Discussion Time!

[seraphina_snape]

It's Friday! Let's talk about icons! :D

Do you have a favourite "subject" to icon? Like a favourite character, or a favourite show? Are there people/characters/shows/movies/other things that you always come back to and make icons of? And how do you decide on a subject?

Comments

[seraphina_snape]

Personally, I do tend to go back to my faves (Leverage, for instance) whenever I want to make icons but don't have a set challenge to work on. But for me screencap quality is also a factor - if I don't have screencaps that are at least of a reasonable quality, I probably won't bother.

I also tend to make icons of women more than men. No idea why - maybe just because they're prettier?

[magicrubbish]

Interesting . Mine is just the opposite . I almost always make icons of men only , I rarely make icons of ladies unless for some specific reason , like e.g for actress_ic of Lj.

[magicrubbish]

Of course there are certain topics that always make me go all excited and inspired to go on icon making . And also there are subjects that are added as I watch new things and become part of new fandoms.

[seraphina_snape]

True. One of my 'markers' for when I have truly settled into a new fandom is when I start writing fic or making icons. *g*

[alexia_drake]

I only make icons for challenges, and as requests such as for a Christmas exchanges. Most of the time I icon my fave characters from my faves TV Series at the time, or of past tv series I liked. Very rarely about movies, and it also has to be something/someone that fits the challenges. I also make some stock icons for one of my icontest communities if there is a lack of entries or if I really feel like making some as well. Mostly of cute baby animals. lol

[seraphina_snape]

I think challenges and exchanges are a great way to get some inspiration. Sometimes it's hard to icon without a prompt or something to guide you along.

I don't really make a lot of stock icons, but I'm intrigued. Baby animals are adorable and probably make for awesome icons. Did you make the cat icon you used for your comment? Because that's lovely.

[magicrubbish]

Hi5 on that . I almost NEVER make icons without challenges or icontests . I confess that I need the structure that the challenges or contests provide . Winning does not matter , because participation itself is so much fun ! I eagerly wait to see what the other participants came up with as well.

[sandy79]

Absolutely! Currently, it's on the actor side Sebastian Stan, which of course continues to almost all his roles in TV and movies (at least where I know a source of good caps). On the movie side, we cross a bit, as I tend to use almost the whole MCU for icons as well.

To mix it up a bit, I tend to use other of my favorites, like Supernatural (and it's actors, mostly Jensen), White Collar (and Matt Bomer in general), and the occasional other (former) TV/movie favorites (but usually only when the themes/challenge fits none of the others XD)

I know for sure that I have done not very much in terms of stock icons (most of the stock icon communities I participated in the past have closed completely or are on infinite hiatus, and with those still open, I usually miss the deadline ;) ) The only stock icon comms I participate in most regularly are world_icontest, foodie_itest, food_stillness and total_icontest (on LJ).

And like the rest of you here, I tend (and prefer) to icon men, though I have a couple of favorite actresses as well.

for those interested in my icons - just go to my journal (both here on DW and on LJ) and click the tag "medium: icons" (I just need to finally make some collection posts of all the icons I did in the past two years for small challenges)

[seraphina_snape]

I haven't really watched any of the MCU movies since... uh. Iron Man 2 (which kinda sucked), but tumblr has kept me informed. :p Sebastian Stan is really pretty - I can see the appeal. *g*

I don't think I've made more than a handful of stock icons, and all of those were for various challenges.

Huh, seems like I'm the odd one out. Now I feel like going through a few of my icon posts and count the ratio of men vs women.

[alexia_drake]

I just need to finally make some collection posts of all the icons I did in the past two years for small challenges

Same! lol Including tons from White Collar, mostly of Matt, because he is the one I prefer to icon as well. *drools*

Are you part of an icontest community on men at LJ? I know there was a few 20in20 on men (and that they are both inactive by now) but there was also one normal icontest on men, but I cannot remember the name.

[magicrubbish]

I make a lot of MCU icons. Sebastian is pretty hot but he's not my type. But yeah can sort of see the appeal. He can be smouldering as winter soldier. Wafts of raw masculinity. 😘👄

[abyss_valkyrie]

Haha!!Yeah,it's like I can't imagine an update from you without some Sebastian in it. XD
Oooh,you do enter a lot of stock contests then.The only one I do is splash20in30.

[fueschgast]

The deciding things for me are my main fandom and favorite characters. That's why I make so many Doctor Who icons and, for example, it's likelier I'll produce more icons of Scully than of Mulder (though with these 2 I'm actively trying to balance it).

