#insp: fansite photos

[imnotgoodatthis]

Mistake #4: claw hands

[kyoem]

I know this is a lot to ask but could you post the pictures of Soonyoung's shirts which you used to make the wallpapers please...?

hey no worries, i’ll link you to the reference photos i used: one, two, three, four, five, six. 

[verngyu-moved]

hi! i really love your edits/graphics (you’re my fav svt creator djsjd)and i was wondering if you have any tips on getting started for a newbie?? if you’ve already answered something like this before sorry :/

;_; thank you so much!! i looked thru my archive & found that i answered a question like this about a year ago, but i think i can add to/edit what i previously said!

what helped me the most was just messing around in photoshop and seeing what comes out of it. experience is the best teacher, and personally that’s how i learned, by just playing around and following tutorials until i found my own style. patience and persistence are also important–ive been using ps since i was 13 and im 21 now. it took me 3 years to learn how to make gifs (which i realized once i learned i was just missing one step, go figure lmao) so needless to say, patience is key

as for my own gfx style, a lot of it is inspired by UI/UX design, since its the field i plan to go into as a graphic designer, so just looking at things on dribbble really gives me good ideas! and i always credit where i get it from, so if ur curious where i got my insp on a graphic, it’s in the caption.

artist’s block is a biiiiitch, so strangely enough, the office bloopers give me a lot of design inspiration? 9/10 times when im having artist’s block i’ll put on office bloopers and it helps me work through that. each creative has their own way of getting over it–when u find urs, stick with it! however, its important to not force urself to work thru an artist’s block. if i still cant find the motivation to work having tried everything to get over it, i take a break and come back to w/e im working on later. forcing myself to work has only made me waste hours just to scrap it all bc i hate the way it turned out. the only times ive forced myself to work is if i have a deadline or its been weeks since ive made any progress.

as for resources, the sites i actively use are creativemarket, feathericons, and thenounproject. unsplash is also a great site for pulling royalty-free photos from. never use uneditable fansite pics/footage!!!!!!

also i feel like i should put this disclaimer since its still quite an issue in the kpop fandom–i see too many posts that take “insp” from others…and it’s not inspiration. it’s just copying. i answered a question a while ago about this; jeongahn did a great post regarding it as well. a lot of ppl just genuinely dont know theyre in the wrong, but it’s still not ok. as my friend emmy aka @shuvee told me, a good rule of thumb is to take only one element from someone’s work + tweak it to fit your own style. always look & see if a creator you want to take insp from has a terms of use! if they do, read & follow it.

i hope this was helpful ! and thanks again 💝

[ethereal-themes]

Who are your inspirations when it comes to graphic design? :)

I don’t really have any? Not in a rude way, because there are a lot of good designers here!

I just know that for fansite headers, people usually like A) a load of images, B) those color block sections and C) lots of little decos. 

So when I design them, I just find as many HQ images as possible, open a canvas and design a base w/ solid colors. Then I fill in the stuff and really all my insp comes after I add a .psd (or make one but I always only use my own). 

Then I color and decorate as I go. I was thinking of making like a “speed” sort of video designing and coding a theme, but IDK if anyone would be interested in that! But I’ve done graphic design since I was thirteen (on a Mickie James myspace fansite lol), so I literally have the same style, it’s just evolved as the years went by. 

But I don’t really take inspo from other designers, because then it gets close to copying and I don’t need that drama LOL. But I will tell you, when I go to tumblr fansites or do a theme/header for someone, the headers from @headersonline and @fansitehelp are always amazing! Esp when they do the flower borders or that thing where they put a solid color on a colored photo and set to to darken! 

They always have good headers too! :) 

[imnotgoodatthis]

Mistake #2: relying too heavily on shadows to cover my mistakes