Alley panel & following The Kids These Days
Backlogged again. Thing is, I like writing to organize my thoughts, but I never think it's worth posting. That may be accurate. But oh well. Here's one on Artists' Alley.
[July 29]
At Otakon we all attended a panel on Artists' Alley Presentation, and while it was pretty good overall, I just felt like spinning off from that a bit.
One of the things that was brought up, but not explored, in the panel was the comment that one of the panel attendees, as an Alley shopper, liked to see artists cosplaying. There was kind of a chuckle, but that was sort of it. I think it's a good point, and I never really thought about that before. Here's the thing, for me: It's not about the costume. We know you have mad skillz; they're out on display on your table. It's about demonstrating to me (the customer) that you're one of the tribe. That you're not only here to wring money out of me and make fun of me later. I feel the same way about tables with a preponderance of the same series (even if I don't care for it), for anything with a measurable quantity of m/f pairing art, or with art of older series. I get the impression that you actually like this stuff, instead of just surfing whatever's hot with the kids these days. (I'll get back to trend-surfing in a minute.)
I don't mean to say that artists have to do this, or that I'm putting them in a position where they have to prove themselves to some random nobody. That's not it. It's just a bonus. You, artists, scare me. You're better than I am at a skill that our social group values very much. Anything that wears down that wall a little is going to make me more likely to not run away from your table screaming.
It sounds like a stupid comment to say that I like seeing too much of a series that I don't like, but it's true - an overabundance of something particular suggests that the artist is a fan of something, and as such, I'm more comfortable with approaching the table and seeing what they have or asking questions. It helps to establish a vibe that you're a fan as well as an opportunist, and not just an opportunist. I'm not so blinkered as to think that all fans are friends or that Alley-dwellers are not also out to sell me things, but it tempers the mercenary feeling somewhat.
As for trend-surfing - We're all out to sell things as well as express ourselves etc. I know that. However, approach 100% with the flavor of the month and it starts to ring hollow. If it looks like you really are a fan, that's different. (and that's hard to guess - are you doing art of obscure corners of the series, or just the poster children? Do you do fanzines/doujinshi? Do you cosplay? Do you reference incomprehensible fan slang?)
I know our table trend-surfs a bit, or tries to, because relying entirely on niche titles is a crapshoot - you may stumble across the rare fan of a rare (or old) series, or you may end up storing your unsold stuff for yet another year. (And our stuff takes up more space than prints do. Heh.) But on the other hand, I'd get really bored really fast if all we did was try and cater to whatever the 14-year-olds are obsessed with this week. That's where it would start to feel mercenary. Yeah, I'd still get to exercise the skillz, but the subject matter would bore me. So we've tended to overlook a vanity project here or there, maybe once per con. Sometimes we get stuck with them. Sometimes they sell, but it takes a while. I still find it hard to regret having done them. Because we are fans, and for every ten times I wish we could offload the Harvest Moon bears already, there's a time that somebody recognized them.
Besides, if you aren't already in the thick of online fandom, trend-surfing is hard. I feel like I only update twice a year at this point, at conventions. Much too slow to jump on anything new. And that's where we operate at a bit of a loss. I find it difficult and draining to trawl through fandom (or any sufficiently large group), but since I am the biggest nerd in the team, it falls to me to do so. I speak otaku. I know where to look, generally. I just don't like to go there. I don't do well in groups, and at this point I don't even like to lurk where they are. There are a few ways to guess at the going thing without going into the social pool - like download counts at torrent sites, sales figures of manga, or cosplay trends at other conventions - but those are imprecise. There are shows popular among groups who rarely buy things from us (like your classic moe fanboy*), and there are series that are cosplay magnets because of the cool factor of the character design, not the fanbase of the series.
Point is, trend-surfing is the easy way out when it comes to making sales, but it has its own challenges.
* I'm not saying guys don't buy things in the Alleys, though I have heard that before. I mean that our particular stuff has always been more popular with girls and people who buy things as gifts for girls. It's not universal, but it's typical. I mean, we make teddy bears and purses and frilly headbands. Hardly surprising.
