ADAPT
ADAPT™ = Allied Digital Artists Partnership Teams™
"Would you be interested in doing any of your concepts/characters as a 13 x4 inch weekly strip, for the better part of a year to try to build something online with other like minded individuals?"
Welcome to the beginning of a different way of seeing comic strip content. Comic strips were the first form of comic art that impressed many young and budding artists and rightly so. It’s economy of effort in its purest form. I’ve done work for many small press, independent and professional comic companies and one thing I noticed is that the form of comics was far too localized to effectively benefit the very creators of the art form. Then the web hit and all of that changed. Now was the time to find a different way to ‘see’ comic content. Creators knew how to execute the form but not many know how to utilize it for personal benefit. This project is an exercise in maximizing that side of the equation. One thing I found out very early on is that there needed to be a content pool. A stream of work done weekly would produce a continual source of material. Once done that material could be put out in the world to generate either excitement, notoriety, a revenue stream, advertising or just plain old promotion.
The two major differences with what I propose and what's being done on the web today are these:
1 - Most creators are waiting for someone to 'pick' up what they do and put it out in the world. If your final end game is to have someone else handle YOUR property for you, you've made a mistake. This isn't to say that won't be one of the outcomes, just that it shouldn't be the predominant or only one. From history I saw that Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman found success by creating an exciting product first, with little regard for where it would go or what it would do, and success found them. I also know from life experience that no one knows the true nature of success, so trying to plan one is an exercise in futility at best. I offer this, do the things you think will get you there without having it's success be the overriding reason for doing it. Do it for the sheer fun of the creating. Protect it so when the success does come, you and the intellectual property will be safe.
2 - There is strength in numbers. Marvel knows this, D.C. knows this and every publishing house I've ever worked for knows this. Stop in any comic shop or book store and notice how every publisher is trying to 'stack the shelves' with their products. If they could they would have stores with just their products and content in them and exclude everyone else. They don't want creators to form unions to do that very thing and creators, especially in the comic content production field, suffer immensely because of it. For some reason we don't band together in any meaningful way and when we do manage an alliance we don't promote each other at all. It's as if we're afraid the other creator will steal our thunder or make more moola than us and therefore we shouldn't and won't promote the other guy. This too is a mistake and in this project, my team and I, will show you a simple way to promote each other and therefore promote yourself and have that work for everyone involved here.
Now for the good news. I want to thank those that got their strip covers in by the deadline. By doing this little thing in the 25 or so days that this ran, you are elite. Let me explain why. We did graphic studies on just how long it would take a creator to produce a 13 x 4 inch strip starting from scratch, using existing art and story and if done in a variety of styles, some with color and some without. Our outside time for starting from scratch was an hour and a half. With work already done and just being re-formatted: less than thirty minutes (an that takes into account that the creator might want to 'be exceptionally creative'. Inking was the fastest accomplished way to do it, shaded pencils second and color longest of all. Measure that against those that didn't get theirs in or those that didn't even try. A lot of what creators do is get in their own heads about who they are in what they do when they should just do the work and get it done. That's the great secret about doing creative content. It's just getting the job done.
After all the run throughs we decided on the strip format because it forces creators to tell a stripped 'to the bone' story and use the format as efficiently as possible. No big ego stroking panels of blather or eye gouging art to save you here. You'll have to use the form as effectively as possible to garner the desired effect and have people engaged with what you do. Pace your stuff as needed and don't be afraid to do more than one if you need two to wow people. One of the requirements for this project (after the first 15 installments are in) is to do one a week. Nothing says you can't do more. The strip format also means that you can do it even if you get bogged down with other commitments that crop up in daily living. An hour and a half a week, lets say two hours, isn't so much of a commitment that you can't do it while doing other things unless you become medically incapacitated. (Then the first 15 installments provide you a 15 week cushion should that happen).
Two last things in this writing. Re-read the long invite again. One of the things being online requires is that you read and understand. Some creators posted me questions that were already covered in the invite (LOL). Let's save each other time by reading what gets posted by me, Team ScriptGraphics or each other, and never feel you can't ask a question, no matter how outrageous, if you truly feel it's warranted.
The final date for the 15 strips is February 15, 2013. I'd say think more 'between' January 15, 2013 to February 15, 2013. My reasoning is that in the digital world, sooner is better than later but Team ScriptGraphics wants to 'really' get in there and do some massive chunks of strip completing and wanted the time even if they get done early.
Above all else, have some fun with what you do. Tell a well crafted story and don't be afraid to experiment with the form as well as the styles you bring to the strips. We're going to bring in the next generation of visual storytelling content and what you do with it will be a reflection of that.
ADAPT™ because the future is here!
