Challenges and Things

[laisserais]

Hello Everyone! I have been bugging goodbyebird to let me run some challenges and things in this comm and she is being gracious and letting me.

Since I am too cheap to have a paid account, there is no poll, BUT! I am looking for feedback from y'all. What kind of icon battles/challenges would be interesting to you? Some ideas I've had so far:

*Show us your psds
--This one is totally going to happen, and I'm announcing the details probably tomorrow. It will be a free-for-all where you can post as many psds as you'd like, either a link to your own journal/other journal or in the comm. And everyone can read and comment and ask questions about your techniques. 

*Technical Challenge
--You sign up and get tagged to make one icon using a particular technique. Sort of like a round robin, you watch the comm to see when you've been tagged, and then have 24 hours to do your icon.

*Team Battle
--You sign up and work with another artist, with each one taking a turn at making a layer, and then you post your completed icon (or icon set) on your assigned day.

*Ask the Maker Spotlight
--I'd like to do something where we have guest icon makers come and discuss their process.

--> Question: Most of us use some version of Photoshop, I think. Who uses something else? GIMP? Other? A program that cannot produce a layered object?

Please let me know in comments if you are interested in these sorts of challenges, and/or if there are other ideas you'd like to see. This is YOUR community! We are one of the most-frequented icon communities on dreamwidth, and I want to hear from you! Everyone gets a vote, even if you're just watching this comm; even if you don't make icons.

Comments

[timetobegin]

I have photoshop CS6, and i'd be most into the show us the psds (i don't save mine, so i'd have to make new icons though) and tecnical challenges.

team battle sounds cool, but i'm too lazy/slow to do it

[laisserais]

I love your icon! Did you make it?

This is all awesome stuff to know! Yeah, I'm hearing from a lot of folks that they don't save psds, so I'm thinking a bit of lead time would be good on that challenge. I'm excited for it though. I am fascinated by other peoples' processes. I always learn so much!

[timetobegin]

ahahaha i didn't not! not that talented :D its by blue_emotion @ lj

yeah, i can always make an icon and save the psds. occasionally when i'm exceptionally proud i'm always like I SHOULD SAVE THIS PSD. but then i don't :D

[naushika]

I don't use PS so I can't participate in show us the psds unfortch. :( I use Corel Paintshop Pro X4. It has a layered format file like psds but I doubt they would be openable in PS and I know psds don't really work when I try to open them in PSP.

I love the technical challenge idea though. I probably wouldn't do a team battle (I'm not very punctual/reliable with those sorts of things so I don't want to leave anyone hanging). Ask the maker could be fun, I like finding out people's tips and tricks.

I've been thinking lately about how I miss iconpraise since I've pretty much left lj behind, but I don't think there's a big enough icon community on dw yet to make a similar comm. But we could do like a monthly praise post, where people point out some icons they've seen lately they really liked. Or something. Basically I just want to oogle pretties.

[laisserais]

Oh, I love the idea of a monthly praise post! Or praise week or what have you, yes!

Well, regarding psds, I suppose what I was imagining was where you show your progress on an icon--so technically, like, a whole bunch of pngs or jpegs of the stages? Instead of uploading an actual psd. Would that work for you? It takes a bit of work, for sure, stopping at every step and saving off a version.

Good to have a vote for the technical challenge! Yeah, the feedback I'm getting is that people tend to iconize at their own unique pace, so maybe the team idea is out. ;)

And I've decided we are *definitely* having an 'ask the maker' thing. That's just so cool.

[naushika]

Sure, weekly or monthly, whatever would work!

Oh, yeah, I could totally do stages with static images. I'll have to start saving my layered files. :D

[goodbyebird]

ooooh I would love to have a peek at your process, especially with comics. Pardon me while I fall over in excitement *thud*

[naushika]

Oh shucks! You're making me blush :D

[qem_chibati]

I'm interested in the technical challenge,

(I er have such an unpolished icon technique that I'd feel too awkward with the others)

If you need someone to post a poll for you I'm happy to do so, otherwise people tend to use external services I think poll maker is one I've seen used: http://www.poll-maker.com/

[qem_chibati]

(er and I tend to use GIMP which same sort of issue naushika pointed out with corel.)

[laisserais]

ooh, thanks for the tip on poll maker! That's a cool thing.

I think you'd be surprised at how unpolished we all are! Don't be shy. I've learned some really excellent tips from folks who just make it up as they go along. :)

We're getting some great responses to the technical challenge idea! This is very awesome!

[laisserais]

And oh! I forgot: GIMP works perfectly for this as well! Since we are saving off jpeg or png versions of each stage of an icon, you don't have to have literal psds, I don't think. Just the patience to save off versions at each step. Would that work for you?

