Activity #03 - Ask The Maker

[tinny]

It's time for our next activity!

This time, it's not an icon challenge, it's Ask The Maker!

Ask The Maker is where you can ask your favorite makers about how they do that thing. You can ask for tutorials, guides/"How to", or ask any other questions related to their work. Check out the Maker thread (below) for makers who have signed up and are ready to answer your questions.

This time, you can also ask questions to the community at large, and hope that someone is able to answer them. Do this in the Questions thread (below).

Ask The Maker is one of the most popular yearly activites for iconmakers on LJ and it always takes place in June. Who knows, maybe it'll turn into a tradition here on DW, too?

The results of the poll we did here this month were tied on doing it maker-driven or question-driven, so there's going to be both! :D I've taken the rules for the maker-driven part directly from the original comm icon_talk. I hope they are working for everyone. The second part is all new, let's see how it goes!

1) Maker-Driven


Rules for makers who want to sign up

Sign up by commenting to the Maker thread.

Please do NOT sign up if you know that you can't or do not plan to fulfill the requests you get within a month.

If you are an icon maker and you're willing to write tutorials, guides or answer questions (Q&A's), please sign up here with your name and where you post your work. Please state what you're willing to do/answer and if people can hotlink your work or not. Use this posting template:

<b>Username + where you post your work:</b> <b>What can we request from you (tutorials, Q&A, guides etc.)</b> (.PSDs are not allowed) --->(If you know of anything that you're not able to answer/do, please mention it)<--- <b>Can we hotlink your icons?:</b>

There is no fixed time limit in which the signed up makers have to write these tutorials or answer questions, but it would be nice if everyone managed to post their answers within the next month. My current plan is to make the master list post on July 29th. If you can't do it until then, I can't guarantee that you'll be added to the master list. But please try and answer your questions, even if it takes you longer than that. Please let people know if you find out you cannot fulfill the requests. Try not to leave people hanging.

All tutorials/Q&A etc. need to be posted in your community/journal and be posted publicly. In-depth explanations on tutorials is not a must, but highly encouraged.

When you finish your requests, post a link to them as a reply to the original request comment here. That way, me and the person requesting will be able to see them and I can add them to the master list. If you do not post the links in your thread here, I will not see them and they will not be added to the tutorial master list.



2) Question-Driven - I have a question and anyone can answer



If you have a question about techniques, a specific look, etc, but you can't ask any maker directly (e.g. because they didn't sign up), you may ask your question in the Questions thread.

Be aware that there is no guarantee that you'll get your question answered. You will increase your chances by asking specific questions about specific techniques and by giving icon examples, from different makers if possible. Please don't ask about single specific icons, nobody should feel pressured into participating.

Please don't hotlink icons from other makers without asking them. Reupload the icons (e.g. to imgur.com or upl.co) instead.



What's What


Question categories and examples

Guides - a guide is a general explanation post. The maker will make a post explaining how to achieve a particular effect, use a technique, use a tool, etc.

#1 - Background Coloring Guide by hyacinthos
#2 - Text Guide by naginis

Tutorial - a tutorial is a step-by-step description of how to make a particular icon. Only the maker of an icon can make a tutorial of how they made that icon. If you ask for a tutorial, you must provide said icon with your question. This kind of question only makes sense in the Maker thread.

Example Tutorial #1 by kitamikeita
Example Tutorial #2 by aeriiths

Q&A - everything that doesn't quite fit the first two categories. Ask away, hope for the best. :)


Maker thread

Questions thread

Comments

Maker thread

[tinny]

Makers who are willing to write guides and tutorials and answer questions:

Sign Up Here

tinny

[tinny]

Username + where you post your work:

tinny https://tinny.dreamwidth.org/tag/art-icons

What can we request from you:

Ask away, all types of questions are fine.

Can we hotlink your icons?:

Yes.

Re: tinny

[timetobegin]

How do you get unnatural, or different colours to look natural? I've tried this a few times and it just looks silly and not blended in with the icon.

eg.

these are probably all different techniques but still

Re: tinny

[tinny]

Thanks for asking me! <3

Hmm.... yes, especially the third one is different. I'm going to check whether I've made a tutorial or guide for anything similar yet or not.

I am going to treat this question as a guide for that kind of flat matte coloring, ok? I think I understand what you're asking - making the skin tone and the background matte and match in style, right? I'm not sure if any of these icons show the process very clearly, but I'm going to check and write something up.

Re: tinny

[timetobegin]

yessss i think that is what i mean!! :)

Re: tinny

[tinny]

I am done! I hope the guide is useful to you!

http://tinny.dreamwidth.org/480352.html

Re: Maker thread

[fueschgast]

Username + where you post your work:
fuesch icon tag

What can we request from you (tutorials, Q&A, guides etc. .PSDs are not allowed:
anything

Can we hotlink your icons?:
sure

Re: Maker thread

[timetobegin]

You seem to do text really well - do you have an idea when you start with the icon to put text on?

eg.

Re: Maker thread

[fueschgast]

I don't quite understand the question. Do you mean if I know if I'll put text on? Or if I already have an idea what the text will look like? Or something else entirely?

Re: Maker thread

[timetobegin]

yeah pretty much, do you know if you're going to add text in a certain way?

