is it a controversial topic to say that making the reader's appearance overly detailed, giving them a title and a overly detailed backstory (mary sue backstory often), focusing more on their pov which reveals their personality heavily that some readers would NOT relate too, not making it poc friendly, saying it's gn but using personal pronouns and characters calling them gender specific nicknames (princess/ baby girl...etc), is it controversial to say you didn't write an x reader fanfic but an x OC and you're tricking us to read it?? lmfao i think people have the right to be mad ESPECIALLY if it's not gn or poc friendly when you claimed it was... like i love writers and i appreciate the works ALL of you are putting yall are awesome for giving us this fanfics but PLEASE BFR

if your (y/n) is someone the reader can't relate to it's not x reader. simple as that. idk why ppl are scared of saying this.

PS; i deleted a stupid reply that got mad at x black!reader for being exclusively for black people when black/poc friendly fanfics are already a minority when the harmful majority is very european centered (white people specifically) and even very anti black in some cases. don't twist my post to be fucking racist/sexist/homophobic/fatphobic or ableist because that's not what i'm talking about at all ffs. to the poc and other minority creators who are writing for their people and for unconventional, non-white beauty standards i love you, you're amazing and a straight up war veteran in some of these fandom, geez. (this is for context if anyone looks at the replies. and to tell yall to be decent human being cuz some of you are bold ASF.)

PS 2; i didn't want to address this but, some people pointed out that writing ambiguos x reader is impossible and hard. that's not the case at all, look at the most popular fanfics in a fandom x reader. they ARE ambiguous and general stuff! such as jealousy headcanons, general dating headcanons, prompts, general kinks or the like.... why? because you didn't give the reader too many details or made them mfing black widow or madoka kaname, who'll be relating to that???? you might say "oh i'm writing for myself" or "this is my self-insert don't like it don't read" cool, we all have self-inserts. stop tagging it as x reader however. that's it. tags exist for a reason, and you not using it properly is your problem not the readers who have been misled.

Ps 3 PLEASE READ: ❗❗❗

I read what other people opposing this post said and I absolutely get how difficult it is to write for ambiguous readers. I'm deeply sorry for making it seem as though I'm berating writers when I don't share my work here on tumblr. My post was NOT meant to insult creative writing OR to say that putting the slightest bit of detail on your headcanons, fanfics, scenarios etc is a terrible thing because I assure you it's NOT. But please for the love of god tag your work correctly. THAT'S IT. And give warnings and heads ups about what your writing contains. If it has fem!reader only tag it as fem!reader, if there's mention of physical characteristics specific to one race others or group may not relate to PLEASE give a warning. I know the content here on tumblr is free and I like many here are SUPER grateful for it.

I don't appreciate entitled readers and ik how frustrating it is to get backlash from something that you do for free and it brings you immense joy, but please remember your work is also public and by that it WILL be subjected to criticism and feedback however it may be. And of course I'd never support harrassment or rudeness on any party giving or receiving feedbacks.

Remember that tags and warnings exist for a reason and you're free to write WHATEVER as long as you publicize it keeping in mind the target audience you're reaching. Of course people will not be happy if you state your work is something that ultimately isn't. But imo if you give a prior information then no one should harrass or demand of you anything. This post was made to address the lack of honestly with certain content, the non-poc friendly fanfics and MY PERSONAL OPINIONS. You're free to agree and you're free to disagree.

I read the replies and tags and I understand both sides of the argument, but I also needed to clarify what this post is NOT about. Of course any harrassment or rude comments will be ignored. You're free to have your opinions and preferences and free to say them as long as it isn't problematic.

I also removed the x reader because I understand how it would be hypocritical of me but I truly needed to get people's opinions on a wider scale. Again I apologize if I offended everyone and if I came off as rude or entitled i promise you that's not the case, And you can't even say I think the fanfics should be centered around me since most with the unconventional beauty standards and personality within them do not match me in any way and that's okay 💁‍♀️

Seeker Pt. 2 - D.M.

Seeker Part 2- Draco Malfoy x fem!reader (unspecified house but not Slytherin)

Warnings: None! Just a fluffy sequel :)

Word Count: 3.0k

A/N: You can find part 1 here if you haven’t read it already!  Sorry this took so long, I’ve just been trying to make sure its a worthy sequel.  I wanna thank everyone for over 150 notes on Part 1, I never expected such astounding support!  Also keep your eye out for the mini surprise at the end ;)  Also I would really love feedback since this is my first sequel, especially to my first ever fic.

Just a reminder: Y/N is Your Name and Y/L/N is Your Last Name

----

Meet me at our spot tonight at 11.  I’ve missed you.

D.M.

You slid the perfectly-written crisp parchment back into the expensive black envelope it arrived in, to hide it from your nosy dorm-mates.  Draco’s owl perched patiently at the open window of your dorm, barely making a chirp. You handed the well-trained bird a small piece of chocolate, which was previously stowed away in your nightstand, before sitting down at your desk to pen Draco a response.   

The holiday break had been relaxing, especially since you got a long break from Quidditch practices.  You loved Quidditch, you dare say almost as much as Oliver Wood did, but your muscles were perpetually sore, much to your displeasure.

You hadn’t seen the Slytherin Seeker, who you now affectionately call your friend, since the day before break began, and you were desperate to see his handsome smile again.  You missed the glow of his hair in the moonlight, the ambitious and determined look in his eyes before a match, the soft touch of his hands as he held your shoulder or less frequently, your hand.

The line between friend and lover had always been blurred with him; often people accused him of being your boyfriend.  Some days he reluctantly denied it, but some he just gave you a charming wink as he grasped your hand firmly.

It would be idiotic to deny your abundant feelings for him.  At first, it was the subtle ways you’d pick up the little habits about him: how he fiddled with his rings when he was nervous, or how he always polished his broom every afternoon before a game or even the way he swiftly brushed his hand through his platinum blonde hair the moment he saw you walk towards him.

The blush that crept up on his alluring face every time you were near signalled that the feelings were thankfully mutual.  He was painfully obvious, as you were sure you were too, so it was only a matter of time before he’d ask you out on a date to Hogsmeade.   Hopefully, it will even be tonight.

The blonde’s owl had flown away by the time you realized that you had yet to jot him down an answer.  You could always send him an acknowledging wink at dinner since you always purposefully made sure to position yourself for a picture-perfect view of him in all his glory.

Dinner came and went.  The food was delicious per usual, you were constantly glancing at Draco from across the Great Hall, you chatted with your friends about the upcoming Potions test, which Draco would surely insist on helping you study for.  And of course, you sent him a playful wink as promised.

His silver eyes weren’t off you either.  He loved to admire the way your face morphed into a lively laugh or the soft, warm glow that bounced off your face, courtesy of thousands of floating candles overhead.  He loved everything about you, inside and out, and he was ready to show it.

By the time eleven rolled around, you were thoroughly prepared.  You ensured your hair was perfect and your outfit was warm but eye-catching.  You clasped a delicate hand-wrapped forest green box, which’s lid was held on with a beautiful piece of starlight-silver twine.

It was a tradition to get your friends presents upon returning from the snow-speckled break, and Draco would be no exception.  You were certain you would receive no gift in return, but you didn’t care.  Draco, for lack of a closer term, was your friend, so he was no exception to your tradition. 

----

Draco had definitely gone soft on you, and his fellow Slytherins didn’t fail to notice.  Every time he snuck out even a second past curfew to see you at the Owlery, or Astronomy Tower, or anywhere really, they’d crack some sort of joke at both his and yours’ expense.  

He had not only gone soft on you but perhaps the whole school, in a way.  He was less prone to impulsively hexing first years, instead opting for slightly rude remarks.  He was even a tad bit nicer to the Golden Trio. 

He was still smart and sharp as ever though, maybe even paying a little bit more attention in class, in case you needed help studying.  

One thing didn’t change about him though, and that was his attitude regarding Quidditch.  He was fierce and strong as ever, and there was no way he’d back down during a game, even for you.  Even when he wasn’t playing against you, he’d play extra competitively, in an attempt to both intimidate and impress you.

And whenever it was you on the broom and him in the stands, he always cheered for you as loud as his lungs allowed.  You always wondered why his voice was hoarse after you won a match the night before, not thinking that it was his yells that rang the loudest through the pitch.

----

The steps up to the Owlery were icy, just as you were afraid of.  Your knuckle was white from gripping the freezing stone rail up the endless steps.  Finally, though, you reached the top, unsurprised to see that Draco had beaten you up here.  He was always one step ahead, after all. 

“It’s felt like ages since I’ve seen you, Y/N.  How was your holidays?”  His face lightened at the sight of you peeking elegantly through the cracks of moonlight.  You looked as gorgeous as ever.

“It was wonderful!  I got a brand new Quidditch broom, so be prepared to eat my dust, Malfoy,” you said with a smirk.  Your hands rested suspiciously behind your back, carefully concealing Draco’s present. 

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself, Y/L/N.  Remember, I won’t hesitate to push you off your broom, even if it kills you.”  Draco’s words, even the taunting ones, sounded like the most eloquent poetry to your love-struck heart.  

“Right back at you.  I actually practiced my shoving techniques every morning back home.  I bet I could push you off your broom 23 different ways if I really wanted to.”

Draco chuckled at your comment and you let your sarcastic expression fade into a genuine smile.  The blonde slowly inches even closer to you; your face is eventually so close to Draco’s that you can see every detail imprinted on his pale skin.  He accidentally brushes his ring ornamented hand against yours, causing your cheeks to become pink and warm, imitating the effects of sipping some freshly-steeped tea.   

“Well anyway, I have something for you.  For the holidays, you know.”  Draco pulls out a small black box from his matching black trousers with a charming smile.  His rings reflect the pale moonlight magnificently, and you catch yourself staring at the back of his hands.

You slowly accept the box from his hand, your hand half holding his as you take it.  You say quietly, “You didn’t have to get me a gift, Draco.”

 “I didn’t have to.  I wanted to, love.  I care about you, more than you’ll ever know.”  You felt the corners of your eyes prick with tears at his kind words.  Everything he said somehow managed to hit you directly in the heart.  

You carefully opened the inky-black box.  Draco looked down at you anticipatedly, a hopeful grin painting his face.

Laying perfectly inside of the box was a beautiful, ornate, and expensive silver serpent necklace, identical to the rings that he wore daily.  The glimmering eyes of the snake were magnificent, crystalline emeralds, which precisely matched the bold hue of Slytherin’s Quidditch robes.

Your eyes continued to grow misty; your hand that wasn’t admiring every microscopic detail of the necklace was covering your mouth in awe.  Draco’s lips quirked into a cocky smile at your reaction, clearly pleased with himself.  

Without hesitation, you clasped the necklace around your neck.  You couldn’t stop fiddling with it until Draco grabbed your hand, using the connection to pull your chest into his slowly.  He softly muttered, “I like you, more than you’ll ever know” before leaning in for a kiss.

Draco’s lips on yours were like nothing you’ve ever felt.  He felt magnetic.  You would never be able to let go of this moment, the way his hand cupped your cheek gently, the way your hand glided from his chest to his shoulder, pulling him impossibly closer.  You felt whole.  

When you finally pulled away, your electrified lips yearned to touch his’ again.  Instead of kissing him again though, you barely managed to squeak, “I like you, too.”

----

The next Quidditch match came by faster than you expected, and you were scrambling to prepare for your battle against the Slytherins once again.  Draco had been gloating all day about how much he and the team had improved since your previous game.  

