ADVICE TO ARTISTS: Don’t Read Too Many Comments
Recently, a Teefury artist wrote me a couple times expressing some concerns about some negative comments from the community. This was my reply:
Let me show you a message I got just the other day from a random person. See attached. Total stranger. Apparently upset about something in his life, probably has nothing to do with me.
It's all part of being on the net man. Just know these people are just a little crazy. Ignore them. Also, refrain from reading comments if you are unable to handle it. I usually just don't read too intently anymore. I try to take note of the positive comments so I can appreciate my fans and let them know I'm listening, but you have to be careful not to let the troll bring you down.
When there's 100 comments of praise and 1 comment of hate, it's hard not to let the crappy one stick out because it's different, but remember to be rational and appreciate the 100 positive things.
Great work man. Keep on truckin.
Cheers
;j
*** Jesus gave 100 people in Hell a free get out of Hell and into Heaven card. 97 were elated. 3 complained of the brightness in Heaven. Internet is never happy.
STFU Comparison Police! Advice to Artists.
TL;DR Advice Summary. Screw other people's opinion about whether you ripped an idea or not. They don't know what's in your heart, and even then, art is a business, it's competitive, and barring any infractions of actual executable law, all is fair in love, art, and war. This statement though, is not an excuse to take the easy path and skirt the line of inspiration and conceptual theft.
** PS. I've actually bitched in a public forum about the myriad of similar concepts I see on a daily basis as I am the art director for Teefury. By virtue of the job, I see TOO MANY SIMILAR IDEAS, but the complaint is more about my annoyance with that part of the job than actual annoyance towards specific artists.
*** PS2. There wasn't overt accusations that I ripped art, but the topic of "ripping" and accusations are prevalent in the art industry and was a topic I wanted to touch. The STFU title is more to attract readers (GOT YA SUCKAHS!) than it is true irritation at the few persons who compared my new work to others.
MORE ADVICE AT THE BOTTOM.
I personally do my best to remain righteous based on my own value system, but I am aware how easily it would be to succumb to the temptations of an easy path. For years, I've lamented that my most rigorous efforts in the creation of original art have yielded very little, and that those original ideas are easily surpassed by the appeal of generic pop culture references and products catered to the mass market. Yet, I still aspire to create original images that take considerable effort and creativity, so that I do not lose faith in my own ideals of what makes art Art, which is the purposeful effort and endeavor for self improvement, a genuine rebirth and a recreation of one's own vision in order to experience the sublimeness and transcendence of true creation, as if it were a way to connect to an originating Creator if there be one.
Now, for the STFU.
Recently I created a Cthulhu-Kraken-Octopus porthole image, and it was immediately compared to two different pre-existing images.
First, I was linked to Missmonster's Kraken watch. It's very apropos that I was linked to her watch, as the night prior, I wrote informing her that I was working on a design that *might* be somewhat similar to her product.
Then I was linked to a more similar concept by David Lozeau.
Either way, one of my biggest pet peeves is when other artists or zealous fans of other artists post comments and links to other "like" images and products by other artists, because it does several things:
1. It insinuates plagiarism.
2. It overtly devalues the effort, creativity, and the credibility of the artist being accused.
3. The commentator, by whistle blowing or taking a position of authority, is indirectly saying that they do not participate in being inspired themselves.
4. It causes the creation of art to be muddled with ambiguously defined and varying moral/value system beyond defined laws.
Although Lozeau's design is a very similar concept, unless my mind is failing me, I had never seen Lozeau's design. Rather, I've had the desire to create a porthole image since participating in Shirt.woot's Trompe L'Oeil Derby #29 in Febraury 2008.
Specifically, I have had Supersprite's Coeur de la Mer in my idea bank folder for a long time. Obviously, it's a generic enough concept that it can simultaneously biogenesis in the mind of many artists.
Even in 2008, my entry for the contest I Heart Mr Potato Head (based on viral internet news of an octopus that adored his Mr Potato Head) is somewhat a precursor to the integration of a Kraken-Cthulhu-Octopus thingy as a focal point.
Combine those inspirations with my recent find of an Etsy product, a wall decor porthole with a tentacle, you can easily see the combined ideas coming together to create a new image. A new image BTW that took alot of m■■■■■f■■■g time, effort, and skills to make a■■holes!
These are my conclusions.
People will always compare. There is no escaping this fact as an artist. Get used to it. I'm used to it, but I wanted to take this opportunity to express my opinions on it, and extract some worthy advice for artists regarding the subject .
No one is original. If that is true, than all that matters is effective marketing, and possibly good execution. If the marketing is excellent, then good craft and execution are not as important.
Generic ideas are plenty and simultaneously come into existence. It is the one who markets it the best, not the first, who will become the victor.