Re: Maker thread

[fueschgast]

I usually have only a vague idea what I want it to look like and then arrive at the end result by just trying things out.

The TARDIS fitting so well with the text (the light on top is pretty central with "smaller", the curve of "outside" fitting well with the bottom of the TARDIS, and "on" and "the" getting pretty much exactly the space they need between the circle and the TARDIS) was just luck.

Re: Maker thread

[tinny]

Would you mind writing a guide? Maybe about how you choose your crop (I know I crop differently when I know there's going to be text on the icon), or how you choose the font style or the text colors depending on the cap/fandom?

I think this could be really interesting.

Or would you like to write a tutorial for one of these icons? (Or for another one of your own choosing)

Re: Maker thread

[fueschgast]

I don't know what to write about! There's not much to it. I mean, I just crop it so that there's enough space for text, I look though my fonts and chose whatever feels right* and is readable, the colors come from somewhere in the icon.

* Visually or topically. I'm currently making icons of Doctors with the number of their incarnation and decided to go for the font that looks right visually (making a nice whole with the shape of the mask), although I'm still a bit torn, because some fonts don't fit with the character or the look of that incarnation. For example for the 3rd Doctor a Victorian font would have been the best choice, while for Nine a sans serif would be perfect.

Creative things can to explain for me, I'd rather explain something technical. And I'm not good at operating on vague instructions. When I don't know what exactly people want from me, I get stuck, because I don't feel free to make the compromises I can make when I'm working for myself. So if you want something, please give me specifics. Like that tutorial: I will make one if you outright ask for it, but just suggesting it makes me lean towards no. I do have an idea for which icon to write about though (but it's a textless one), because I've wanted to go on about that one, ha.

Sorry, I should have said that when I signed up, but I tend to forget about these problems until they show up again.

Re: Maker thread

[tinny]

Hee, no worries.

Honestly, every single guide and tutorial I have ever read started like "I have no idea if this makes sense/is interesting/is long enough/isn't just rambling". :D

Basically, everything you just said in your comment up there, along with a few example icons, would already make a good guide.

I do have an idea for which icon to write about though (but it's a textless one), because I've wanted to go on about that one, ha.

Sure, go ahead! If you have fun writing about it, do it! Consider yourself asked. :D

Re: Maker thread

[fueschgast]

I am done!

Re: Maker thread

[carisma_sensei]

Username + where you post your work: inconformista icon tag @ Dreamwidth and my old icons @ Livejournal.
What can we request from you (tutorials, Q&A, guides etc.):
Anything. I don't think I know many different unique tricks but I'm a teacher so I'm good at writing tutorials and explaining things, so I may be of help for beginners who wish to learn from the very basics or just people who are interested in my work :3
Can we hotlink your icons?:
Yes

Re: Maker thread

[timetobegin]

Username + where you post your work:
timetobegin At thisisagraphicscomm
What can we request from you (tutorials, Q&A, guides etc.)
Whatever you want really. not sure what i'll really have to offer
Can we hotlink your icons?:
sure

Re: Maker thread

[sandy79]

Username + where you post your work: sandy79 https://sandy79.dreamwidth.org/tag/medium:+icons

What can we request from you (tutorials, Q&A, guides etc.) (.PSDs are not allowed)

pretty much anything, I'll see what I can do

Can we hotlink your icons?:

Sure ;)

Re: Maker thread

[tree]

Username + where you post your work:

tree @ borrowedfable icon tag

What can we request from you (tutorials, Q&A, guides etc.)

anything

Can we hotlink your icons?:

yes

Re: Maker thread

[sheliak]

Username + where you post your work:

sheliak + https://sheliak.dreamwidth.org/tag/icons

What can we request from you (tutorials, Q&A, guides etc.)
--->(If you know of anything that you're not able to answer/do, please mention it)<---

Ask me for anything and I'll do my best!

I should probably mention that I use GIMP rather than Photoshop, and since I'm still feeling my way around parts of the program, there may be some questions I can't answer (or my answer may not be the best way to do something).

Can we hotlink your icons?:

Yes.

Re: Maker thread

[st_aurafina]

Can I ask about how you're finding GIMP? Did you change to it from photoshop and if so, was the transition difficult? I am thinking about it since my photoshop is old and basic and I am starting to not be able to follow tutorials with things like actions and stuff in them.

Basically, do you like it, is it easy to use?

Re: Maker thread

[sheliak]

I've never used Photoshop, so I can't answer that half of the question.

It's been a bit tricky to learn how to use GIMP, but I've been fairly happy with it. (Less so with the user manual—googling my questions is usually more productive.) I don't know if I'd be having an easier time or a harder one if I'd started out used to Photoshop—I've been learning image manipulation at the same time as learning how the program works.

It's been fairly easy to use for the things I've done so far—I found the paint and color balance options fairly intuitive, as well as the layers. I've struggled a bit with text, but I don't really know what I'm doing on that front to begin with, so I don't think it's fair to blame the program.

I'm sorry I don't have a more helpful answer for you.

Re: Maker thread

[st_aurafina]

That's very helpful and gives me the impetus to give GIMP a go - thank you so much!

Re: Maker thread

[sheliak]

Oh good, I was worried I didn't know enough to be helpful. You're welcome, and if you have any more questions I'll try to answer them too! I hope GIMP works out for you.