“You may have gotten lucky last match, Y/L/N, but this time you’ll like a first-year learning how to fly next to me.  Do you think the gold of the Snitch will compliment my hair?”  Draco swept his hand through his perfectly-styled platinum blonde locks, a cocky expression unsurprisingly on his face.

“You won’t even have to worry about whether it matches your stupidly gorgeous head of hair or not since it’ll be me who gets it in the first place!”  You retorted, rolling your eyes at him instinctively.    

“Oh, really?” he asked flirtatiously, before giving you a small peck.  The sudden kiss caused you to become so flustered, that you couldn’t do anything but shut up; he grinned triumphantly at your reaction.

The game started not long after yet again another boastful interaction with Draco.  You hovered high above the ground on your new, polished broom, ready to beat your Slytherin ‘rival’ once more.

Draco could be seen across the field, cracking his knuckles in an attempt to look intimidating.  While his Quidditch record would ordinarily frighten a Seeker such as yourself, you knew the real Draco, and he didn’t scare you one bit.  

A booming “brooms up!” echoed through the pitch, and immediately you flew directly to the top of the pitch, looking down at the whizzing flashes of green like a cat peering attentively through a fishbowl.  

Draco soon joined you up at the top of the pitch, following your exact movements just as he had done before.  He spat, “Scared, Y/N?” almost identically to the last match.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” you said with a knowing smile.  He playfully rolled his eyes at you, and the corners of his mouth raised to an adorable and goofy smile.  

“Remember, I won’t be going easy on you, even if things are different.  Just because I fancy you doesn’t-” he was quickly cut off by the shimmer of gold seen out of the corner of his eye.  His expensive and sleek black broom immediately flew him to the well-manicured grass that lined the ground of the pitch.

By the time you had caught up with the cocky Seeker, he was mere feet from the Snitch.  You quickly flew to his side so you two were parallel, both of your hands, which had been intertwined so many times before, now opposing each other in the battle for the elusive winged sphere.

It seemed the game that you and Draco had played against each other last time, which results you wished so desperately would repeat, was doomed to change.  He clashed his torso into yours harshly, in an attempt to throw you off.  

Instead of toppling off your broom, you tried to give him a taste of his own medicine; you felt your bones shake after jerking your body weight into him, but he looked as if he had only been hit with the force of a leaf languidly fluttering in the wind.

Draco emitted a snarl after you rammed into his side, but he was undaunted in his pursuit of the Snitch.  His pupils were practically glued to the medal-colored blur, which was darting rapidly in any direction it could.

You knew you couldn’t beat Draco this time.  At least, not like how you had been playing so far.  Your arm was too short, your broom too slow, so you used the last of what little energy you had within yourself to pelt all of yourself, including your heart, at him. 

Instead of colliding into your green-glad admirer as you intended, you were only met with the cold and terrifying emptiness of oxygen.  

The ground felt so close, your tongue could almost taste the metallic copper bite of blood.  You could vividly see the way your side would slam into the spiky grass like a ragdoll, your bloodied nostrils filling with the smells of grass and the morning sun. You could envision players draped in uniforms of clashing hues dashing to your pain-ridden body, ready to carry you to Madame Pomfrey. 

But due to Draco Malfoy, that horrifying situation remained trapped only within the confines of your mind.  

You never thought you could love Draco as much as you did right now.  

His arms were outstretched and strong as you landed into them, light as a feather.  The blonde strands of hair that clung to his forehead in sweat and the unwavering confident look in his eyes drew you closer to him unconsciously.  His biceps, which were nicely toned due to his years of Quidditch, set you gently in front of him on his broom.

He wrapped one of his arms securely around your chest, which soothed your increasingly rapid racing heart exponentially.  His other arm was held high above his head, valiantly boasting the Snitch that resided within his glove-covered hands.

The crowd that resided in the green and grey towers of the pitch were erupting with joy.  You were almost too shocked from your near-fall to roll your eyes at his huge display of cockiness and pride, keyword being almost.  You leaned your head against his chest, listening to the ego-boosted beating of his heart, a stark contrast from your own.

The final moments before the two of you drifted to the ground were spent with him cheering in pride, and you taking comfort from his compassionate embrace.  And maybe you were wafting in a bit of his pleasant-smelling cologne, too.

----

Your house’s common room looked dreary and deflated, comparable only to that of a seven-year-old’s birthday party- where nobody bothered to show up.  While everyone was sympathetic for you, you couldn’t help but sense a slight tinge of resentment hidden beneath every soft pat on the back or obligatory smile.  

The Slytherin common room, however, was filled to the brim with its cunning house-members.  Firewhiskey was flowing through the crowd like pouring rain after centuries of drought.  The music was pounding so loud that the intricate chandeliers hanging from the top of the dungeon were shaking violently along with the beat. 

Draco and his posse stood at the corner of the alcohol-drenched room, leaning against the signature green walls, away from the large mob of partiers that had accumulated in the center.  

While the Firewhiskey normally would have clouded the blonde’s head by now, tonight his mind was crystal-clear.  

He couldn’t get Y/N out of his head, and frankly, he didn’t want to.  He should be focused on how utterly heroic he was during the Quidditch match or his huge victory for Slytherin.  But instead, he thought about how you felt under his arm, how your head softly rested on his chest.  It felt like the final puzzle piece had been placed, his love and need for you cemented.

He wouldn’t be able to live without your embrace again, he was sure of that, but maybe he wouldn’t even be able to last five more minutes.

He muttered a quick, “I’ll be back,” to his surrounding house-mates before shoving his green half-full cup of Firewhiskey into one of their hands.  He walked confidently through the mob of intoxicated partiers towards the enchanted stone wall exit.  

His eyes darted around the corridor as he paced towards your common room.  You wouldn’t be found in your common room, however, for the sulking of your house-mates was too much to bear.  

You instead could be found seated at a desk in the library, channeling your pent-up guilt from your performance at the Quidditch match into vigorously studying for a Potions exam on Monday.  

Your beat-up textbook was littered with dog-eared pages and bookmarks scribbled with helpful messages; it lay open on the page for Amortentia.  Your hand gripped your quill tightly, carving notes onto your piece of parchment.  Your eyes were briskly darting from one word to the next.

You were so wrapped up in your work that you didn’t notice that Draco had taken a seat next to you, enraptured in your presence.  His elbow lay pressed on the desk, head in his hand.  Your concentration was broken with a clear of his throat, followed by, “Hey darling, what’re you doing?”

“I’m studying,” you said, before adding meekly, “for Potions.”

“Oh love, you know I could’ve helped you,” he said with a disappointed smile.  His eyebrows furrowed as he flipped through your notes, noticing you were writing about the infamous love potion.  You let the quill in your hand go, letting your hand melt under Draco’s large palm. 

In an attempt to cheer you up, he said, “You know, I have a hunch on what I would smell in Amortentia, want to know what it is?” you nodded, “tea, warm autumn’s breeze, and maybe the faint smell of sweaty Quidditch robes.”

You let out a small laugh, adorning your now-pink face with a genuine smile.  “You know what I would smell?  Expensive cologne, green apples, and maybe a bit of sweetness under a cold exterior.”

“I’m not sweet, but if I was it’d only be for you,” Draco said with a sarcastic grumble.  

You looked up at Draco, who simply let his eyes take in all of you, adoring every single angle of your body.  The loving look in his eyes was enough to make your heart explode; your legs felt like jelly and your heart was beating out of your chest so loudly, you were sure he could hear it.

And soon he could, as his body grew slowly closer and closer to yours.  You pressed your forehead against his’, his molten silver eyes piercing through your own.  

Finally, after moments of staring longingly at each other, you tugged his green and grey pin-striped tie in for a kiss.

----

(Bonus) Epilogue:

The Three Broomsticks was filled to the brim with students from the Wizarding School across the bend.  Tables were littered with half-drank glasses of butterbeer; a few students could be seen snogging in the back booths of the tavern.  

You sat across from Draco Malfoy, your amazing boyfriend, as he rambled endlessly about Potter.  You weren’t listening to a word about the famous Gryffindor, instead, you were watching the way his lips articulated every word that spilled from his mouth.

“Right, darling?” Draco asked expectantly.

You nodded supportively.  Draco, instead of looking satisfied, quizzically asked, “so you think I should poor my butterbeer all over your head?  I’d be happy to.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t listening.  You just look so good when you talk, I got distracted.”

“It’s fine, love.  Well, I’m glad we finally got to go to Hogsmeade together.”

“After three months too!  Why couldn’t you have taken me sooner?” you asked overdramatically, tugging on your bag full of sweets from Honeydukes.  

“I’m sorry, but I seem to recall it’s your fault.  Study, Quidditch, study, Quidditch, study, Quiddit-”

“Okay, okay.  I get it.  I’m just not as naturally smart as you, Mister Potions Master.”  You rolled your eyes as he grinned at his title.

“Do you only flatter me so I do your essays for you?  Because if so, I hate to admit it’s working.”  He tucked a loose piece of your hair out of your face and behind your ear tenderly.

“Oh, Draco.  You don’t need to know.”  You fiddled with the silver serpent necklace that hangs around your neck that had been kissed so many times.  

You were head over heels for Draco.  Luckily, you were all his, and you would be forever. 

Group 7 Independent Project!

Pre Production -

This is the second time I’m working with Group 7. It is truly an honour to be surrounded by such talented people. We have learnt from last time and we thought it would be interesting to switch up the roles. Here was what we ended up with:

Director - Jack

Cinematographer - Bonnie

Producer - Heather

Production Design - Ben

Editor - Heather

Writer - Tom

Here were also the tasks we sorted ourselves:

Write a 1-page proposal (synopsis and directors statement) - JACK (13th May)

Make the movie - Jack

Make a plan and a schedule for your work - Heather

Create a mood board (Each character) - Ben

Create a sonic world for the film (no dialogue / no voice-over) - Heather and Ben

Cut together a series of still images or sequences of footage to create a 2min film - Heather

Record some sound effects using objects you have in your room/ house - you can record on your phone. - Heather and Ben

Source and use sound effects and Atmos sound on Freesound. - Tom

Make a storyboard + animatic - Bonnie

Source footage - eg shoot, take stills, source stills, or work with stock footage from Film Supply to envision your idea - Bonnie

Shot list - Bonnie

Scriptwriting and development - Tom

Present it at the crit - receive feedback - Everyone

Write a short critical reflection on your blog. - Everyone

Songs - Everyone

As Production designer I had to create a mood board. We had discussed in meetings what aesthetic we wanted to go for and I believe we ended up with a mixture between films like “Moonrise Kingdom” and “Fight Club”. Either way, these were two of the films I took inspiration from when working on the mood board of the film.

Additionally, I had to think of the costume for both actors. For the man I chose to instead of having major differences in the two separate costumes to instead change them subtly to give a feeling he is still grounded in reality. So that means I added the glasses, changed the tie and gave him a watch to switch up how he looked. The Imagination costume is inspired from Ewan MacGregor’s character in “Big Fish'' we wanted to give him a full blue costume originally but I realised fairly soon that that wasn’t going to happen. So I adapted and decided to use his ties as a means of stating which reality he was in. When he is in the “dream world” he has a very colourful yellow tie but when he returns to his office I believe we went with a black/red tie.

For the woman, I chose to give her a very colourful look. This was purely so she could match the imagination around her. I discussed with Bonnie about possibly putting flowers in her hair but for some reason we couldn’t find anything. In regards to the rest of her costume I gave her shades so that there would be a physical separation between the two. If he can’t make eye contact with her how is he supposed to connect.