Example: Recently there has been some viral news in the art industry about Urban Outfitters stealing the design of some Etsy jewelry designer. In short, the designer claims they are the originator and that their design was stolen and was rebranded as an Urban Outfitter product. UO however has stated that the designs are too generic, and in fact, the ideas have existed prior to the creation of the accusing artist.
IMO, it's easy to get butthurt when you're so vain that you think you've come up with a wholly original idea, but let's face it, everyone's inspired by someone else, and to get butthurt about getting ripped is more about you inability to market and be successful with your own art than the one succeeding in marketing it. So get your ass out there and market.
As Voltaire once stated, "Originality is nothing but judicious imitation."
As Picasso once stated, "Bad artists copy. Good artists steal."
As Olly Moss once stated, "Bad artists copy. Good artists steal. - Olly Moss"
As I stated centuries ago before anyone else did, "Originality is nothing but judicious stealing. - jimiyo"
Why Being an Artist is Being a Business is Being in a Relationship.
by jimiyo
TL;DR: Don't neglect the fact that pursuing a livelihood as an artist is the same as running a business, and to excel, you will have to incorporate business strategies to maximize market saturation and exposure. Yet don't reduce your interactions with your fans down to a rigid business transaction as being an artist means being in a relationship with your fans, and to maximize symbiosis, it must be a mutually beneficial and rewarding exchange.
GIVEAWAYS
If you follow me on Facebook, you know I run giveaways. Giveaways are when I give away free stuff made from my art (stickers, posters, art, etc) to fans to help me promote a shirt or some thing that I need to expose to a larger audience than my social network. Or sometimes I just give away free stuff, because it feels good to know that I caused an unexpected, pleasant surprise in someone’s life.
I know there are some artists out there that erroneously perceive my actions as a cheap method to “get fans,” as if I am “buying fans.” I know there are artists out there that think like this because I’ve seen comments in online forums that express this notion, and I’ve heard artists snipe about other artists in such a way.
That… is epically small minded and idiotic. It probably stems from jealousy and envy that another artist is successfully getting attention. Don’t listen to them.
The fact is, it’s not cheap even in the literal sense, because it costs money to give away free stuff that costs money/time to make, and there is nothing cheap or wrong with the methodology.
The fact is, if you want to make a living creating an income from art, there comes a point where you have to come to the realization that ART IS A BUSINESS.
Let me veer off the topic a moment, I’ll come back around.
I started giving away free stuff years ago, because at the beginning of my artist career after thinking I could never make a living out of being an artist, people started buying my stuff, and praising me for my work. You know how good it feels when after you feel like you’ve been climbing up some humongous mountain all by yourself, and all of a sudden you find yourself on the climb up with an audience cheering you on? I can honestly say it’s utterly the one of the most brilliant moments of my life. It’s as if the clouds opened up, and the universe proclaimed, “You are not a turd.”
Giveaways became a way for me to return my gratitude. There are fans who still follow my work who knew me when I was just making $10/hour at my first art job in podunk Gallatin, TN designin Nascar tees.
It wasn’t until I recently stumbled onto some business and marketing literature that I realized that my actions were apparently somewhat related to basic business practices with terms like Cost of Acquisition, and Reciprocity.
Defined:
Cost of Acquisition “is the cost associated with convincing a consumer to buy your product or service, including research, marketing, and advertising costs.” SOURCE
Reciprocity "is a mutual or cooperative exchange of favors or privileges. It is exemplified by the American expression You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours (unless it’s really pimply) and the Latin Hannibal Lecter expression Quid pro quo... Clarice…" SOURCE
Upon discovering the terminology, I started to understand why artists would have an aversion for giveaways, and perceive that running giveaways were some underhanded method to attract new viewers.
I would assume they think it’s subversive or disingenuous, that the person running the giveaway has an ulterior motive, which is money money money (which “Cost of Acquisition” seems to indicate), which is also some odd ethical topic that artists love to mull over as if the connection of art to commercialism is somehow evil and takes away from the pureness of creation. But they neglect the truth that, if you are going to utilize your artistic ability to sustain a livelihood or for any sort of reciprocal reward like praise or recognition, you have already stepped into the realm of commerce and exchange.
Being an Artist is Being a Business is Being in a Relationship.
Unless you’re a hermit that creates art in a vacuum and you show no one your work, you can’t deny the fact that creating art is at least partially motivated by the pursuit of some need, whether it be praise, money, fame, etc from another party.
I’m not saying that you need to look at everything in a rigid, business transaction point of view, but unless you view being an artist as encompassing some business aspects, you might as well forget making a livelihood from your art and go work your 9-5 and lie to yourself that you are an artist because you don’t do art for money, you do it for love, after you spend 8 hours a day selling out your artistic abilities making unexciting brochures and leaflets or whatever you do because someone told you too... for money.
