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menomegirl September 29 2010, 17:11:02 UTC
Are icon-makers their own subset of fandom in a way, where the trends aren't fandom-related but artist-related?

I think so. I have no talent for icon-making but I've noticed the way the trends change in much the same way that fanfiction changes.

Did that make sense? LOL.

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musesfool September 29 2010, 17:19:17 UTC
That makes sense.

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skywaterblue September 29 2010, 19:08:10 UTC
Broadly I do think this is true about icon making, but I couldn't tell you what the current trends are... maybe a little more irony and cross popcultural awareness these days rather than just being a fandom icon. If that makes sense. It would be a good meta for sure.

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musesfool September 29 2010, 19:35:31 UTC
Yeah, I'd be interested in reading about the evolution of icon-making as a fannish activity and the styles/trends that have come and gone and how they cross fandom lines etc. Someone should write that.

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jehnt September 29 2010, 20:04:14 UTC
Yes, icon trends change and generally aren't confined to a particular fandom, though some are (the Disney fandom, in particular, has its own subset of trends which usually don't follow the larger currents). I find less that trends are specific artist related and more related to a group of people, or, often, something that is a trend in advertising at the moment, which leads me to believe that the trendsetting iconmakers either work in advertising (which I know some of the big trendsetters from 2003-2005 did) or are very cued in to the graphic design community in other ways. There are a lot of differences between that community and this one, but enough of the broad trends are similar for me to see linkages ( ... )

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silveronthetree September 30 2010, 12:10:36 UTC
This is a great summary and as someone who has only been making icons for about eighteen months, it is fascinating so see it laid out like that.

I'm really interested in the link with advertising. Previously I would have assumed that it was related to the ubiquity of advertising images in out lives and that icon makers couldn't help being influenced (I know that I frequently see a technique in an advert and want to try it out in a icon) but from what you are saying, does that mean that the similarity of trends appear earlier in the process i.e. before the advertising trend hits the mainstream?

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silveronthetree September 30 2010, 12:03:07 UTC
Yeah, there are definite trends in icon making but they aren't usually confined to a single fandom. I don't remember seeing any posts that discusses all the general trends, jehnt's comment above is about the best summary I've seen. You do get mini peeks into trends when individual icon makers create icon evolution posts to show how their work has changed over the years. The only one that I can think of off the top of my head is by shadowserenity here. I have a feeling that jehnt did one too. Going through the old posts at communities like iconpraise can give you an idea of what is popular at a particular time.

It's easy to notice the trends that you don't like, such as the pink icons or overuse of light blob textures. One fairly recent trend that I do love is negative space (see icon I'm using) I have a feeling that this trend appeared in about 2008 when people realised that nope, you don't have to fill up every single bit of space in that 100x100 square. Another recent (good) trend is very vibant colours with slightly blurred backgrounds ( ... )

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