Overall, I’m very happy with the costumes and for a first attempt I’m actually quite proud.

Finally, set design. I had recently worked on a project called “Pied” where I had to create a whole set for my actors. That was pretty much my crash course for this independent project. Using the knowledge I can gain from creating that set I tried implementing it into the office workspace and the picnic arrangement. I’m happy with it but it will honestly be down to you to decide if I did a good job. If I could mention any little “fun facts” about what I did here would be a few:

I used a ping-pong table as the walls splitting the workspace

I tried spreading the food along the picnic like a wall that separated the two of them.

There is a jar of pickles in one of the shots. I don’t know who would bring a jar of pickles to a picnic but I thought it would be funny

On the back wall of the office there is a bunch of hidden Easter eggs *HOWEVER* David’s massive head covers them up!

In regards to how the other team members did. We developed the script ideas until we landed on this one. Jack had a great idea about filming some really nice shots of food. We were actually quite a big fan of this idea. I just thought Heather’s idea would allow us to experiment more.

Tom then wrote a (very) detailed script in collaboration with Heather, Bonnie drew a genuinely fantastic storyboard (she is too hard on herself haha) and Jack prepared for the shoot. One issue that presented itself fairly soon was the fact we had two actors on set. However, our Producer (Heather) handled it like a pro and we managed to get the all clear. Overall, a very hardworking start with the promise of Bonnie doing a short animation for the storyboard. (I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing it)

Production -

The shoot day was very fun. We all arrived at 11:30am and we made our way over to the location. Originally, we had planned to film on top of a hill however, things quickly changed and Jack said there was a fantastic path to film on. I was fairly set on the hill idea (As I had imagined the scene being somewhat similar to the UP opening montage) but he said it was a better location and I trust him.

So this is where it got a bit funky. It turns out the location had been converted into a dirt road since the last time Jack had been there. This was a bit demoralising as we had carried a lot of props out but luckily we had seen a location closer to the beach that could possibly work and the rest was history. That very location near the beach ended up where we would film.

With Jack directing and myself on camera we began to make our way through the storyboard Bonnie had devised. I have to be honest there were parts where we deviated from what was on the storyboard: For example, there is a section where he falls over however it didn’t look natural so we thought of another way to film it. This was where I got a bit carried away with VFX. In the long run I’m pretty sure everyone is happy with it but I wasn’t too sure at the time.

Jack did well as a director, he worked well with David and Kady especially when it came to movements of the actors. There isn’t any dialogue in the scenes so it's mainly physical language instead of verbal. My only advice for Jack would be to do a bit more research on the project before going onto the shoot because there were parts of the shoot where actors would ask questions about their character and I wasn’t confident he knew the answer.

In regards to me, I find it very hard to create something someone else envisions because I’m used to directing and filming projects on my own. I definitely think I improved on this project and having the storyboard and detailed script was a big help. I also felt I should have been more prepared as it didn’t look very good in front of the actors with me fiddling around with the camera because I had set it up in the wrong position.

Overall, I think it was a very fun shoot and it went pretty smoothly. You're going to hit speed bumps on the way but I believe Jack and I handled them well.

Oh also, forgot to mention that I had to also record sound and label all the audio and footage for Heather (why do I almost call you Clair XD) It didn’t take as long as I expected and was actually somewhat therapeutic if you can believe haha.

Post-Production -

The post production process has been going well. We have plenty of time until the deadline and we have already got a very solid draft edit so I’m not worried. I just kind of want to get it finished.

First and foremost, Heather has been doing a fantastic job editing the video. She works efficiently, takes feedback on board and seems to me to have a very solid feel on the fundamentals of editing. Looking at the edit now, there are definite issues but nothing that can’t be solved in 10 minutes. It’s clean, fluid and most of all enjoyable to watch. I’m worried without a synopsis people might not get it but I guess you could see it as “up for interpretation” haha!

Before I talk about my role in the Post-Production process, I just want to mention who else is working on the edit as well. Bonnie is planning on adding some very small animations to the edit to give it that feeling of “not-reality” I think this is crucial because without the animation in the shots. When the man defies the laws of physics it will seem really strange. I believe Tom is doing sound, I’ve supplied them with plenty of audio from on set and am free at anytime to get more for them so it will just be down to when it is completed, I have faith that Tom will create something really special with the Sound design as he will probably blend the sound of the surrounding nature with cold office sounds. I’m excited.

Now onto the part I play. I offered to do the VFX for the film and I’m very happy with them. It’s nothing incredibly tedious to create. It’s very basic motion tracking and keyframing but I think using it in small doses works well and with it accompanied by the animation and sound it will take the film to new levels of quality.

I’m just going to talk about the final VFX shot as it was the most challenging (but fun) part to work on. First, I had to figure out how I was going to get the image of Kady onto the wall without printing her because I realised I would be able to match up the shots if I had just zoomed out from an actual image. So I went for a bit of green paper. I motioned tracked it through After Effects and then played with the colour so it matched the scene. I then added an artificial zoom in Premiere and I got the final result. Now, it is not perfect in any means. I wasn’t able to track back any further than I did so the image in the paper actually moves but with the help of Heather and the use of changing aspect ratios I think it really works. I guess we will have to see how people respond.

So that is about everything on the project. I will be back to reflect next month on the finished project. Hopefully it turns out okay. Hopefully, it doesn’t turn into a train wreck. I’m sure it won’t :)

Scene Recreation (Final Project):

Link to Scene Recreation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR0KS60bTo9V-ElXikLsCFRyCM4Y5t-_yXpydOf-uCoXq3a6ZV26U32tu00&v=-pA-BQbMPpw&feature=youtu.be

Link to Original Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPazh2kDdvA&t=68s

(From 0:00 to 1:03)

Pre-Production:

For our final project, we had to do a scene recreation exercise. We chose our own groups of between four to six people, and had to choose a scene no longer than three minutes to recreate. My group consisted of Ben McMorran, Jack Weir, James Stevenson and Tom Spurin, and the scene we recreated was the Facemash scene from the 2010 David Fincher movie “The Social Network”. This scene follows an angry Mark Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg) as he blogs about his ex-girlfriend, whom he has just broken up with, and decides to create a website comparing girls to farm animals after hearing his drunk roommate’s ramblings.

This was not always our plan. Our initial plan was to recreate the opening scene for “Filth”, which follows the character of Bruce Robertson (played by James MacAvoy) as he walks away from Edinburgh castle, while a voiceover reveals his opinions on what it is like to be Scottish. As we stay in Edinburgh and could actually visit the locations featured in the film, we thought this would be an ideal scene to do.

Filth Opening Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbPdQmi3s0M

(From 0:00 to 0:37)

However, on the day of the shoot, due to the poor weather and barriers being set up by Edinburgh castle, we were unable to get the opening shot and felt without that, the scene wouldn't work as well if we were to just jump into the second shot and also cut off the beginning of the monologue. After considering various possibilities, we settled on the scene from “The Social Network”, as we all liked the scene and felt it was something we had the resources to do.

Production:

As in previous tasks, it was up to us to assign ourselves roles. Jack and James were the directors for the film, and me and Ben were in charge of the camera, and everyone helped with setting up the lighting. (However, these roles were not set in stone, and everyone helped out with whatever needed done.) Jack played Mark Zuckerberg (as portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg in the actual film) and I played his drunk roommate. Ben and Tom (who had to pull out of the shoot at the last minute for personal reasons) were in charge of the edit.

For this project, we decided to film in my flat, given the film is set in student halls, and features the character sitting at a wooden desk not too dissimilar from my own.. We used my laptop and tv monitor in the film. While my laptop was a bit bigger than the one in the film, it was the same colour and worked reasonably well. For the blog, we used the same website (LiveJournal) that was used in the film, however due to being updated it didn't look exactly the same. For the images of the other students that Mark looks at, we just used some random images off the internet. For the clothes, Jack wore a grey jumper that he owned and I wore a green shirt and white t-shirt of my own. The beer bottles were just some empty beer bottles from the recycling which I cleaned then filled with some water. Mark’s bottle in the film is green and I had hoped to find a Peroni (which, while maybe not the beer featured in the film, was certainly the same colour) but couldn't, so went with a brown coloured Budweisser bottle. For my character (the drunken flatmate), he is meant to be carrying a pack of six beers but in our recreation only has one. We didn't have a pack of beer, and figured this was a background detail that wasn't too important, so decided to go with it just the one.

While the general feel and certain aspects of my room worked for the film, due to the layout it would have been impossible to get some shots. Take the shot where Mark’s roommate walks over and sits on the bed behind Mark. This would have been impossible to shoot as the place he walks in from is where my wall is. For this reason, we decide to shoot the film with everything on the reverse side and then flip the footage in the edit to make it look correct.

For the scene from “Filth”, we had intended to rely on natural lighting so we had not booked out any lighting kit, and were aware we may have had to go our separate ways, book out some lighting equipment, and regroup at a later date. However, given everyone was already there, we didn’t want to call it a day without achieving anything. Additionally, several members of the group were going home shortly for the Christmas break. We decided to do a camera test, setting up a shot from “The Social Network'' and see if we could pull the scene of that day to a good quality. We only used only two orange lamps and my small white bedside lamp (which was attached to the wall). After setting up the shot, we were satisfied we could get a good quality of lighting without booking out the tungsten lamps, and we decided to go ahead with the scene there and then.

We began by reviewing the scene and taking a shot list. We started with the shots focusing on Mark Zuckerberg blogging, and ended by getting the shots of the computer. Ben and I alternated between using the camera, and whoever wasn’t filming or onscreen would be doing setting up the lighting. For the lighting, we used the lamps and put then on whatever boxes or other objects were to hand. We used a tripod for most of the film, bar the opening shot, which was done handheld. Regrettably, this meant it didn't look as smooth as in the film, but the majority of the other shots were all static, so they looked fine.

We filmed for about two hours before rapping up and parting ways. Jack later recorded the voiceover and sent it to Ben and Tom. It turned out we had missed two shots of the monitor (the shots seen at 0:38 to 0:39), so it did a mock up of those shots in my own home, recorded them on my camcorder and sent them to Ben and Tom, who put them in the final edit.

Feedback:

Feedback for the film was generally positive. The lighting, depth of field, cinematography and editing were praised, and overall the scene was said to be fairly faithful to the original. Jack's performance as Mark was also praised. However, this was some criticism.

The location was one of the main issues. The blue walls were slightly distracting, an issue that could have been solved by hanging up some kind of white material. The room also felt more cramped than the room in the original, and the lighting didn't always seem natural (while the light in the original was clearly coming from a lamp, there were some shots in ours where there was no clear source). This could have been solved by having the lamp visible in certain shots.

Addition, people took issue with the photos used for the photos of the other students, and the lines across the computer screen. I would agree with these issues. This was due to having to change our scene and using what was to hand. In the future, hopefully we would be able to create an appropriate document ourselves beforehand, instead of using some random photos from the internet. The lines across the computer could be solved by using some green cloth to cover the screen and using visual effects to put the appropriate images on later. However, this isn't something I know a lot about. A better solution could be to change the frame rate of the camera to match the monitor's refresh rate.

There were a few issues raised with regards to the framing. Someone pointed out the position of my character changed the side of Mark he was on, from being on the right side of Mark in a close up to being on the left side in the wide. While this is the case, this also happens in the film.

