I like visual aids. When I first got into LiveJournal, I took some icons from a post and the maker provided a visual aid at the bottom, which consisted of a sample icon and the proper HTML code for providing credit. I was pretty happy to be able to properly credit and not be a complete n00b.

Fast forward to my own icon community (or at least in the setting up of it) and I'm not sure if I should provide the same visual aid, maybe even add a link that explains what hotlinking is. But when I think about it, the majority of people visiting would know all that already and just think me snobby for assuming no one could possibly grasp the concept of crediting. So what I'm asking is --

1) How do you ask for credit and explain that hotlinking blows without alienating (at least not most people)?

2) Are visual aids in this case actually helpful?

3) Should you post the rules on your comm's profile page and leave it to chance, or do you remind people with every new icon post?

What do you consider a good texture?

A few things I've been wondering lately but haven't really felt like bombarding my flist with...

01. Do you have a comfort zone when it comes to fandom-specific icons? For example, I tried working with Supernatural screencaps for a little while but I found that I couldn't get a colouring/style that I liked very much. Perhaps if I kept practicing I'd eventually find something, but in the end I sort of said 'screw it for now' and went back to my safe ground (Lost, Doctor Who, Life on Mars, etc). Which caps do you like working with? Which caps do you despise working with? Or, if you don't use screencaps, what else do you like/dislike working with?

02. I know the topic of creativity has been brought up a lot recently so if this question is redundant feel free to ignore it. What do you consider creative? Inverted colours, heavy texture use, weird crops, several images compiled into one icon, etc? I know that these things I mentioned can be done extremely well and also extremely poorly. Or, if we have to define 'creative' in such narrow terms, is it really creative? Is this 'creativity' just becoming a trend? What do you consider to be truly creative? (feel free to give examples)

:)

Hi guys!

I have a question that I've been dying to ask:

How long does it usually take you to make one icon?

I ask this because I am interested in starting a graphics journal, and I notice that many people per post have about 50-100 icons. For me, when I make icons, especially for myself (since I've never made for anyone else before), I take the time to make and work on it until I really love it because it carries a special meaning for me. For example, the icon I am posting this post with. It took me 1.5 hours. Yes, the icon's just mediocre, but it means something to me.

So, back to my question, it just seems impossible that icon makers spend an hour on one icon. How do they manage to get out a batch every so often with so many icons if they take that long to make each? Or, maybe they are just amazing and can churn out beautiful icons quickly.

And I feel if I don't spend lots of time on icons, I'm not putting my best effort into it. I really want to work hard for my icons to show how much I love a fandom (and whatnot), and that I care about my work. Do you guys have any advice or tips to speed up my icon making process?

Thank you for listening!

You hear a lot about pet peeves with icons, what people hate about other people's icons, what you hate about your icons, but you really never hear what people like about their icons. So, I pose the question of: what do you actually like about your icons? Not someone else's. Yours. It's time to toot your own horn a little. Tell us what you really like about your icons! Are you happy that you've finally gotten a handle on cropping or text? Are you happy that your creativity has improved or increased since you started making icons?

For me, I've finally started to like my coloring. No, I take it back. I really LOVE my coloring. I've gotten pretty good at it, if I do say so myself. I've been making icons for 4 years and for most of that time I was never satisfied with how my coloring looked. Now I can look at an icon I've made and just be satisfied with how it looks coloring-wise.

So. Your icons. What do you like?

why is your default icon you default icon? Is it the most recent one you've made? Has it just been there for ever so you don't even think about it anymore?

For me, I have it there to inform people what my current obsession is. Sometimes it'll stay there for weeks for that reason, and other times it'll change several times throughout the day.

Right so here's the thing: text. Text hates me, and I hate text. Trolling around LJ, you'll see a lot of icon makers say that. What is it with text anyway?

I can never choose good fonts in the right sizes. Colors turn out weirdly. Text doesn't look like "part of the icon". It isn't dynamic. I never know what to say. Where do you position it?

All part of the reason I hate text. There's just something about it that makes it unbearably difficult for a lot of icon makers, myself included. Is there some big secret to amazing text that the majority of us have missed out on? I mean some icon makers seem to knock it out of the park!

So here's what I am wondering, fellow icon makers. Do you have a special way of going about text? Any text tutorials you'd like to share? Any tips? Favorite fonts? Similar woes? Hit me with it all.

Because, seriously. TEXT.

I don't think this has been discussed before, at least not this way, but.. What do you do when you're bored with what you do? Not meaning iconmaking in general, but being bored of your own style. Do you ever feel like you're stuck in the same old iconmaking habits but trying out new styles just turns out bad and you don't like the results, whereas your own style just seems mediocre?

I took a long break from iconmaking because of the lack of muse, and now it's been coming back but it feels like all the process I've made before the break is gone and I've gone back to the start. I know experimenting and not rushing with the icons should help but the other problem I have is not knowing what to do with the icons anymore. I know all my old light blobs, coloring techniques etc. but coming up with new things is hard.

how many icons and how many fandoms do you expect to see in an average iconpost?

personally I don't care in the slightest. 1 icon; 100 icons, 1 fandom; 100 fandoms - it's all the same to me.