[alexia_drake]

I loved X-Files but I've never felt the need to make icons. There are tons of fandom I enjoy that I don' make icons of. I think I prefer to make icons that will be useful as userpics, such as the fandoms that are still active where I have discussions about the episodes.

[seraphina_snape]

Main fandom and favourite characters are definitely the deciding factors in my icon-making. If I don't have a set theme or topic, I'll usually go back to my faves or whatever new fandom I'm currently into.

[goodbyebird]

I have a massive thing for hands, so the more hands visible in an image, the more likely I'll feel compelled to icon it :p




I just. HANDSSSSS. They make everything better :D

My other Big Trends are hairporn, close-crops, and emotions. A definite focus on female characters.

Deciding on subjects mostly comes down to what fandoms I'm the most into atm, or a random cap catches my eye while scrolling through my folder. Then icontests that come with themes, of course.

[seraphina_snape]

Interesting. I don't think I've ever seen that before. I love the cropping on those icons - they really do put the hands into focus.

I definitely get the hairporn. And yay for another icon-maker who's more focused on the women! *fist bump*

If there aren't any set images/topics, I'm also likely to make icons of whatever thing I'm into, or of my perpetual faves.

[abyss_valkyrie]

Oh my gosh!!I can't icon hands!!! At least most of the time I don't know where to place a crop.But damn,yours look amazing!

[goodbyebird]

lol I figured it out myself when I looked at a post of mine and realized two thirds featured hands XD

[seraphina_snape]

Yeah, that can happen. :p

[breyzyyin]

I tend to icon whatever fandom I'm really into at the moment, and then I'll go to my old favorite standbys. I'm trying to icon more live-action stuff (huge Arrow-verse geek! ♥) because I fall back on animation a lot since I'm more comfortable with playing around with artwork images. I also seem to icon women more, but I never really noticed until I thought about it just now, lol. Often times though, my favorite characters tend to be female so that might explain that! As far as deciding on a subject, I just use any image that gives me inspiration. If there's a good image that I just have no feelings about whatsoever, I won't icon it (even if it is a favorite fandom or character). ...Lol, I'm more picky than I realized! O_O;

[seraphina_snape]

One way I know for sure that I've 'arrived' in a fandom is when I go screencap hunting and start making icons (or when I start writing fic, but usually the icons come first). *g*

If there's a good image that I just have no feelings about whatsoever, I won't icon it

I usually pick images because they have great lighting or because they might make an interesting icon with the right cropping. :p

[abyss_valkyrie]

I always start with iconing what I'm watching at the moment because the inspiration is fresh and I look at the screen thinking 'hey,this looks good,I want to icon this part'. I definitely like iconing pretty people. :3 When I say pretty,I mean like character designs/outfits that I like. Also yes,I do icon more women than men.At least I seem to do so for TV shows and movies.But if it's animation stuff,then I do icon a lot of guys,probably because I watch so many male-centric animes. XD

[goodbyebird]

Women just get so many fun details most men miss out on! They change their hair, their make-up, jewelry, and their clothes are usually more fun and colorful.

I think it's pretty telling that whenever a dude is bruised/covered in blood or mud, those scenes get mad coverage. It's because they look different! Yay visual variation!! (also hot shhhh)

[timetobegin]

Honestly i probably just have a favourite technique!! I try to live somewhere in the middle of fandoms i'm super into and occasionally stuff people really will like - luckily i'm basic and it's usually one and the same LOL.

But i do tend to icon more ladies than men - i just find them easier and no way to explain it

[seraphina_snape]

:D

Maybe the ladies are just more visually appealing, with a broader variety of colours (in clothing and hair) and so many different hair styles and whatnot.

[tinny]

I know I am way too late - I am now tracking the tag and won't miss another discussion post. <3

I always icon my current obsession... obsessively. But you knew that. :))

I sometimes icon other fandoms for challenges, but only when I have to. (Although I am already being influenced by my 100fandoms goal, and now more likely to icon other things, just to fill the table. Woot?)

[seraphina_snape]

I thought you were just busy, not that you hadn't seen the post.

Well, yeah, but it's not exactly a bad thing to icon your obsessions, is it? :p

Occasionally I icon fandoms I don't know for gift exchanges (like fandom_stocking or land comm gift exchanges) and it's always slightly weird because I don't know these characters and know literally nothing about which scenes are fan favourites or have an especially heavy emotional connection. Picking images is always strange because of that. But yay for trying new things.