Perfect Site
Skyefairy.net, Web Design November 20th, 2007Now humor me here. I know there can never be a “perfect” site. But it is possible to dream of one. And I also know that nobody will ever agree on what the perfect site would be like. But I want to hear your interpretation on it.
What would the perfect website be like, in terms of an art community?
For example, the most popular seems to be DeviantArt. But there are also many complaints: front page only advertises popular artists, layout not working in my browser (grrr), etc.
What things bug you about DA? How could they be improved?
I know SF is already an art community but I’m planning on expanding some things to make it more interactive. (Slowly. This won’t be overnight).
I want to work on improving the aesthetics, the setup, the ease of navigating. I want to make the profiles more in depth: more info, more customization, commenting, and possibly a mini-blog (like DA’s but better). And I have it planned how I’ll do it. I also want to implement commenting on the submissions.
But I haven’t been able to get much feedback from other people. I’ve endlessly berated my friends with the repeated question: How can I make SF better?
But now I’m asking differently. Not “how can I make SF better?” but “What is the perfect (art community) site like, in your opinion?” Dream here. And tell me about it. Cuz I want to strive for it.
Please.
November 20th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
I like dA, but there are definitely downsides to it. I think the thing that bugs me most is its immense size. Like I can’t possibly know every artist on the site (and many people don’t even really post art or resources, just have empty accounts), and going on the forums and message boards is kind of strange– it’s too big. And the features, like the Daily Deviations and such, are always the most popular artists, so it’s hard to get around to finding new artists with potential. Also, because dA doesn’t monitor quality (only appropriateness), many rough, poor quality images are uploaded and it make the site seem less about making art.
I think that some good ways to improve SF would be to include comments on art, and I miss the forum, as it was a really great way to know other people and have discussions, before it died. Adding more interactive activities/features, such as mini-contests/challenges, weekly features, art tips and tricks columns, etc. would be great. But at the same time, I think the site should not get too big that it becomes somewhat impersonal, like dA. I think that interactivity with the viewer should be the key part if you do a revamp at some point in time. That would push SF to the next level
Good luck, Skye!
November 21st, 2007 at 12:43 am
dA does have a lot of unrecognized artists and because it’s on such a large scale, it’s hard to get to know them all.
I think Courtney’s comment sums it up pretty nicely. I miss the forum too. I love her take on interactivity, the idea of mini-contests, challenges etc is very appealing (you know me and contests =P). You could also allow interaction between artists beyond comments as well. How, is the question that I’ll ponder on now..
November 22nd, 2007 at 2:58 pm
I actually like the direction you’ve been going with SF. The fact that I know a lot of the artists on there… the fact that YOU personally can monitor the content and quality. With dA there’s a lot of crap on there and it’s hard to search for the really good quality things. I think dA is more like a “host” to host your work and journal. And dA is also fun if you just want to browse different topics/searches. I do like the dA store though where you could actually see the good quality things and put them on a wishlist, etc. So basically, I like how SF is now — people submitting things and YOU are the one who decides to put them up. There are lots of high quality stuff on SF. Maybe you should encourage more people to submit their artwork =) Or host some talented peoples’ work. =D I suppose that would be my ideal art site. One that’s a lot more personal than dA and is all high quality, yet has a bunch of quantity too!
November 25th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
I’m on the opposite side of Ellen. The major problem I have with submitting to SF (even though it’s immensely smaller than dA which makes it easier to get to know the artists) is precisely that _you_ have the final say with the submission.
I understand that you have to filter the content for your audience which is fair. But ultimately, all edits regarding the work in question should be done by the artist and the artist alone; they should have total control over their work.
If an art site has multiple contributers then it acts as a medium. Your role as mediator should be just that–the integrity of the information should be not lost in the transition. I cannot express how disrespectful it is to go in and edit a person’s artwork for reasons you see fit, no matter how minor you think it is. (And I do hope you obtain the artists’ permission before you edit the work and seek their approval afterwards.) If it doesn’t fit your criteria, reject it, or asks the submitter to fix it.
As for quality control… while I do think some of the stuff presented to dA is crap, but there’s no set criteria for something as subjective as art. I do appreciate, however, that I don’t see artwork on notebook paper on SF, though.
Response: I put the statement that I can change it for minor things for minor things like cuss words and that is the only time Ive used it which is very rare. Ive never changed anything other than poems and stories, never visual arts. And, now that I think about it, I use it so rarely that I could take that out. Im sorry if you thought that I change tons of things but I never have. (typed on phone so sorry for typing)
November 27th, 2007 at 3:10 am
Skye, I think you’ve been doing a wonderful job so far. I like that you’re so willing to implement great changes and welcome suggestions and ideas from artists, as well as other visitors to your site. It’s wonderful to see that you’re keeping an open mind.
A lot of the ideas presented above are fantastic and I don’t think I need to repeat any of them. I agree with much that has been said. I especially like the idea of submission comments and better artist profiles. I also like that the forum was brought up, because I actually do miss that too. It was a great way to have discussions with other members and artists of SF; it’s too bad it didn’t work out last time, but I don’t see any harm in giving it another try.
I like the fact that the art is monitored and approved by you, even if there is a delay in seeing it posted. DA allows for submissions to be posted immediately without moderators inspecting the work submitted, so anything could end up on the site. I think I actually prefer it being done your way; at least we can be certain nothing offensive would be posted.
November 28th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
What happens when the submissions become so great, that you have to monitor each and every one of them? Like DA, don’t they receive thousands of submissions per day?
Response: I plan on creating a field for “trust” and the default will be off. At first it will only be used for comments since I usually make thumbnails and things for submissions but later on I might use it when I figure out how to automatically process them which, by the time I get thousands a day, I should. If I trust a person, I’ll turn their trust to on. Then, maybe before that, maybe moderators. Dunno. XP I get far less than a thousand a day so it’ll be fine for now.
January 20th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Sorry for the late reply, I had not realized that you had responded.
I understand that you need to censor content for your audience, but again, any changes should be made through the creator. I know of works where each individual word is explicitly chosen to convey (Virgil’s “Aeneid” comes to mind–literally every word) a certain message. For example, a character that swears in a dialog. If it came from a person who rarely swears, the cuss gives impact and weight to the situation. Coming from a person who swears often gives insights to his background, culture , society status, and upbringing. E.g. “ass” vs. “booty” vs. “derriere”. And really, it makes the situation more realistic. How often do you hear people say, “F, asterik, asterik, k!” If the person doesn’t swear a lot they would be saying their substitute, like “Fudge”! What they say has meaning to the character’s personality. The change may be minor to you, but it may be significant to the author and there’s no way you can know what is the case.