[qem_chibati]

That could work for me, although it would probably work best if it was more of a specific challenge with a heads up time lead up, since i don't always keep my PSDs.

[laisserais]

Yeah, I'm sensing that folks need time to prep. I am thinking this one through right this moment. Do you think two weeks would be enough time to prep one icon?

[goodbyebird]

Oh yay long list of ideas here!

I save PSDs for about a quarter of my icons, so that wouldn't be an issue for me, so long as my ps computer actually manages to connect to the Internet again grrr. Are we thinking people can make requests from other makers? Like, if they've made an icon they especially like, and if the maker hasn't saved a psd maybe they remember some of the process and can demonstrate that? idk.

And as for different softwares, I think that's good to cover more, since most tuts are photoshop based.

I think Team Battle is something better suited for those who already chat amongst themselves, since it's a bit to coordinate. But if we keep doing it, maybe they'll pick it up too ;)

And at some point we'll have an Icon Request Fest again for sure! (sorry if any f this is wonky, I just woke up hehe)

[laisserais]

mornin'! Doesn't seem wonky to me, but I'm two glasses of wine into my evening. ;)

Yeah, ita with all of what you said and am researching the other formats. What's interesting is that apparently all the other programs open psds. Gimp and Corel Painter do. But yeah I'm rounding up native file extension names for when I explain stuff.

I am thinking of having two weeks to prep on this one, then everyone go nuts for 48 hours. I'll give an example of what and how.

Does that seem reasonable? I need to put together the pimp stuff. Can you track down some code?

I think maybe we can generate some 'ask the icon maker' - request tuts out of this, and then host that one next?

Also, did you see that great idea about icon praise? I don't see why we can't do that everyday. That would be sweet! I may eventually reach out to other DW icon comms to cross promote.

[goodbyebird]

lol I thought Teen Wolf was your excuse for wining it up ;)

Huh, did not know that. I guess they all figured it'd be a good idea to cater to the most used platform.

Sounds good! What kind of code were you thinking?

Yeah, an ask the maker thing would be very cool. Just make sure we space them out properly so people don't burn out.

Icon praise is awesome. I followed the lj comm religiously before hehe. The graphics community on dw isn't all that big though, so a monthly or at most bi-weekly post would probably be best, where people can praise in the comments(and maybe it would be neat if they could also praise up to five of their own favorite comics from that month? Also, would we be sticking to the smallbatch theme of five max?).

[laisserais]

tbh I think everything is an excuse to have a glass of something. ;)

Hm for code, I mean a box with a code in it people and c/p. but i don't know how to do any of that--like have the pic link back to the comm? Sort of like our sticky.

Did you mean 'five of their own favorite icons'? I agree. Maybe once a month, if we intersperse other things. I really like the idea of praise. And yeah, don't you think--five praises at a time?

[goodbyebird]

The way you make a box with code in it is to type textarea, put it in brackets like any other code. I'll put the rest in a textbox myself, but can't put the textarea bit in there since that'll cancel it. So you gotta add that on yourself.

<center><a href="URL for challenge post"><img src="URL for banner"></a><br>We're hosting a <big><big><big><font color="#f29f05">PSD exchange</font></big></big></big> over at <user name="smallbatchicons">. We hope you'll join us for blah blah whatever info you might need.</center>

Something like that?

Yeah, up to five of their own, with up to five icons by other ppl, with text as to why they like it being optional. Should we restrict it to stuff posted on dw?

[laisserais]

yeah, a text box like that! Ok, for reals, this weekend I am figuring out a schedule.

hm, I think we should keep it as wide open as possible, don't you? Encourage cross platform discussion?

[goodbyebird]

Good good! I was thinking, maybe if we're doing the PSD thing here first, that I could kick off the icon request fest at comicbook_icons?

Sounds good to me :)

[laisserais]

DID YOU KNOW THERE MIGHT BE A LUTHER PREQUEL.

[goodbyebird]

lol yeah I did. Long before the third season aired actually, though not that it would be a prequel. I thought roadtrips with my favorite sociopath, but alas. Still, Elba rocking it up on the big screen? Yes yes yes please.

Oh, and I did the thing over at comicbook_icons. Just in case, y'know *cough*SAGA*cough*

[laisserais]

eeee! EXCITE

And good cross promotion timing. Oh that reminds me *goes back to editing banner*

[goodbyebird]

Yeah I figured since we're doing PSDs here first, we could get the other request fest out of the way. I just hope people will actually join in.

Hehe you're doing good with the banner. I tend to just slap one together :p

[laisserais]

http://i.imgur.com/d8zl8CT.png

Y/N?

[goodbyebird]

ooh me like!