Another framing issue was that one shot of the computer screen is taken from roughly 45 degrees to the right when in the original scene it is taken from roughly 45 degrees to the left. This was likely due to us being in the mindset of filming everything the opposite way around. In future we should be more careful to avoid this, by taking particular care when filming shots featuring text we intend to flip later on. Admittedly, there are several shots where the text is flipped, but in those shots the text is the main focus, so this isn't too big an issue.

While most of the framing was positively received, the opening shot, which pulls over Mark’s shoulders to look at the computer, was criticized due to its handheld nature (as it was a much smoother shot in the actual film) but I think even it we had ample time to prepare, this would still be a difficult shot to pull of, as the only way we could do it was handheld. This was also complicated by the fact we had to change focus at the same time.

Someone raised the issue of the bottle being the wrong colour (brown as opposed to green), which also meant it blurred into the background slightly more. I agree with this point, but this was due to having to use whatever was to hand and not having the right prop ready, which we would have had this been the original plan.

In some cases the voice over was a bit quiet, meaning it was hard to make out certain lines of dialogue. Personally I didn't have this issue, but that could just be because I am familiar with Jack’s voice and the dialogue he is saying. This issue could probably be solved by raising the sound levels in the edit.

Overall I am happy with what we did, given the time and resources available to us due to our late change of plan, and think everyone did a great job in the lead up to and including the day of shooting.

Shot Comparison:

Sweet Ohuhu Snail

This artwork is now available as a free Coloring Page!

____

Finally, some hints of new supplies I was mentioning a while ago have manifested into a piece of art. :D

This is sort of a follow-up to my Ohuhu Brush Marker Review, as back in October, Ohuhu released a 72 set of the brush markers, and naturally, I was very curious to see the 24 new colors for myself. (And I have a bit of a story about how this set arrived to me that I'll get into momentarily.)

Spoiler alert that my thoughts on the markers themselves as a product haven't changed; they're still really nice alcohol markers for the roughly $1 per marker price tag. I'd still love to see yet more colors and additional consumer features like open-stock markers, refills, replacement nibs, etc. But overall, as I said last time and I will continue to say, I really wish these had been around a few years ago when I was first getting into alcohol markers, despite the few shortcomings they have. Aside from color selection (which I'll address further later), they're an excellent beginner alcohol marker set if you want brush tips.

But before I get into the specifics of this set and the foreseeable future (as Ohuhu just recently announced another brush tip set on the horizon), I shall tell you the (long-ish) story of how I ended up with the 72 set in the first place:

Back in November, Ohuhu put a post up in their "Top Fan Group" on Facebook, which I joined on a whim after being recognized as a Top Fan a few times by that point. This post said the following:

Hi Ohuhu Friends, Ohuhu.com is going to open the SHOP function to several products soon, so you can buy the products directly on www.ohuhu.com then. Before the shopping cart is officially public to the customers, we need 3-5 volunteers to help us test this SHOP function. 🗒️What we need are some inputs regarding How is your experience with our website, and Is the purchase process smooth? What problems have you encountered while shopping on the website etc？(We will have the conversation by DM.) 🚨The tester should be based within the continental USA. As a thank you, we will give you a free set of markers, just let us know which pack do you want via DM.📷 Thank you! Put your hands up if you would like to help us with this in the comment zone! (We will randomly choose 3-5 person within a week.)

[For context, previously you could only purchase Ohuhu's products through Amazon.com] Me, being both the frugally minded and skeptical person that I am, saw the post and immediately latched on to the "free set of markers" mentioned. (My instinct said it was probably a choice from a pre-selected list of some kind.) I was curious and figured, based on what was said, that 1. I might not even get chosen, 2. Even if I did, surely they would explain the process to me and I could then gracefully bow out if it didn't sound right to me. And so I cautiously commented as instructed. Within a few days, I was contacted by a representative and I found out through communication with them that the way this would work is that us volunteers would place orders through the website for any product, let them know of any issues or feedback we had during the process, and then once the order was placed we would provide the representative with our order number and be refunded. Likewise, if all did indeed go according to plan, this sounded like a great way to get my hands on the new 72 brush marker set, which previously I had figured I wouldn't get for a while as my 48 set has been serving me very well since August with no issues. (And it kinda didn't make sense to me to turn around and order a new set that would give me 48 duplicate colors so quickly.) I've seen a LOT of horror stories about shopping online, I watch too many "drama community" videos on Youtube that often talk about sketchy websites and scams, and so throughout this entire process I was nervous, saving "receipts" (screenshots and the like to the uninformed) where I could, and generally expecting something, anything to go horribly wrong at any second. Despite Ohuhu being a fairly reputable company at this point and having only ever heard good things about their customer service. Still, Ohuhu has made enough of a name for themselves that I hoped they'd know better than to intentionally scam their customers. If word got out to the many YouTubers covering their products, they'd have a PR nightmare on their hands. (And I also had to remind myself that the art community as a whole is not the Youtube Makeup Community; generally speaking, the art community isn't as...well, dramatic. At least not when it comes to art supply companies and scamming costumers. I'm not saying it never happens, I'm just saying I don't think it happens nearly as often as when shiz goes down in the YMC.) Naturally, this means I had some questions I wanted to be crystal clear about before making any purchases of any kind. Namely, I specifically asked to make sure I was reading correctly that once the order was placed and I gave my order number that I would be receiving a refund, and if said refund would be just for the purchase price of the product ($69.99 in this case) or if it would include the shipping cost (about $5-$6 dollars) as well. The answers to which were yes and the refund would be for the total cost including shipping. I also wanted to know approximately how long it would take for the refund to go through. The answer was within 5 days. So everything up to this point seemed to check out. I was still skeptical (this is what the internet has done to me) but I was 80% sure it would be okay, and the payment would be through PayPal, so if something went wrong I could file a claim over there and provide my evidence and hopefully at least get the money back if nothing else. I'll also note that I did notice 1-2 minor bugs on the website while in the checkout process, which I informed the representative of as I was supposed to, but I honestly wouldn't have noticed them if I hadn't been trying my best to really test the website and live up to my "job" in this situation. If I had just gone through the checkout process as I normally would have with no hesitation, I wouldn't have seen the bugs at all. I was genuinely surprised by how smooth and polished the website experience was; I was expecting much buggy/glitchier, considering that they were asking for test volunteers. And the two bugs I did notice were pretty minor things that really don't break or ruin the shopping experience. So I went through with the purchase, gave the representative my order number, and hoped for the best. I immediately received an order confirmation email that told me I'd be able to track the shipment within 1-3 business days. The order was placed late on a Thursday night, so I figured I wouldn't be hearing anything else until Monday at the very earliest. (As here in the States, Saturday and Sunday usually don't count as "business days") Much to my surprise though, that Sunday the representative I'd previously spoken with reached out to me asking if I'd been able to check out the tracking feature yet. So I explained that I'd gotten the confirmation email but no tracking email yet, and that I also didn't see a way to enter my order number on the website to track the order if I (as I had) checked out as a guest. (It did appear if I had made an account that the order number would've been saved to my account and I could've potentially tracked it that way.) But again, I hadn't expected anything until Monday, so I wasn't too concerned anyway. Sure enough, the next morning I had my tracking email and everything seemed to be in order; it even baffled me by saying the shipment was expected to arrive the very next day. I thought I was surely reading something wrong or maybe it needed a little while to re-calculate or something, but I kept an eye on and it didn't change its mind. And low and behold, it was a little later in the day, but the markers were indeed delivered that Tuesday! I eagerly got them open and gave them a good once-over just to make sure everything seemed right at first glance, as I knew to swatch them all out and get a more in-depth look was going to take at least a few hours. But I was quite relieved; we'd made it this far with no hiccups, now I just needed the refund to come through and we'd be right as rain. Miraculously, two days later the representative reached out to me yet again to tell me that the refund had been sent. And wouldn't you know it; the official PayPal email was sitting in my inbox waiting to tell me so! So in the end, things turned out pretty great. Ohuhu got their website tested, and I got my markers without a hitch. It did seem a little weird to me, the whole premise, but I assume they budgeted for this in the same way a company might do giveaways or budget for advertising, maybe even like some companies do for PR packages to influencers. And, realistically, it does kind of make sense that the best way to test your online shop (and by extension, in this case, the refund process) would be to have actual customers do it. Either way, it worked out well for me, so I can't really complain.

Once the markers arrived to me, I was very happy to see that Ohuhu is now including a colorless blender in their sets, in addition to the 48 or 72 colors. A colorless blender is one of the things that I said last time would've been nice to have (though not a necessity as you could easily go out and purchase say a Copic, Prismacolor, or another brand of Colorless Blender to compensate) and personally I love that it's 48 + the CB or 72 + CB, instead of counting the colorless blender as one of the colors you get, which is what I've most commonly seen other brands do. It's a small detail, but for some reason, I can't seem to get over it.

One of the things I was most curious about in swatching though was that, I assume as a response to me and many others that mentioned we wanted them, in the marketing for the 72 set Ohuhu seemed to really be trying to push that there were more pastel colors.

After actually having and swatching the markers for myself, I'd say about 7-8 of the colors are what I'd call true pastels. There are some beautiful new colors (R13 Clematis, in particular, might be my favorite Ohuhu color now and I LOVE the Green Grays they added) but there weren't as many pastels as I was hoping for, and personally I was hoping for some more pale pinks/peaches that would work well for lighter skin tones. Maybe some yellows since I felt we were kind of lacking those too.

And originally, I was a little...disappointed isn't totally accurate, but it's the best word I have.

However! I'm inclined to be a little more forgiving as just last week, Ohuhu announced they'd be releasing a 24-color skin tone set, which (although I'm withholding major judgment until I have the markers in-hand just like last time) is looking to hopefully be some of the pale pinks and light skin tone colors, maybe even a few yellows, that I was hoping for. We'll have to wait to see the colors in person, but using their digital swatches as a [very] rough guideline, the new colors look like they could be pretty promising.

The only thing I'm a little disappointed about at this point is that 5 of the skin tone colors will be duplicates, but at the same time, after seeing which colors are duplicates, it kind of makes sense just in case someone wants to buy the skin tones and doesn't have the 48 or 72 set, which I'm sure does happen. Just like I'm sure people buy, for example, the skin tone sets from Copic or Winsor and Newton to supplement other sets.

Still, though, this continues to support the idea to me that Ohuhu is really trying to listen to what fans of the brand are asking for; People asked for brush nibs and took a little while but we got them, we asked for pastel colors and they at least tried to address that, and now we've asked for skin tones and it looks like they're going to address that, too.

Naturally, after all of the above, I had to make some art to give the markers a go beyond swatching and to talk about all of this with you, my lovely Sparklers.

So I ended up drawing this cute little snail inspired by a picture I saw over on Pinterest.

I don't know if he thinks he's going to eat that berry or if he's just smelling it, or maybe he thinks it's just pretty (I used the aforementioned R13 in the shading for the berries), but it makes me happy to look at all the same.

Originally I had planned to try and only use the new colors to really show them off, and I did use a fair amount of them, but I felt just a little too limited so I did open up to the full 72 set. But I did use all only my new markers and not the markers from the 48 set I already had, so...

Maybe it's still fair?

I also tried some texturing on the...mushroom? branch? rock? he's sitting on, and while I don't think it looks the best close-up, from further away I think it worked out pretty well.

Similarly to the crab I drew for the 48 marker set though, I wanted a more interesting background than just plain white. After some consideration, I decided my best option would be to mix my green and yellow PanPastels. So I did.

