/UC5dmt…... SOCIETY 6 You can now order t-shirts, posters, framed prints, metal prints, HD prints and more: society6.com/lodyart FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/LODYARTCHICAG… TUMBLR lodyart.tumblr.com/ DEVIANT ART www.deviantart.com/lodyart TWITTER twitter.com/LodyGraphics606 INSTRAGRAM www.instagram.com/lodygraphics… #Comic Book #Comic Strip #Comics #Woman #jackwhoami #sexy #woman #noir #sincity #matrix

#Comic Book Comic Strip Comics Woman jackwhoami sexy woman noir sincity matrix

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