Posts by DreamWarrior

Hey, congrats! You do great work!

@1981: I completely agree. What I mean is that it’s not the only way we downgrade the graphic design business. It should be the buyer’s choice to have a generic logo or a professionally tailored one. Many buyers are ignorant about these key factors. So we should educate as much as possible. But there are hundreds of thousands of people with small businesses that can’t possibly afford a professional designer for a logo that only people in their small town will see. If they become moguls, they have time to change their identity. After all, most big companies have, at one point or another. In any case, small shops can either buy a generic logo online or open up Photoshop and use the premade shapes that come with the program. I’d rather have them buy something here. It will be prettier and will save them time. What I mean is this: generic logos don’t require more skills than any other graphic sold here. And the graphics business is worth shit anyway already, so we shouldn’t be crying out and calling Envato names if we all contributed to the industry being in such state. (Of course I don’t blame just us graphic authors; everything in this monetary society and the perpetual growth paradigm is doomed, no matter what it is).

I find some of the concerns regarding the uniqueness or multiple sales and potential confusion amongst buyers relevant, and there should be a very clear way for the buyers to know what exactly they’re buying.

Having said that… Don’t you think it’s a bit hypocritical to split your hairs and condemn whatever you condemn for downgrading the graphic design profession when all of us DO SELL our hard work very cheap for others to prey? Don’t you see the slightest contradiction? Don’t you think selling a TWENTY FOUR magazine template for 6 bucks is downgrading the profession? Don’t you think selling an incredibly complex vector illustration for 3 bucks is downgrading the profession? Don’t you think making such items require expertise and research (and knowledge, and skills, and time)? Only logos require such abilities? Where were you all when they started to sell ONE HUNDRED backgrounds for the same price as ONE SINGLE background in this very site? Where are you complaints in the forum about that? Didn’t you think that was downgrading our work? Where were you when they started adding code to web items that sell for the same price as items without code, so now you have to not only be a good graphic designer but become a programmer in order to compete? Come on, people. Let’s be a bit coherent here.

Hey!

I always see complains only about review times and reviewers. I’ve posted a lot of these myself, so this isn’t about pointing fingers.

I just wanted to do the same (make it public) when I feel something is good, so we’re more balanced.

I wanted to say that my last two items were approved lightning fast (less than one day). That’s VERY good!

Also, I want to give a thank you to the reviewers, because they always give an extra encouraging word and say they miss you when you didn’t upload an item in a long time. This really, really makes a big difference. Feeling treated like a human being instead of a content-making-machine is immensely relieving in this world.

This is not the first time. I’ve been here since before GR opened to the public and it always has been this way. But I want to celebrate that it still is this way now that there are tons of authors as well.

I’ve had discussions and rejections like everybody else, don’t get me wrong. But I think pointing out the good is also needed if we want to keep some perspective.

So, thank you Kailoon, ScottWills and all envato reviewers. Your job is not easy and you do it gracefully.

Barb

I agree with:

- Let us see all who follow us - Waste of space at the top of the home page with the welcome box (we could view more “recent files”!) - Not only better analytics, but also accessible from one’s options and dashboard. - Referral analytics - No more than X files per author in the queue

I disagree with:

- Quality: I think quality standards tends to level by itself. When authors see other files and have help from their peers, and their files don’t sell (but others in the same category do).

- Item cleansing: this is one of the most dangerous notions, since the criteria will always leave someone behind (and I mostly mean potential buyers here). Files that don’t sell in X period of time could be due to many reasons other than file quality. Maybe the niche isn’t so popular in that particular Marketplace. But time and promotion can make that change. Once an item is online, it should be the author’s sole decision whether to remove it or not.

First of all, thank you, Collis, for taking our thoughts into account.

About your question about Graphic Art, I too think it belongs here in GR.

VectorValley gets my vote for the name

Icons should stay in GraphicRiver, regardless of their file type. I think it would make more sense for buyers to browse for them here.

I think a vector site would be great, and there is one thing that could set it apart from all the other stock sites: Vectors should be allowed to be full .ai files with transparency, gradients, etc. Stock sites don’t allow this for compatibility’s sake, but they miss many great software possibilities. Envato sites already embrace this philosophy, since one sets the Adobe version compatibility (and other software, like in 3DO). This is the only vector site I know that allows full use of software, simply stating what version the item is compatible with. I think this is in itself a huge difference when it comes to vectors. Of course, vectors that don’t use these attributes should be allowed to, but the fact that more complex vectors are allowed ensures that there will be some files that will only be sold here.

A Print Templates site would be good as well. Especially taking what you said into account, that in the end, the spin-offs always benefited. Also, Add-ons and other GR categories would get more exposure here on GR. Some categories could get some help, like Illustrator add-ons: GR is one of the very few sites that sell these, and they have incredible potential that nobody’s taking advantage of, just like it was with Photoshop layer styles a few years ago. Add-ons are incredibly useful, even gradients, curves and other types that nobody seems to take advantage of. There could be tutorials or quick-tips on the Tuts sites that show the potential of each and every kind of graphic add-on there is. I think when people is exposed to their usefulness, they will embrace them and GR will thrive with a new personality.

I think most customer problems have to do with search, making having many different sites a potential problem. BUT I think this could be solved by carefully making this as important as it it. Search IS the most important part of a site for most potential buyers. If it’s really well programmed, spin off not only won’t be a problem, but they will be a win-win both for buyers and sellers: Make search possible across all sites (a “search all sites” option, that not only has a checkbox, but can also be configured as the default option in the member settings). Filter by file type AND software (there are many file types for each software, like Photoshop or Illustrator). One may be, for instance, working on a summer project, therefor wanting to find all possible add-ons that have “summer” in their keywords. If I search add-ons for Photoshop and “summer”, I may buy actions, gradients and styles, all for the same project, and from one single search.

Browsing is also very important, and in this case separate sites make more sense, because, as another author mentioned, there can be much more detailed categories.

If customers have both choices, it should cover pretty much every need and everybody will benefit: sites, buyers and authors.

Congrats!

I like that saying of Leonardo. It took me a long time to accept and embrace that concept. When one is creative, one will always be one step ahead of the copycats.

There are just two things that I worry about.

I’ve seen a guy who copied my promo text exactly, word by word, just copied and pasted. I decided not to report it because I don’t like being seen as a whiner or something like that, and the item itself was different, so I let it pass. The one thing that worries me is that someone might spot that the two promo texts are exactly the same, and might think that I am the one who copied the other. I just couldn’t stand that. It goes without saying that besides my feelings, it could hurt my sales. Because there will be people that won’t buy from a copycat.

The other thing that worries me is the trend-driven item approval. It might have changed a bit, but “trendy” items tend to get more approved than new, untested niche ones. That slowly strangles the market. People coming here will see that here they sell X kind of thing and won’t come looking for other kinds of graphics, which in turn accentuates the notion that only trendy items sell. A vicious circle.

I was the first to ever upload PS styles here, and it was a lonely department for some time (even buyers weren’t too drawn into it). Then, somehow, it exploded and now GR is flooded with styles. I love the fact that there are many options, but it saddens me to see the same kind of styles over and over again (there are exceptions, of course, I’m speaking in general). But I don’t know what percentage goes to authors make something similar to what they perceive sells a lot, and what percentage goes to stranger, non-trendy styles getting rejected. I guess with the data available to an author, it’s impossible to tell.

Anyway, cheers to all creative GR authors!

Barb

I speak Spanish natively.

Congrats!!!