Unfortunately, I exposed a couple of very noticeable fingerprints doing that and I ended up getting pastel dust all over the drawing so my black lines got greyed out a bit.

I fixed the fingerprints by adding some intentional ones for the sake of balance and in the name of visual texture, and I fixed the lines by going back over most of them and a little post-editing after I scanned the drawing in.

Other than that, my observations about the Ohuhu markers remain the same as last time. They blend and layer really nicely (especially, as I've observed recently is the case with most alcohol markers, with thicker paper) and the colors they do provide are really vibrant and fun.

I do still hope the new skin tone colors live up, that yet even more colors are coming, and I'll repeat that I'd still love to seem them add consumer comforts of being able to buy individual markers, refill inks, and replacement nibs. But all of that may come in time, and even so, I think they're very recommendable for alcohol markers.

I'm also really happy with how my little snail turned out just as an art piece; this whole thing is just really really cute to me.

Now I just have to wait with bated breath for the USA launch (they've already launched in Canada) of those skin tone markers and hope they're not too expensive so I can get them right away :P

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Artwork © me, MysticSparkleWings

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Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble | Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

Documenting Cosplay Culture in the UK

Long-term projects can be one of the most frustrating creative pursuits for a number of reasons. There is a large investment of time, obviously, but there can also be the uncertainty of where a story goes as you watch it unfold over years, while constantly adjusting and readjusting the scope of the issues you want to deal with in your stories.

I very rarely show off my work in progress, which can lead to feeling unmotivated, as I have so much work which I have never received feedback on, and which I am uncomfortable sharing until I have a full set of excellent images which tell the story of the entire project.

Maintaining this kind of patience over decades can be very difficult, and one way I tried to deal with this was by starting my own blog, where I discuss the more intricate details of my day-to-day experiences, and show a few images, sometimes rejects and first-drafts. This way I am able to present my work in progress without feeling that I am giving too much away, or showing off something that is half finished.

I thought it would be interesting to take a look at one of the first long-term photography projects I ever began and to analyze the way that it has progressed over time. This project, which I started in October 2016, started out as a simple portrait series at MCM London Comic Con. I was attending as press to cover the event for a few outlets and decided that the best use of my time would be to photograph the vibrancy and detail in the costumes.

While working on these portraits I realized, through conversations with my subjects, that there was much more to this than just colorful costumes, and that a far more powerful and interesting story could be told. I have always had an interest in BTS activity, which I normally apply commercially in my Fashion and Production BTS images. The majority of cosplayers make their costumes themselves, investing money into materials and time and effort into research and the actual creation of these unique pieces. There is a real craft involved, which I feel is underrated. Although there are professional cosplayers many enthusiasts learn to create under their own steam, which is really fantastic.

My focus then moved to seeing whether I could document the process of making these outfits, and although I wasn’t satisfied with the images that resulted from this it is still a direction I want to explore. While working on these images I noticed that there was a story to be told involving the positive influence of Cosplay culture on mental health. I continued this line of thought while working at similar events, including Hyper Japan and LAGC.

In order to tell that story, I would have to become far more involved with my subjects than when working on a simple portrait. I also am not a fan of photo stories/essays that only consist of portraits. I much prefer action, and to not only see things happen but to investigate and understand why. Isolating a subject for a portrait was where this project began but now I wanted to take a different direction entirely, in a far more candid style closer to my production and fashion BTS work.

Although I already felt that these conventions were a great environment for me, catering to many of my interests both from my childhood and present I had a long way to go in creating connections with the attendees I was interested in documenting. Luckily there is a wonderfully friendly environment, and I had no trouble in striking up conversations. Although not everyone wanted to be involved in my project, they were all interested in how it would turn out and had perspectives to offer regarding the topics I was discussing.

Although I wanted my work to be candid it was important for me to become familiar to enough people that I would be free to shoot as I pleased. The more comfortable people are with the presence of not only myself but my camera then the easier it is to shoot candid scenes and moments. Especially when exploring themes of community and friendship this kind of access is unparalleled.

By involving myself with these groups I was able to learn about aspects of the community I would have never known existed, let alone thought to document — for example the “Fight Club” which sometimes happens between the closing of the Comic-Con and the opening of the after party.

I shot all of the images here on small, friendly, rangefinder cameras which I think are perfect for the style of reportage I am trying to achieve in most of my work, but which also allow a much friendlier dynamic between a photographer and subject while working on a portrait.

As I mentioned earlier this project is one of the first long-term project’s I’ve ever worked on and looking back over my images is really interesting to me. It’s fascinating to me to see how my style has changed in such a short period of time in only three years, and how I have moved between genres and approaches to storytelling in the project itself.

There are only a handful of these kinds of events in the year, which gives me maybe 20 days total a year to work on the project. In the time between those events, I work on many other projects, so when I “check back in” to one of these events I bring everything new I’ve learned with me. This has meant playing around with wide aperture lenses down to f/0.95, macro lenses, telephoto, shooting candidly, posed, stage-work, celebrity portraiture, artificial light indoors, natural light outdoors, on black and white film, panoramic on the XPan, and any number of other techniques, in order to really nail down exactly what story I want to tell, and how I want it to be told.

Thanks for taking the time to read about my process and approach to this long-term project! I look forward to sharing the entire series when the entire project is complete; hopefully, it will be an entirely different and better set of images than the ones included here!

About the author: Simon King is a London based photographer and photojournalist, currently working on a number of long-term documentary and street photography projects. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can follow his work on Instagram and you can read more of his thoughts on photography day-to-day over on his personal blog. Simon also teaches a short course in Street Photography at UAL, which can be read about here.

from Photography News https://petapixel.com/2019/02/02/documenting-cosplay-culture-in-the-uk/

Documenting Cosplay Culture in the UK

Long-term projects can be one of the most frustrating creative pursuits for a number of reasons. There is a large investment of time, obviously, but there can also be the uncertainty of where a story goes as you watch it unfold over years, while constantly adjusting and readjusting the scope of the issues you want to deal with in your stories.

I very rarely show off my work in progress, which can lead to feeling unmotivated, as I have so much work which I have never received feedback on, and which I am uncomfortable sharing until I have a full set of excellent images which tell the story of the entire project.

Maintaining this kind of patience over decades can be very difficult, and one way I tried to deal with this was by starting my own blog, where I discuss the more intricate details of my day-to-day experiences, and show a few images, sometimes rejects and first-drafts. This way I am able to present my work in progress without feeling that I am giving too much away, or showing off something that is half finished.

I thought it would be interesting to take a look at one of the first long-term photography projects I ever began and to analyze the way that it has progressed over time. This project, which I started in October 2016, started out as a simple portrait series at MCM London Comic Con. I was attending as press to cover the event for a few outlets and decided that the best use of my time would be to photograph the vibrancy and detail in the costumes.

While working on these portraits I realized, through conversations with my subjects, that there was much more to this than just colorful costumes, and that a far more powerful and interesting story could be told. I have always had an interest in BTS activity, which I normally apply commercially in my Fashion and Production BTS images. The majority of cosplayers make their costumes themselves, investing money into materials and time and effort into research and the actual creation of these unique pieces. There is a real craft involved, which I feel is underrated. Although there are professional cosplayers many enthusiasts learn to create under their own steam, which is really fantastic.

My focus then moved to seeing whether I could document the process of making these outfits, and although I wasn’t satisfied with the images that resulted from this it is still a direction I want to explore. While working on these images I noticed that there was a story to be told involving the positive influence of Cosplay culture on mental health. I continued this line of thought while working at similar events, including Hyper Japan and LAGC.

In order to tell that story, I would have to become far more involved with my subjects than when working on a simple portrait. I also am not a fan of photo stories/essays that only consist of portraits. I much prefer action, and to not only see things happen but to investigate and understand why. Isolating a subject for a portrait was where this project began but now I wanted to take a different direction entirely, in a far more candid style closer to my production and fashion BTS work.

Although I already felt that these conventions were a great environment for me, catering to many of my interests both from my childhood and present I had a long way to go in creating connections with the attendees I was interested in documenting. Luckily there is a wonderfully friendly environment, and I had no trouble in striking up conversations. Although not everyone wanted to be involved in my project, they were all interested in how it would turn out and had perspectives to offer regarding the topics I was discussing.

Although I wanted my work to be candid it was important for me to become familiar to enough people that I would be free to shoot as I pleased. The more comfortable people are with the presence of not only myself but my camera then the easier it is to shoot candid scenes and moments. Especially when exploring themes of community and friendship this kind of access is unparalleled.

By involving myself with these groups I was able to learn about aspects of the community I would have never known existed, let alone thought to document — for example the “Fight Club” which sometimes happens between the closing of the Comic-Con and the opening of the after party.

I shot all of the images here on small, friendly, rangefinder cameras which I think are perfect for the style of reportage I am trying to achieve in most of my work, but which also allow a much friendlier dynamic between a photographer and subject while working on a portrait.

As I mentioned earlier this project is one of the first long-term project’s I’ve ever worked on and looking back over my images is really interesting to me. It’s fascinating to me to see how my style has changed in such a short period of time in only three years, and how I have moved between genres and approaches to storytelling in the project itself.

There are only a handful of these kinds of events in the year, which gives me maybe 20 days total a year to work on the project. In the time between those events, I work on many other projects, so when I “check back in” to one of these events I bring everything new I’ve learned with me. This has meant playing around with wide aperture lenses down to f/0.95, macro lenses, telephoto, shooting candidly, posed, stage-work, celebrity portraiture, artificial light indoors, natural light outdoors, on black and white film, panoramic on the XPan, and any number of other techniques, in order to really nail down exactly what story I want to tell, and how I want it to be told.

Thanks for taking the time to read about my process and approach to this long-term project! I look forward to sharing the entire series when the entire project is complete; hopefully, it will be an entirely different and better set of images than the ones included here!

About the author: Simon King is a London based photographer and photojournalist, currently working on a number of long-term documentary and street photography projects. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can follow his work on Instagram and you can read more of his thoughts on photography day-to-day over on his personal blog. Simon also teaches a short course in Street Photography at UAL, which can be read about here.

source https://petapixel.com/2019/02/02/documenting-cosplay-culture-in-the-uk/

5 Digital Marketing Tips for Local and Small Businesses

Let me start off by saying that digital marketing for local and small businesses does not need to be difficult. Many of the companies I’ve worked with in the past see it as a daunting task that is going to take too much time, money and a team of people to do. Sometimes they are right, but a majority of the time they are just trying to do too much at once. Internet marketing as a whole encompasses a broad set of activities, but local and small businesses do not need to do all of them. They just need to find specific strategies that work for them and capitalize on them.

This blog will be most helpful for local and small businesses such as electricians, plumbers, heating & AC Services, house cleaning companies, restaurants, lawyers and other small business types.

My goal is that you get at least one takeaway that will help make a positive impact on your business's digital marketing efforts. If you still have questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section.

OK? Here we go...

Tip #1: Your Website - Keep it simple

Your website is the face of your company online. It’s a marketing brochure for your brand, services, what your company stands for and the kinds of clients you work with. It should contain all the most important things about your business. This makes it easy for someone to find the information they need before making the decision to contact you.In regards to creating a website, there are plenty of great companies out there that will outline and build a site for you.  Just make sure you do research before contacting them so you know what to expect. The best tip I have for building a site is to... keep it simple.Keeping a website simple can be very good for user experience, website upkeep and management, and especially SEO (search engine optimization). Here is an example of a basic outline that will encompass everything a viewer should know about your company. This outline will still leave room for you to expand your site and create more content with SEO in mind.