So I give away free stuff, not because I’m in the mentality of thinking if a guy takes a woman out for three dates that he is entitled to getting laid, but because I’m seeking to serve my fans because I appreciate my fans because I know I’m in a relationship with them. I also know that inherently, by being gracious and sharing the success they’ve helped to create by giving back (reciprocity), it will foster a healthy, trusting relationship and help to build new relationships (cost of acquisition).
Zig Ziglar, a successful author, motivational speaker and business man once said, “You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”
And you know what, it’s true. Being an artist isn’t some one sided, look what I made, I’m so original, you should buy it, and make me rich scenario, it’s more like…
Hey Ya’ll,
I’ve been in the lab working mad hours trying to perfect my craft, this is what I made for you guys, I hope you like it. [Curtsey Curtsey] I’m going back in the lab and gonna try harder to make some more stuff you guys hopefully like. THHHHAAAANKKK YOOOUUU!
Love,
Your Favorite Artist.
_____________
Til Next Time, Be Good, Do Good, Spread Good. And as my parents always used to urge me, Ganbatte!
;j
The Experience of Being an Art Director
The Experience of Being an Art Director
I work as an art director for Teefury.com.
We sell a different shirt every 24 hours.
EVERY
TWENTY FOUR
HOURS
With the assistance of a curator, I process over 365+ designs a year, and make decisions on what get's printed.
I was thinking about my thought process that goes into to picking the designs.
It's not just, "hey, that's an artistically well crafted design, let's print it."
Rather, it's a large web of wandering questions and IF-THEN statements with a dose of intuition.
Although intuition may seem amorphous, I feel that intuition is a legitimate source to tap for decision making ability since it seems based on a vague cloud of similar experiences that substantiates an accurate ability to predict outcomes that is accessed and manifested as an unexplainable emotional response somewhat like the concept of wu wei or savoir faire. TL;DR, shoulda just left that out.
One would think that the easiest question I ask myself before picking a design to be printed is, will this product sell?
Ostensibly, that answer is yes, but under the initial question lies a myriad of other questions that dictate the outcome of the answer, and that answer is never a straight forward answer. If it was, there would be a million millionaires selling the most awesome products and no mediocre products would ever be created.
These are just a few of the questions I ask myself when picking designs:
Can we print this as shown?
Have we printed a similar design?
Have we printed too many shirts on this color blank recently?
Have we varied the offerings enough to keep the community wondering?
Is this art good?
Even if this art isn't good, is the concept good?
Is this artist a dickhead?
Do I care that this artist called me a derogatory name at one time or another?
Is this genre of art popular with our consumers?
Will this design peak the interest of a new market we haven't tapped yet?
Is this design safe under the description of a parody?
Will this excite the community?
Are the colors of this design too fringe to appeal to a large market?
Should we sacrifice sales number in order to vary the lineup?
What sequence should I arrange these designs to utilize, most efficiently, traffic and subtle internet buying habits?
Are the comments from the community regarding these types of designs accurate and justified?
Is printing the design topical to current trends/news/culture?
There are so many questions, but here is a few points I would like to make:
This is NOT important. Do I like this design?
This is important. Will others like this design?
I am by definintion of MBTI, a psychological personality test, an INTJ. Although I won't go into a full description of my type, it is said that "[INTJ] are able to see the problem from many different angles."
It is this tendency I would surmise is one of the greatest assets to picking designs or even being an artist.
I find that if one is too narrow minded that they cannot see from the perspective of others, they risk hindering their ability to succeed, not in art, but in the commerce of art.
I find that being an artist is mostly about entertaining others. Whether you sing a song, draw a pretty picture, unless you create and never share it, it's hard not to evaluate being an artist as a transaction seeking endeavor.
You make art.
You want money, praise, or recognition.
Plain and simple.
If you want to make the most money, the most praise, the most recognition, you don't go shit on a canvas and call it art because you want to stay true to your vision. Instead, you consider the sensibilities of your audience; you delicately consider how to effect them to cause the most positive reaction.
That sounds ridiculously rigid and methodical, almost like if your sexual partner told you, "now, I am going to twist your nipple very gently 23 degrees clockwise in hopes of causing your brain to release dopamine thus increasing your sexual arousal," but isn't it the delicate dance we play every day in communication with others regardless if it registers as conscious action?
I find that being an artist and a director, there are compromises if you intend to make a livelihood out of art.
Although in the beginning, you may begin with your vision, as time goes on and you gain a consumer base, it will eventually become a partnership in which your desires will eventually have to become a compromise of what the audience wants from you as well.
When it comes down to business, it's not really 100% about what you want, it's about what you want, what your audience wants, and what you can achieve together.
Now... I'm twisting it to about 34 degrees counterclockwise.
My name is Jimiyo. I'm an artist. I also work as the art director/jack of many trades at Teefury.com.
