[AFF Quiz] Designer Edition (Graphics and Layouts)
ong, long ago, AFF used to be bustling with Q&A and quizzes in the blogs section. It was a way for the community to get to know writers, designers, and basically everyone's current favorites. Plus, it was a great way to interact with other users and get to know one another. I know the community isn't as active as before, but there's no harm in trying to bring back what we did before.
If you want to join, feel free to do so! Let's continue the tags with #qna and #affquiz
* This particular Q&A is for designers (graphics and layouts [next page]) but there are other fun quizzes in the blogs section! Search in the 'quiz' 'affquiz' or 'qna' tags for more!
*Copied questions from JaeKnight. I'm not doing the trailer part because I only did 1 trailer so far, lol.
Designer Q&A - Graphics
1. How long have you been designing?
Since mid 2012. I was inspired by other designers on here to start designing on my own. I also didn't want to feel like I'm troubling them to fulfill my requests. That's why I started to try and design for myself then later started taking requests from others not only to give back to the community but to work on my editing skills too.
2. What do you use to design?
Pizap (2012-2013) > Pixlr (2013-2013) > Adobe Photoshop CS6 (2013-Present)
An excerpt from my portfolio (Visual Illusions):
My very first editor was pizap and let me tell you, it can do the bare minimum when editing pictures. Although that may be the case, it was still fun having to edit things even with using only a few tools.
After wanting to do more, I searched for a more able editor and found Pixlr. It's what I recommend for those who are not able to download Photoshop or other fancy editors. Pros and cons? Pros: It's online. There's no need to download anything to edit graphics and it can still do wonders once you get the hang of it. Cons: It's online. Once you accidentally click that 'x' button at the very top right corner, everything's gone if you don't save your files before doing so. It's quite a pain in the neck and I've experienced this many, many times.
By the latter half of 2013, I went back and forth Pixlr and Photoshop to get accustomed to the latter. As of today, I now use Photoshop.
3. What's your first ever poster? What's your latest poster?
First ever? According to Photobucket, this is my very first poster: (please ignore the photobucket signs)
First request:
First using Adobe photoshop was this one:
I don't remember which one was first for pixlr. ;__;
But my latest poster is this:
I started out with horizontal posters but now I prefer making vertical posters, haha.
4. Which genres are your strengths?
Romance or angst. Those with blending aren't too bad.
5. Which genres are your weaknesses?
Horror or sci-fi. I've never actually tried making posters with these genres (I did 1 or 2 sci-fi before) but I don't think I'd do well. For one, I wouldn't want to search for horror images.
6. What's your design style?
I don't really have a set style but I like making movie-style posters. Notice how most of my posters include all the character's names somewhere, lol. My designs are mainly 'just as long as they look okay to me and not over the top' kind, haha. So yeah, minimalistic posters I'd say (not too much coloring and textures).
7. Do you own a graphic shop?
Yes, the one and only Infinite Possibilities! :3 I closed shop though after 5 years of running it.
8. Do you work for a graphic shop?
Currently no. I used to work for Ilaria and Airborne (now felicity) for a short while because they needed more designers. Oh, and I also worked for Dream Girls (before and after the whole shop was unexpectedly given to me [which I revived and managed for a short while]). I also helped with a previous Kokocats! event and a few other contests to give away a graphic/s prize. ^^
9. Are there any designers you look up to?
I've got some designers whose posters/edits I like. When I was new, I liked posters from baboraccoon, lynnryan, and angelastyles to name a few. Then there's JaeKnight, chroma, mizusora, and a lot more awesome designers out there!
10. What's your favourite poster to date?
Oh, man. Um, probably these:
When I was still fairly new though (2013), I was really proud after making these:
11. What's your least favourite poster to date?
Which one to choose? Lol. But to be honest, I was proud of whatever I made at the time the poster was uploaded even as a beginner. But looking back, some posters (most from the beginner days) don't appeal to me as much anymore. Like these:
Special mention to the first time someone requested like 20 people in a poster:
As you can see, I didn't know what to do. OTL
12. How long does it usually take for you to finish a poster?
The quickest was under an hour but sometimes, and depending on how fast I can find good photos, it can span up to 2-3 hours. Or days... if I take a break in between and don't come back after a while. Lol. But all - if not most - of my requests have been done in under a week.
13. Do you have a portfolio?
My first portfolio was on photobucket. But since it was getting slow for me, I changed to imgur. Now I host most on deviantart (dA). Photobucket and imgur hides the images for some reason so I just linked the one for deviantart. On another note, I recently went over my posters on dA and hid a few posters from viewing that's why there's not much on there, lol.
14. Do you join graphic contests?
Yes! I used to join a bunch years ago to practice. Lately, if I see a graphic contest (I don't think there are any open ones), I look at the prompts first to see if something inspires me. I only won like 2 times though after entering 30+. Here are my graphic contest entries if you want to have a look at them.
If you want to write for one of these posters, please feel free to consider joining my giveaway Surplus! where you can keep the poster and grab some prizes. No worries, it's not a contest so everyone wins.
15. If you write stories, do you make your own posters?
Oh, yes. That's why I started designing, lol. But my posters didn't look that great so if I can get an opportunity to request for someone else to make a graphic for me (like after winning contests), I tend to immediately grab them. So my stories are currently a mix of my own posters and requested ones.
Though this is one of my favorite poster changes (evolution) that I made for one of my discontinued stories.
Head to the next page for the layout Q&A
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