ADAPT™ = Allied Digital Artists Partnership Teams™
"Would you be interested in doing any of your concepts/characters as a 13 x4 inch weekly strip, for the better part of a year to try to build something online with other like minded individuals?"
Welcome to the beginning of a different way of seeing comic strip content. Comic strips were the first form of comic art that impressed many young and budding artists and rightly so. It’s economy of effort in its purest form. I’ve done work for many small press, independent and professional comic companies and one thing I noticed is that the form of comics was far too localized to effectively benefit the very creators of the art form. Then the web hit and all of that changed. Now was the time to find a different way to ‘see’ comic content. Creators knew how to execute the form but not many know how to utilize it for personal benefit. This project is an exercise in maximizing that side of the equation. One thing I found out very early on is that there needed to be a content pool. A stream of work done weekly would produce a continual source of material. Once done that material could be put out in the world to generate either excitement, notoriety, a revenue stream, advertising or just plain old promotion.
The two major differences with what I propose and what's being done on the web today are these:
1 - Most creators are waiting for someone to 'pick' up what they do and put it out in the world. If your final end game is to have someone else handle YOUR property for you, you've made a mistake. This isn't to say that won't be one of the outcomes, just that it shouldn't be the predominant or only one. From history I saw that Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman found success by creating an exciting product first, with little regard for where it would go or what it would do, and success found them. I also know from life experience that no one knows the true nature of success, so trying to plan one is an exercise in futility at best. I offer this, do the things you think will get you there without having it's success be the overriding reason for doing it. Do it for the sheer fun of the creating. Protect it so when the success does come, you and the intellectual property will be safe.
2 - There is strength in numbers. Marvel knows this, D.C. knows this and every publishing house I've ever worked for knows this. Stop in any comic shop or book store and notice how every publisher is trying to 'stack the shelves' with their products. If they could they would have stores with just their products and content in them and exclude everyone else. They don't want creators to form unions to do that very thing and creators, especially in the comic content production field, suffer immensely because of it. For some reason we don't band together in any meaningful way and when we do manage an alliance we don't promote each other at all. It's as if we're afraid the other creator will steal our thunder or make more moola than us and therefore we shouldn't and won't promote the other guy. This too is a mistake and in this project, my team and I, will show you a simple way to promote each other and therefore promote yourself and have that work for everyone involved here.
Now for the good news. I want to thank those that got their strip covers in by the deadline. By doing this little thing in the 25 or so days that this ran, you are elite. Let me explain why. We did graphic studies on just how long it would take a creator to produce a 13 x 4 inch strip starting from scratch, using existing art and story and if done in a variety of styles, some with color and some without. Our outside time for starting from scratch was an hour and a half. With work already done and just being re-formatted: less than thirty minutes (an that takes into account that the creator might want to 'be exceptionally creative'. Inking was the fastest accomplished way to do it, shaded pencils second and color longest of all. Measure that against those that didn't get theirs in or those that didn't even try. A lot of what creators do is get in their own heads about who they are in what they do when they should just do the work and get it done. That's the great secret about doing creative content. It's just getting the job done.
After all the run throughs we decided on the strip format because it forces creators to tell a stripped 'to the bone' story and use the format as efficiently as possible. No big ego stroking panels of blather or eye gouging art to save you here. You'll have to use the form as effectively as possible to garner the desired effect and have people engaged with what you do. Pace your stuff as needed and don't be afraid to do more than one if you need two to wow people. One of the requirements for this project (after the first 15 installments are in) is to do one a week. Nothing says you can't do more. The strip format also means that you can do it even if you get bogged down with other commitments that crop up in daily living. An hour and a half a week, lets say two hours, isn't so much of a commitment that you can't do it while doing other things unless you become medically incapacitated. (Then the first 15 installments provide you a 15 week cushion should that happen).
Two last things in this writing. Re-read the long invite again. One of the things being online requires is that you read and understand. Some creators posted me questions that were already covered in the invite (LOL). Let's save each other time by reading what gets posted by me, Team ScriptGraphics or each other, and never feel you can't ask a question, no matter how outrageous, if you truly feel it's warranted.
The final date for the 15 strips is February 15, 2013. I'd say think more 'between' January 15, 2013 to February 15, 2013. My reasoning is that in the digital world, sooner is better than later but Team ScriptGraphics wants to 'really' get in there and do some massive chunks of strip completing and wanted the time even if they get done early.
Above all else, have some fun with what you do. Tell a well crafted story and don't be afraid to experiment with the form as well as the styles you bring to the strips. We're going to bring in the next generation of visual storytelling content and what you do with it will be a reflection of that.
ADAPT™ because the future is here!