Homepage

Individual Service Pages (including pictures and/or video of past work - if applicable)

FAQ Page

Testimonials / Success Stories / Reviews

Resources (if applicable)

Could be used as a “self-help” or “how-to” section for certain business types

About Us

Contact Us

Blog

One thing to keep in mind is the kind of imagery and copy on your site. A lot of companies decide to use stock imagery and fairly generic copy. I would recommend going another route because this is a big opportunity for local businesses to show that they are human and their company has personality. This is where you can beat big brands for new business. To break this down a bit:

For imagery, use images from real projects or services you’ve done in the past. Spend some time ideating what kind of imagery you want to show on your website. Then hire a photographer (yes definitely spend money on these) to get the pictures you desire for your site.

For the copy, hire a copywriter who has done work previously for businesses in your industry. Make sure you give plenty of input so they know exactly what you are looking for and they stay in-line with your brand voice. And be sure they are experienced in writing copy with SEO in mind -- that is very important. ;)

One local site that has done well in both categories is Johnson Roofing & Gutters (the name is just a coincidence and I have no affiliation with them).

Last but not least, make sure your website works on all screen sizes so people can view it on all devices (computer, tablet and smartphone). A responsive design or having a separate mobile-specific version is a must. Also, If you already have a website, I highly recommend going through the Technical SEO Audit Checklist for Human Beings to ensure it is healthy and will perform well in search engines like Google and Bing.

Tip #2: Reviews - Your customers are your biggest advocates

Reviews are VERY important for your companies reputation, especially online. Positive or negative reviews and how you handle them can be a customers deciding factor when it comes to their decision to contact you. This is why it is a good practice to respond to every review you can.

Similar to using real images of your work and developing copy that gives your site personality, replying to reviews shows people that you are human. Local and small businesses need to show they care about the customer. If someone gives you a positive review, say thank you. If another person gives you a negative review, respond like you would if someone gave you negative feedback in-person. This shows that you care about what people are saying about your company and you want to engage with your customers even after working with them.

Here is an example of a company that does a good job replying to reviews on Yelp.

   I would like to highlight two things here:

This company replies to all review types. Even 5-star reviews get attention, which is important because it shows the customer you care about their feedback and their business is important to you. This is a tactic that can help you get a customer for life.

The response to a bad review doesn't just stop at an explanation. It goes one step further and asks the person to get in contact with the general manager (contact info included), so they can learn more about the experience. This is a good tactic to (hopefully) change someone's opinion after a not-so-great, or misinformed experience.

Along with the above, reviews can be very helpful for SEO and your company's ability to rank above the competition. Be sure to ask for reviews on site like Google, Yelp and Facebook so you have a diverse review profile on a number of websites. Once you receive reviews, monitor them on a weekly basis so you can reply to them and engage with past customers. A good resource to learn more about why reviews are important is MOZ’s resource on Local Reviews and Ratings.

Tip #3: Social Media - Own your channels and grow your audience

Businesses of any size should be using social media. Create a company page, update it with all necessary information and use it on a regular basis. Social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter can be very helpful when marketing a company. Plus, they are great sites to promote your services and post original content such as blogs and video. Use them correctly and you can find and engage with your target market (aka customers) and grow your following. Social media signals are starting to have an effect on SEO, too.

Some websites may have already created a generic page for your business. It’s good to do a sweep of all the main local and small business profile sites and check to see which ones have done this. Once you’ve identified the sites with your profile you can simply request to take ownership of the page and update it with all the correct information. Here is a small list of sites to check:

Google

Bing

Yahoo

Facebook

LinkedIn

Yelp

CitySearch

Better Business Bureau (BBB)

Angie’s List

Merchant Circle

YP.com

See more on this comprehensive list from HubSpot

Now that you’ve taken time to create and/or round up your company profiles, update them with the most accurate data and include photos if possible. Then identify the ones that will be the most effective and start using them to your advantage.

Tip #4: Email Marketing - Keep them short and sweet

Email marketing is one of the best ways to market your services and content to a quality audience. People who sign up for your emails are asking you to communicate with them. You can do this by highlighting specials and deals you may be offering, letting them know about new blog posts or resources on your site, or just sending a monthly update on what your company has been up to and what’s ahead. One easy tip to keep in mind is to keep them short and sweet.

When used correctly, email marketing can be one of your highest converting marketing channels. Keeping your emails shorter is a good way to keep people engaged, while still getting your message across. People can get overwhelmed when presented with too much information. If the goal is to get someone to click on a link, write an enticing description and present an appropriate call to action (CTA). If your business has a new deal or promotion, tell them exactly what it is and how to get it.

Example email opener from Flatstick Pub that covers that month’s events

One more thing to keep in mind is to not overdo it with email marketing. If a company sends too many emails people could become uninterested or annoyed. This can cause people to unsubscribe from your mailing list, which is counterproductive to your goals for doing email marketing in the first place.

Tip #5: Content Marketing - Find your audience and plant some seeds

While content marketing is not always the most ‘important’ online marketing task it can be very helpful for many reasons:

Building thought leadership by answering questions around the web

Growing your online footprint by being active on Forums and Q&A sites like Quora, Reddit, and industry-specific sites such as AVVO (lawyers and attorneys) and HOUZZ (all kinds of home and garden discussions)

Both organic and paid social promotion of services and original content

Link building by creating relationships with bloggers and online influencers

Content marketing for local and small businesses can definitely take time to get right. It’s one of those tasks that’s easier to do when you have some spare time to spend on it. You need to identify “where to play”, meaning you need to find the right websites that have the discussions and content for you to engage with. This is also a very good way to identify new blog and page topics for your website. If someone has a question that requires a longer answer, write about it and post the full answer on your site. Then, you can answer the person on the site you found the topic on and refer them to the full answer on your site. Chances are that same question has been asked elsewhere, and now you have the “answer” on your site that you can point them to.

Final Thoughts

A couple things to keep in mind before embarking on any of these tactics are to:

First, make sure you have specific goals. This could include obtaining more organic or referral traffic, growing your social media following, or getting more qualified leads. Each of these tips can help you meet your goals and succeed in the ever-changing digital space.

The second thing to remember stems from my note in tip #1 about websites. Keep it simple. Don’t overthink things, which can cause less action to happen. Don't be afraid to dive in and get familiar with each space. The sooner you start taking action, the sooner you will start finding digital marketing success for your local or small business.

from Marketing https://www.distilled.net/resources/5-digital-marketing-tips-for-local-and-small-businesses/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

5 Digital Marketing Tips for Local and Small Businesses

Let me start off by saying that digital marketing for local and small businesses does not need to be difficult. Many of the companies I’ve worked with in the past see it as a daunting task that is going to take too much time, money and a team of people to do. Sometimes they are right, but a majority of the time they are just trying to do too much at once. Internet marketing as a whole encompasses a broad set of activities, but local and small businesses do not need to do all of them. They just need to find specific strategies that work for them and capitalize on them.

This blog will be most helpful for local and small businesses such as electricians, plumbers, heating & AC Services, house cleaning companies, restaurants, lawyers and other small business types.

My goal is that you get at least one takeaway that will help make a positive impact on your business's digital marketing efforts. If you still have questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section.

OK? Here we go...

Tip #1: Your Website - Keep it simple

Your website is the face of your company online. It’s a marketing brochure for your brand, services, what your company stands for and the kinds of clients you work with. It should contain all the most important things about your business. This makes it easy for someone to find the information they need before making the decision to contact you.In regards to creating a website, there are plenty of great companies out there that will outline and build a site for you.  Just make sure you do research before contacting them so you know what to expect. The best tip I have for building a site is to... keep it simple.Keeping a website simple can be very good for user experience, website upkeep and management, and especially SEO (search engine optimization). Here is an example of a basic outline that will encompass everything a viewer should know about your company. This outline will still leave room for you to expand your site and create more content with SEO in mind.

Homepage

Individual Service Pages (including pictures and/or video of past work - if applicable)

FAQ Page

Testimonials / Success Stories / Reviews

Resources (if applicable)

Could be used as a “self-help” or “how-to” section for certain business types

About Us

Contact Us

Blog

One thing to keep in mind is the kind of imagery and copy on your site. A lot of companies decide to use stock imagery and fairly generic copy. I would recommend going another route because this is a big opportunity for local businesses to show that they are human and their company has personality. This is where you can beat big brands for new business. To break this down a bit:

For imagery, use images from real projects or services you’ve done in the past. Spend some time ideating what kind of imagery you want to show on your website. Then hire a photographer (yes definitely spend money on these) to get the pictures you desire for your site.

For the copy, hire a copywriter who has done work previously for businesses in your industry. Make sure you give plenty of input so they know exactly what you are looking for and they stay in-line with your brand voice. And be sure they are experienced in writing copy with SEO in mind -- that is very important. ;)

One local site that has done well in both categories is Johnson Roofing & Gutters (the name is just a coincidence and I have no affiliation with them).

Last but not least, make sure your website works on all screen sizes so people can view it on all devices (computer, tablet and smartphone). A responsive design or having a separate mobile-specific version is a must. Also, If you already have a website, I highly recommend going through the Technical SEO Audit Checklist for Human Beings to ensure it is healthy and will perform well in search engines like Google and Bing.

Tip #2: Reviews - Your customers are your biggest advocates

Reviews are VERY important for your companies reputation, especially online. Positive or negative reviews and how you handle them can be a customers deciding factor when it comes to their decision to contact you. This is why it is a good practice to respond to every review you can.

Similar to using real images of your work and developing copy that gives your site personality, replying to reviews shows people that you are human. Local and small businesses need to show they care about the customer. If someone gives you a positive review, say thank you. If another person gives you a negative review, respond like you would if someone gave you negative feedback in-person. This shows that you care about what people are saying about your company and you want to engage with your customers even after working with them.

Here is an example of a company that does a good job replying to reviews on Yelp.

   I would like to highlight two things here:

This company replies to all review types. Even 5-star reviews get attention, which is important because it shows the customer you care about their feedback and their business is important to you. This is a tactic that can help you get a customer for life.

The response to a bad review doesn't just stop at an explanation. It goes one step further and asks the person to get in contact with the general manager (contact info included), so they can learn more about the experience. This is a good tactic to (hopefully) change someone's opinion after a not-so-great, or misinformed experience.

Along with the above, reviews can be very helpful for SEO and your company's ability to rank above the competition. Be sure to ask for reviews on site like Google, Yelp and Facebook so you have a diverse review profile on a number of websites. Once you receive reviews, monitor them on a weekly basis so you can reply to them and engage with past customers. A good resource to learn more about why reviews are important is MOZ’s resource on Local Reviews and Ratings.

Tip #3: Social Media - Own your channels and grow your audience

Businesses of any size should be using social media. Create a company page, update it with all necessary information and use it on a regular basis. Social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter can be very helpful when marketing a company. Plus, they are great sites to promote your services and post original content such as blogs and video. Use them correctly and you can find and engage with your target market (aka customers) and grow your following. Social media signals are starting to have an effect on SEO, too.

Some websites may have already created a generic page for your business. It’s good to do a sweep of all the main local and small business profile sites and check to see which ones have done this. Once you’ve identified the sites with your profile you can simply request to take ownership of the page and update it with all the correct information. Here is a small list of sites to check:

Google

Bing

Yahoo

Facebook

LinkedIn

Yelp

CitySearch

Better Business Bureau (BBB)

Angie’s List

Merchant Circle

YP.com

See more on this comprehensive list from HubSpot

Now that you’ve taken time to create and/or round up your company profiles, update them with the most accurate data and include photos if possible. Then identify the ones that will be the most effective and start using them to your advantage.

