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| DR • Design Requests |
| This is from the blog series Designer Rant that I wrote on a site that shall not be named and has been re-edited to fit VP (because why not post it here as well, it's not like designing is something this universal). Please keep in mind, that this is no invitation to talk about the primary source of this posts (I don't want the mods to delete this blog) and that while some of the topics or specific examples might not be completely true or fitting for VP, they certainly can be found on pixel based dress-up games and thus I think them important to get mentioned in the context of VP as well. So, basically, this is designer content but make it commentary from my angry and frustrated mind. (Also thinking about publishing my tutorials I made because some of them just look fucking amazing.) Welcome to a new series about designing. I hope you guys are along for the ride and love to hear me ramble about a topic for 5 minutes straight, because that's what this is. If you like this format and want more of it, don't hesitate to drop by in the comments; I have ideas for future rants. (This still rings true, I had a bunch more planned and would be willing to write them out if people care for them.) Today's rant: Design requests Design requests are a double-edged sword for many designers. On one hand you do want to design what people would love to wear and you want to see people happy (and see wear your stuff, it's the cherry on top of it) and you really want to work on getting the people what they request and truly deserve. But on the other hand, you already know most of the requests will frustrate you to no end. On one side you have people requesting stuff you don't really want to design, because it's not your style. That's a really easy one to ignore, especially if you have your own request thread where you can tell people to only submit inspo of certain styles. But then there's the "tiny detail" or "aesthetic" faction. It's great that you feel inspired by stickers on teeth or a coffee mug on a slab of concrete, but that's usually not something a designer can help you with. Many people seem to forget the limitations the base on pixel based dress-up games has when it comes to size. You can't go smaller than a pixel, so many of the tiny details aren't even possible to be made. And then comes my favourite group of them all: "we need more insert generic term for something that encompasses roughly 3mio variations and different interpretations and we'll get mad for every item that's not the one specific thing we requested". Yeah, I really don't like those. As a general idea it's nice to know people want more for instance male-leaning options, more variation when it comes to skins and faces and a more varied body representation. I agree with all of you, we need more. But ... it's not a helpful request to a designer to keep it at generic terms. Imagine someone asking you to draw them a car. Your first question is: What car, what colour? Answer: "Doesn't matter, a car is a car, this can't be this difficult, why are you making it so difficult? Just make a car, it's literally so easy." So you make a car. You draw a blue Honda Jazz, because you think it looks cute. And then the person gets mad at you for doing their vision of a red Ferrari injustice. You're ready to smash your head into a wall, right? Yeah, well that's me half of the time I come across people requesting designs. People say they need more poc representation and claim "just any" would do. But no matter what you do, it won't ever be enough. Not because what you did wasn't good enough or unappreciated, but because it wasn't specifically what they had in mind. But they can't tell you what they had in mind so you can't help them. It sucks for the users to not get what they want, but imagine how much it sucks for the designer to no be able to fulfill a simple request. How can we all do better in the future so it's not frustrating for anyone anymore? Well, here's a few ideas on how you can do it: - Go check which designers have request threads and check out what they usually design. - Go look for designers who do commissions or just ask someone if they do. - Have specific requests ready - better yet, have pictures! Sometimes it even helps to ask a designer personally despite them not having a specific thread. If they have the time and want to help, they'll do. Work with the designer, not against them. Tell them how they could make their designs better and what you'd wish to see from them. Ask for things, ask questions, give additional ideas for variation. We LOVE input, but you have to give us more than just a random "we need more male clothes", because quite frankly, what even is male fashion at this point? |
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