So this has been bugging me for a few days now, and I thought it'd be good to let other people weigh in on it.

I've noticed a lot of talk lately about realism, and things being naturalistic. I don't really know what that means (well, I know what it means, but what is more realistic about a b/w icon compared to a blue and purple one?), but I've been seeing it a lot. Personally, when I make icons I want to get as far away from reality as possible. When you think about it, what's realistic about the things we're iconning? TV, movies, even photoshoots are staged and very rarely depict 'reality'. I think that my icons are very much from my imagination... or something.

I don't think I'm getting my point across very well :P Basically I've been asking myself a lot of questions like: in my imaginary world, why can't the sky be green and people's faces be blue? What makes that less valid in a 100x100 square to pink faces and skies? Why can't I play with the aspect ratio? Why can't I make Joseph Fiennes look more like an alien? lol. If we can't experiment in icons, then where can we let out all of those emotions and creative desires that we've got? Isn't that what it's all about - to be an escape? An escape from reality? This isn't just about colouring and stuff, but I guess I want to know why people cling to reality in these little boxes, and why people get so offended when other people don't.

So it's not really a question, and I haven't articulated myself very well... but idk, maybe this can spark some discussion :P

How do all of you feel about (lens) flare textures?


Personally, I dislike the ones like this, since I always see them being used to circle heads, and I think they're just too showy, and TA-DA!!!-ish. If that makes sense. I prefer ones like this- couldn't find an example of the exact kind I like, but the kind of glowy stuff like that, and you usually see them in red. I like how they're not as noticeable and used more to emphasize certain aspects of an icon.

Hi guys!

I'm very glad to have found this community, as I'm at the beginning of icon-making. Maybe you can help me answering a question about proper credit and give me some concrit for a few icons.

How do you properly credit an icon maker if you're using one of their ideas in your icons and how do you credit if it goes even further and you've made an icon that looks very similar to theirs? Note: Although they look very similar, I didn't use their textures or edited their icons.

( the icons in question )

Like I said, I'm starting to make icons, other than just cropping a screen cap down to 100x100 and I am curious what concrit you may have for me.

(  eight icons )

Thank you for your input!

What do you do when you suddenly lose your inspiration?
For example, when you have a great image but no matter how hard you try, you can't come up with a nice coloring/crop/text/etc?

just curious, but outside of icons do you have hobbies in other graphic mediums like painting or design or photography? And do any of you have jobs in graphic fields? Or is iconning your primary artistic/visual activity?

Personally I'm studying photography and I've found that a lot of the things I've learnt through my course can be used in my icons, so it's a lot of fun knowing that my hobby and my career (hopefully!) are sort of intertwined.

hello you guys (:

the people of icon_tutorial told me to ask this here... i hope this time it's right...

i've been making icons for a pretty long time now and i was wondering: hey what about making an icon-community where i can post all of my graphics at?
well i made one and now im sitting here not knowing what to do first.
i think just starting with posting icons is a bit hasty i and that i'm missing out something.

So im asking for some tips for a icon-community beginner:

-what did you do first when you opened your community/graphics;icon lj?
-do you have any tips how i could make my community known?
-do you have any other tips like how to make an icon post (tables, overview etc.)
-is there a guide excisting? (couldn't find one in the memories)

and so on.

i hope you can help me (and i hope this is the right place to ask for this!)

thanks in advance <3

Lu

Hello fellow iconmakers!

I need a favour from you PS-users. I'm doing a website/guide about PS as a ProjectWork in school (yaaaays!) and I need some ideas on what to write guides about. So, thus, I've a question to ask (or, two. but who is counting?);

What did you want to know more about when you were a "beginner" with PS? Or, what do you want to know more about now?
(ex: When I started I found it hard to get what what so special about Selective Colouring..etc...etc..etc.)

thank you :}

x-posted @ icon_tutorial

Do you have a resource post?
Is it super-organized or a downright mess?
Do you think resource posts are necessary?
And how do you feel when an icon maker doesn't have one?

What are your bad habits, as an icon maker? Or even good habits?

For example, I have the good habit of saving PSDs for nearly everything I make. But a bad habit I've developed recently is forgoing adjustment layers and sneaking in a few steps directly onto the base. I suppose in hindsight it helps because I'd have to experiment with every base, but it's not good for remembering exactly what I did.

Another thing is, sometimes I want to try daring, vivid colours, and hold back because I'm not sure others will like what I like.

On that note, do you sometimes feel you make a habit of falling too easily into trend ruts? Just go for a colouring because it's popular rather than because it satisfies you creatively?

A big example is the hazy pink colouring. I see a whole lot of people complaining about it, but it's still a popular one, and if I look at big icon comms, they tend to succumb to often.

Is there any special effect or something that you discovered by yourself, accidentaly? If so, would you like to share?

What's your favourite effect?