Tip #4: Email Marketing - Keep them short and sweet

Email marketing is one of the best ways to market your services and content to a quality audience. People who sign up for your emails are asking you to communicate with them. You can do this by highlighting specials and deals you may be offering, letting them know about new blog posts or resources on your site, or just sending a monthly update on what your company has been up to and what’s ahead. One easy tip to keep in mind is to keep them short and sweet.

When used correctly, email marketing can be one of your highest converting marketing channels. Keeping your emails shorter is a good way to keep people engaged, while still getting your message across. People can get overwhelmed when presented with too much information. If the goal is to get someone to click on a link, write an enticing description and present an appropriate call to action (CTA). If your business has a new deal or promotion, tell them exactly what it is and how to get it.

Example email opener from Flatstick Pub that covers that month’s events

One more thing to keep in mind is to not overdo it with email marketing. If a company sends too many emails people could become uninterested or annoyed. This can cause people to unsubscribe from your mailing list, which is counterproductive to your goals for doing email marketing in the first place.

Tip #5: Content Marketing - Find your audience and plant some seeds

While content marketing is not always the most ‘important’ online marketing task it can be very helpful for many reasons:

Building thought leadership by answering questions around the web

Growing your online footprint by being active on Forums and Q&A sites like Quora, Reddit, and industry-specific sites such as AVVO (lawyers and attorneys) and HOUZZ (all kinds of home and garden discussions)

Both organic and paid social promotion of services and original content

Link building by creating relationships with bloggers and online influencers

Content marketing for local and small businesses can definitely take time to get right. It’s one of those tasks that’s easier to do when you have some spare time to spend on it. You need to identify “where to play”, meaning you need to find the right websites that have the discussions and content for you to engage with. This is also a very good way to identify new blog and page topics for your website. If someone has a question that requires a longer answer, write about it and post the full answer on your site. Then, you can answer the person on the site you found the topic on and refer them to the full answer on your site. Chances are that same question has been asked elsewhere, and now you have the “answer” on your site that you can point them to.

Final Thoughts

A couple things to keep in mind before embarking on any of these tactics are to:

First, make sure you have specific goals. This could include obtaining more organic or referral traffic, growing your social media following, or getting more qualified leads. Each of these tips can help you meet your goals and succeed in the ever-changing digital space.

The second thing to remember stems from my note in tip #1 about websites. Keep it simple. Don’t overthink things, which can cause less action to happen. Don't be afraid to dive in and get familiar with each space. The sooner you start taking action, the sooner you will start finding digital marketing success for your local or small business.

from Digital https://www.distilled.net/resources/5-digital-marketing-tips-for-local-and-small-businesses/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

5 Digital Marketing Tips for Local and Small Businesses

Let me start off by saying that digital marketing for local and small businesses does not need to be difficult. Many of the companies I’ve worked with in the past see it as a daunting task that is going to take too much time, money and a team of people to do. Sometimes they are right, but a majority of the time they are just trying to do too much at once. Internet marketing as a whole encompasses a broad set of activities, but local and small businesses do not need to do all of them. They just need to find specific strategies that work for them and capitalize on them.

This blog will be most helpful for local and small businesses such as electricians, plumbers, heating & AC Services, house cleaning companies, restaurants, lawyers and other small business types.

My goal is that you get at least one takeaway that will help make a positive impact on your business's digital marketing efforts. If you still have questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section.

OK? Here we go...

Tip #1: Your Website - Keep it simple

Your website is the face of your company online. It’s a marketing brochure for your brand, services, what your company stands for and the kinds of clients you work with. It should contain all the most important things about your business. This makes it easy for someone to find the information they need before making the decision to contact you.In regards to creating a website, there are plenty of great companies out there that will outline and build a site for you.  Just make sure you do research before contacting them so you know what to expect. The best tip I have for building a site is to... keep it simple.Keeping a website simple can be very good for user experience, website upkeep and management, and especially SEO (search engine optimization). Here is an example of a basic outline that will encompass everything a viewer should know about your company. This outline will still leave room for you to expand your site and create more content with SEO in mind.

Homepage

Individual Service Pages (including pictures and/or video of past work - if applicable)

FAQ Page

Testimonials / Success Stories / Reviews

Resources (if applicable)

Could be used as a “self-help” or “how-to” section for certain business types

About Us

Contact Us

Blog

One thing to keep in mind is the kind of imagery and copy on your site. A lot of companies decide to use stock imagery and fairly generic copy. I would recommend going another route because this is a big opportunity for local businesses to show that they are human and their company has personality. This is where you can beat big brands for new business. To break this down a bit:

For imagery, use images from real projects or services you’ve done in the past. Spend some time ideating what kind of imagery you want to show on your website. Then hire a photographer (yes definitely spend money on these) to get the pictures you desire for your site.

For the copy, hire a copywriter who has done work previously for businesses in your industry. Make sure you give plenty of input so they know exactly what you are looking for and they stay in-line with your brand voice. And be sure they are experienced in writing copy with SEO in mind -- that is very important. ;)

One local site that has done well in both categories is Johnson Roofing & Gutters (the name is just a coincidence and I have no affiliation with them).

Last but not least, make sure your website works on all screen sizes so people can view it on all devices (computer, tablet and smartphone). A responsive design or having a separate mobile-specific version is a must. Also, If you already have a website, I highly recommend going through the Technical SEO Audit Checklist for Human Beings to ensure it is healthy and will perform well in search engines like Google and Bing.

Tip #2: Reviews - Your customers are your biggest advocates

Reviews are VERY important for your companies reputation, especially online. Positive or negative reviews and how you handle them can be a customers deciding factor when it comes to their decision to contact you. This is why it is a good practice to respond to every review you can.

Similar to using real images of your work and developing copy that gives your site personality, replying to reviews shows people that you are human. Local and small businesses need to show they care about the customer. If someone gives you a positive review, say thank you. If another person gives you a negative review, respond like you would if someone gave you negative feedback in-person. This shows that you care about what people are saying about your company and you want to engage with your customers even after working with them.

Here is an example of a company that does a good job replying to reviews on Yelp.

   I would like to highlight two things here:

This company replies to all review types. Even 5-star reviews get attention, which is important because it shows the customer you care about their feedback and their business is important to you. This is a tactic that can help you get a customer for life.

The response to a bad review doesn't just stop at an explanation. It goes one step further and asks the person to get in contact with the general manager (contact info included), so they can learn more about the experience. This is a good tactic to (hopefully) change someone's opinion after a not-so-great, or misinformed experience.

Along with the above, reviews can be very helpful for SEO and your company's ability to rank above the competition. Be sure to ask for reviews on site like Google, Yelp and Facebook so you have a diverse review profile on a number of websites. Once you receive reviews, monitor them on a weekly basis so you can reply to them and engage with past customers. A good resource to learn more about why reviews are important is MOZ’s resource on Local Reviews and Ratings.

Tip #3: Social Media - Own your channels and grow your audience

Businesses of any size should be using social media. Create a company page, update it with all necessary information and use it on a regular basis. Social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter can be very helpful when marketing a company. Plus, they are great sites to promote your services and post original content such as blogs and video. Use them correctly and you can find and engage with your target market (aka customers) and grow your following. Social media signals are starting to have an effect on SEO, too.

Some websites may have already created a generic page for your business. It’s good to do a sweep of all the main local and small business profile sites and check to see which ones have done this. Once you’ve identified the sites with your profile you can simply request to take ownership of the page and update it with all the correct information. Here is a small list of sites to check:

Google

Bing

Yahoo

Facebook

LinkedIn

Yelp

CitySearch

Better Business Bureau (BBB)

Angie’s List

Merchant Circle

YP.com

See more on this comprehensive list from HubSpot

Now that you’ve taken time to create and/or round up your company profiles, update them with the most accurate data and include photos if possible. Then identify the ones that will be the most effective and start using them to your advantage.

Tip #4: Email Marketing - Keep them short and sweet

Email marketing is one of the best ways to market your services and content to a quality audience. People who sign up for your emails are asking you to communicate with them. You can do this by highlighting specials and deals you may be offering, letting them know about new blog posts or resources on your site, or just sending a monthly update on what your company has been up to and what’s ahead. One easy tip to keep in mind is to keep them short and sweet.

When used correctly, email marketing can be one of your highest converting marketing channels. Keeping your emails shorter is a good way to keep people engaged, while still getting your message across. People can get overwhelmed when presented with too much information. If the goal is to get someone to click on a link, write an enticing description and present an appropriate call to action (CTA). If your business has a new deal or promotion, tell them exactly what it is and how to get it.

Example email opener from Flatstick Pub that covers that month’s events

One more thing to keep in mind is to not overdo it with email marketing. If a company sends too many emails people could become uninterested or annoyed. This can cause people to unsubscribe from your mailing list, which is counterproductive to your goals for doing email marketing in the first place.

Tip #5: Content Marketing - Find your audience and plant some seeds

While content marketing is not always the most ‘important’ online marketing task it can be very helpful for many reasons:

Building thought leadership by answering questions around the web

Growing your online footprint by being active on Forums and Q&A sites like Quora, Reddit, and industry-specific sites such as AVVO (lawyers and attorneys) and HOUZZ (all kinds of home and garden discussions)

Both organic and paid social promotion of services and original content

Link building by creating relationships with bloggers and online influencers

Content marketing for local and small businesses can definitely take time to get right. It’s one of those tasks that’s easier to do when you have some spare time to spend on it. You need to identify “where to play”, meaning you need to find the right websites that have the discussions and content for you to engage with. This is also a very good way to identify new blog and page topics for your website. If someone has a question that requires a longer answer, write about it and post the full answer on your site. Then, you can answer the person on the site you found the topic on and refer them to the full answer on your site. Chances are that same question has been asked elsewhere, and now you have the “answer” on your site that you can point them to.

Final Thoughts

A couple things to keep in mind before embarking on any of these tactics are to:

First, make sure you have specific goals. This could include obtaining more organic or referral traffic, growing your social media following, or getting more qualified leads. Each of these tips can help you meet your goals and succeed in the ever-changing digital space.

The second thing to remember stems from my note in tip #1 about websites. Keep it simple. Don’t overthink things, which can cause less action to happen. Don't be afraid to dive in and get familiar with each space. The sooner you start taking action, the sooner you will start finding digital marketing success for your local or small business.

5 Digital Marketing Tips for Local and Small Businesses

Let me start off by saying that digital marketing for local and small businesses does not need to be difficult. Many of the companies I’ve worked with in the past see it as a daunting task that is going to take too much time, money and a team of people to do. Sometimes they are right, but a majority of the time they are just trying to do too much at once. Internet marketing as a whole encompasses a broad set of activities, but local and small businesses do not need to do all of them. They just need to find specific strategies that work for them and capitalize on them.

This blog will be most helpful for local and small businesses such as electricians, plumbers, heating & AC Services, house cleaning companies, restaurants, lawyers and other small business types.

My goal is that you get at least one takeaway that will help make a positive impact on your business's digital marketing efforts. If you still have questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section.

OK? Here we go...