Anime & gaming post tomorrow, maybe. Also, I finally got to play Crayon Physics Deluxe on the new computer. At least the demo, so far. Yay!
[July 29]
At Otakon we all attended a panel on Artists' Alley Presentation, and while it was pretty good overall, I just felt like spinning off from that a bit.
One of the things that was brought up, but not explored, in the panel was the comment that one of the panel attendees, as an Alley shopper, liked to see artists cosplaying. There was kind of a chuckle, but that was sort of it. I think it's a good point, and I never really thought about that before. Here's the thing, for me: It's not about the costume. We know you have mad skillz; they're out on display on your table. It's about demonstrating to me (the customer) that you're one of the tribe. That you're not only here to wring money out of me and make fun of me later. I feel the same way about tables with a preponderance of the same series (even if I don't care for it), for anything with a measurable quantity of m/f pairing art, or with art of older series. I get the impression that you actually like this stuff, instead of just surfing whatever's hot with the kids these days. (I'll get back to trend-surfing in a minute.)
I don't mean to say that artists have to do this, or that I'm putting them in a position where they have to prove themselves to some random nobody. That's not it. It's just a bonus. You, artists, scare me. You're better than I am at a skill that our social group values very much. Anything that wears down that wall a little is going to make me more likely to not run away from your table screaming.
It sounds like a stupid comment to say that I like seeing too much of a series that I don't like, but it's true - an overabundance of something particular suggests that the artist is a fan of something, and as such, I'm more comfortable with approaching the table and seeing what they have or asking questions. It helps to establish a vibe that you're a fan as well as an opportunist, and not just an opportunist. I'm not so blinkered as to think that all fans are friends or that Alley-dwellers are not also out to sell me things, but it tempers the mercenary feeling somewhat.
As for trend-surfing - We're all out to sell things as well as express ourselves etc. I know that. However, approach 100% with the flavor of the month and it starts to ring hollow. If it looks like you really are a fan, that's different. (and that's hard to guess - are you doing art of obscure corners of the series, or just the poster children? Do you do fanzines/doujinshi? Do you cosplay? Do you reference incomprehensible fan slang?)
I know our table trend-surfs a bit, or tries to, because relying entirely on niche titles is a crapshoot - you may stumble across the rare fan of a rare (or old) series, or you may end up storing your unsold stuff for yet another year. (And our stuff takes up more space than prints do. Heh.) But on the other hand, I'd get really bored really fast if all we did was try and cater to whatever the 14-year-olds are obsessed with this week. That's where it would start to feel mercenary. Yeah, I'd still get to exercise the skillz, but the subject matter would bore me. So we've tended to overlook a vanity project here or there, maybe once per con. Sometimes we get stuck with them. Sometimes they sell, but it takes a while. I still find it hard to regret having done them. Because we are fans, and for every ten times I wish we could offload the Harvest Moon bears already, there's a time that somebody recognized them.
Besides, if you aren't already in the thick of online fandom, trend-surfing is hard. I feel like I only update twice a year at this point, at conventions. Much too slow to jump on anything new. And that's where we operate at a bit of a loss. I find it difficult and draining to trawl through fandom (or any sufficiently large group), but since I am the biggest nerd in the team, it falls to me to do so. I speak otaku. I know where to look, generally. I just don't like to go there. I don't do well in groups, and at this point I don't even like to lurk where they are. There are a few ways to guess at the going thing without going into the social pool - like download counts at torrent sites, sales figures of manga, or cosplay trends at other conventions - but those are imprecise. There are shows popular among groups who rarely buy things from us (like your classic moe fanboy*), and there are series that are cosplay magnets because of the cool factor of the character design, not the fanbase of the series.
Point is, trend-surfing is the easy way out when it comes to making sales, but it has its own challenges.
* I'm not saying guys don't buy things in the Alleys, though I have heard that before. I mean that our particular stuff has always been more popular with girls and people who buy things as gifts for girls. It's not universal, but it's typical. I mean, we make teddy bears and purses and frilly headbands. Hardly surprising.
Anime & gaming post tomorrow, maybe. Also, I finally got to play Crayon Physics Deluxe on the new computer. At least the demo, so far. Yay!