Tip #1: Your Website - Keep it simple

Your website is the face of your company online. It’s a marketing brochure for your brand, services, what your company stands for and the kinds of clients you work with. It should contain all the most important things about your business. This makes it easy for someone to find the information they need before making the decision to contact you.In regards to creating a website, there are plenty of great companies out there that will outline and build a site for you.  Just make sure you do research before contacting them so you know what to expect. The best tip I have for building a site is to... keep it simple.Keeping a website simple can be very good for user experience, website upkeep and management, and especially SEO (search engine optimization). Here is an example of a basic outline that will encompass everything a viewer should know about your company. This outline will still leave room for you to expand your site and create more content with SEO in mind.

Homepage

Individual Service Pages (including pictures and/or video of past work - if applicable)

FAQ Page

Testimonials / Success Stories / Reviews

Resources (if applicable)

Could be used as a “self-help” or “how-to” section for certain business types

About Us

Contact Us

Blog

One thing to keep in mind is the kind of imagery and copy on your site. A lot of companies decide to use stock imagery and fairly generic copy. I would recommend going another route because this is a big opportunity for local businesses to show that they are human and their company has personality. This is where you can beat big brands for new business. To break this down a bit:

For imagery, use images from real projects or services you’ve done in the past. Spend some time ideating what kind of imagery you want to show on your website. Then hire a photographer (yes definitely spend money on these) to get the pictures you desire for your site.

For the copy, hire a copywriter who has done work previously for businesses in your industry. Make sure you give plenty of input so they know exactly what you are looking for and they stay in-line with your brand voice. And be sure they are experienced in writing copy with SEO in mind -- that is very important. ;)

One local site that has done well in both categories is Johnson Roofing & Gutters (the name is just a coincidence and I have no affiliation with them).

Last but not least, make sure your website works on all screen sizes so people can view it on all devices (computer, tablet and smartphone). A responsive design or having a separate mobile-specific version is a must. Also, If you already have a website, I highly recommend going through the Technical SEO Audit Checklist for Human Beings to ensure it is healthy and will perform well in search engines like Google and Bing.

Tip #2: Reviews - Your customers are your biggest advocates

Reviews are VERY important for your companies reputation, especially online. Positive or negative reviews and how you handle them can be a customers deciding factor when it comes to their decision to contact you. This is why it is a good practice to respond to every review you can.

Similar to using real images of your work and developing copy that gives your site personality, replying to reviews shows people that you are human. Local and small businesses need to show they care about the customer. If someone gives you a positive review, say thank you. If another person gives you a negative review, respond like you would if someone gave you negative feedback in-person. This shows that you care about what people are saying about your company and you want to engage with your customers even after working with them.

Here is an example of a company that does a good job replying to reviews on Yelp.

   I would like to highlight two things here:

This company replies to all review types. Even 5-star reviews get attention, which is important because it shows the customer you care about their feedback and their business is important to you. This is a tactic that can help you get a customer for life.

The response to a bad review doesn't just stop at an explanation. It goes one step further and asks the person to get in contact with the general manager (contact info included), so they can learn more about the experience. This is a good tactic to (hopefully) change someone's opinion after a not-so-great, or misinformed experience.

Along with the above, reviews can be very helpful for SEO and your company's ability to rank above the competition. Be sure to ask for reviews on site like Google, Yelp and Facebook so you have a diverse review profile on a number of websites. Once you receive reviews, monitor them on a weekly basis so you can reply to them and engage with past customers. A good resource to learn more about why reviews are important is MOZ’s resource on Local Reviews and Ratings.

Tip #3: Social Media - Own your channels and grow your audience

Businesses of any size should be using social media. Create a company page, update it with all necessary information and use it on a regular basis. Social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter can be very helpful when marketing a company. Plus, they are great sites to promote your services and post original content such as blogs and video. Use them correctly and you can find and engage with your target market (aka customers) and grow your following. Social media signals are starting to have an effect on SEO, too.

Some websites may have already created a generic page for your business. It’s good to do a sweep of all the main local and small business profile sites and check to see which ones have done this. Once you’ve identified the sites with your profile you can simply request to take ownership of the page and update it with all the correct information. Here is a small list of sites to check:

Google

Bing

Yahoo

Facebook

LinkedIn

Yelp

CitySearch

Better Business Bureau (BBB)

Angie’s List

Merchant Circle

YP.com

See more on this comprehensive list from HubSpot

Now that you’ve taken time to create and/or round up your company profiles, update them with the most accurate data and include photos if possible. Then identify the ones that will be the most effective and start using them to your advantage.

Tip #4: Email Marketing - Keep them short and sweet

Email marketing is one of the best ways to market your services and content to a quality audience. People who sign up for your emails are asking you to communicate with them. You can do this by highlighting specials and deals you may be offering, letting them know about new blog posts or resources on your site, or just sending a monthly update on what your company has been up to and what’s ahead. One easy tip to keep in mind is to keep them short and sweet.

When used correctly, email marketing can be one of your highest converting marketing channels. Keeping your emails shorter is a good way to keep people engaged, while still getting your message across. People can get overwhelmed when presented with too much information. If the goal is to get someone to click on a link, write an enticing description and present an appropriate call to action (CTA). If your business has a new deal or promotion, tell them exactly what it is and how to get it.

Example email opener from Flatstick Pub that covers that month’s events

One more thing to keep in mind is to not overdo it with email marketing. If a company sends too many emails people could become uninterested or annoyed. This can cause people to unsubscribe from your mailing list, which is counterproductive to your goals for doing email marketing in the first place.

Tip #5: Content Marketing - Find your audience and plant some seeds

While content marketing is not always the most ‘important’ online marketing task it can be very helpful for many reasons:

Building thought leadership by answering questions around the web

Growing your online footprint by being active on Forums and Q&A sites like Quora, Reddit, and industry-specific sites such as AVVO (lawyers and attorneys) and HOUZZ (all kinds of home and garden discussions)

Both organic and paid social promotion of services and original content

Link building by creating relationships with bloggers and online influencers

Content marketing for local and small businesses can definitely take time to get right. It’s one of those tasks that’s easier to do when you have some spare time to spend on it. You need to identify “where to play”, meaning you need to find the right websites that have the discussions and content for you to engage with. This is also a very good way to identify new blog and page topics for your website. If someone has a question that requires a longer answer, write about it and post the full answer on your site. Then, you can answer the person on the site you found the topic on and refer them to the full answer on your site. Chances are that same question has been asked elsewhere, and now you have the “answer” on your site that you can point them to.

Final Thoughts

A couple things to keep in mind before embarking on any of these tactics are to:

First, make sure you have specific goals. This could include obtaining more organic or referral traffic, growing your social media following, or getting more qualified leads. Each of these tips can help you meet your goals and succeed in the ever-changing digital space.

The second thing to remember stems from my note in tip #1 about websites. Keep it simple. Don’t overthink things, which can cause less action to happen. Don't be afraid to dive in and get familiar with each space. The sooner you start taking action, the sooner you will start finding digital marketing success for your local or small business.

5 Digital Marketing Tips for Local and Small Businesses was originally posted by Video And Blog Marketing

RED Update #1: Restart Energy Expanding on All Fronts

New Post has been published on http://restartenergy.net/red-update-1-restart-energy-expanding-on-all-fronts/

RED Update #1: Restart Energy Expanding on All Fronts

Welcome to Restart Energy’s first article that deals with updates on everything we’ve been working on since the end of our public sale.

This article aims to solve the gap in our communication and show you all the fancy things we’ve been working on.

Of course, you will get more articles like this one in the future. How often? We’re still deciding, but there will be at least one per month, although it’s not guaranteed that there will be as many updates every time.

Let’s get into it.

RED-TRS: Token Renting System

Last week, you were introduced to our new TRS system, which adds more functionality to the MWAT token.

I am not going to bore you with the details, our Chief Editor (Rouă Denis) wrote a brilliant piece on it. You can read it here.

Global Expansion

Fueled by an increasing demand for RED franchises, Restart Energy decided to advance its expansion into several key international energy markets — entering ahead of schedule in decentralized markets planned for 2019 and beyond. Here’s how we’re doing so far:

#1. ‘Restart Energy DOO’ is a registered company in Serbia and has already received its license to supply electricity, Nr.312–90 to be precise. Retail to end consumers is expected to begin in Q3–2018.

#2. Restart Energy opened a subsidiary in Singapore on Feb 6th, 2018. The company has already started the process of obtaining electricity and gas supply licenses in the State of Singapore. The newly created entity will act as a hub for Restart Energy operations in South-East Asia, with a focus on high-growth emerging markets and a rapidly increasing demand for decentralized energy solutions like Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand.

#3. On Feb 26th, Restart Energy officially registered it’s UK subsidiary under the name ‘Restart Energy One UK’, having the company identification number 11224104. The process of obtaining a dual fuel (electricity and gas) supply license has already been initiated and together with a controlled market entry procedure, will take between 8 and 12 months to complete. Operations will include the supply of electricity and natural gas to domestic and non-domestic customers.

#4. Restart Energy is in advanced negotiations for the acquisition of an established Bulgarian energy company. The agreement is scheduled to be signed in March and retail operations to end consumers are scheduled to begin in Q3–2018. Cross-border operations in Greece and Turkey will be managed by Restart Energy Bulgaria.

#5. Restart Energy has started a due diligence process for the acquisition of established energy supply companies in Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, andAustria. The process is scheduled to be completed in Q3–2018.

#6. Restart Energy has employed reputable law offices for registering and licensing subsidiaries in Germany and Spain as licensed energy suppliers. The new subsidiaries will be registered in March and the licensing process is expected to be complete in Q3 and Q4–2018.

RED Platform Update

#1. The first public part (Alpha version) of the RED platform will be the Signup/Login systems based on the MWAT token. This system will allow a verification of ownership for MWAT tokens and as such is crucial for the entire RED ecosystem.

#2. Along with the above release we will present the tokenized voting system, based on the actual MWAT tokens held. If the testing phase goes well, it should be live by the end of the month.

#3. We are actively testing several solutions for bringing some of the principles of blockchain into energy, such as transparency, security, and reliability. To achieve this, we are going to employ a hybrid approach — on one hand, the main database will be kept in a classical cloud-based database. A second database, running on top of the first one, using blockchain technology, will be used to expose the relevant data for the public — such as transactions history — and will act like a shadow to the first one.

The team is trialing three types of blockchain technologies to achieve this with the help of our four new blockchain devs, that joined our Bucharest team in the last few weeks. More details about this will be revealed during our internal testing phase.

RED Franchise Update

Not so much an update, but rather us bragging about how many applications we’ve received from people all over the world for opening an energy supply franchise.

We’ve had over 200 applications, out of which 30 were for type A franchises, that each cover an entire country.

Another interesting fact that we’ve figured you’d like to know, is that the top three countries from which we’ve received applications are: the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia.

Right now, this is all we can share, but we’ll update you the moment we’ve got more news on this subject.

Restart Energy is taking on new franchise applications. You can apply for a RED franchise here: RED Franchise Request Form.

Update on The Number of Customers

In the first two months of 2018, Restart Energy managed to bring another 5,000+ customers onboard. These new customers are only from Romania — we should be able to grow at a much higher pace once we expand to multiple countries around Europe and the rest of the world, as stated in the “Global Expansion” section of this article.

Update on Our Financial Situation for 2017

Restart Energy has ended the 2017 fiscal year with approximately 20 million USD in revenues, with very small variations possible due to exchange rate differences between EUR/USD. This both confirms our revenue projections and affirms a solid 425% net growth based on our company’s Romanian operations alone.

The 2017 financial statements containing detailed numbers will be published at the latest on May 31st, 2018.

New PR Director — Mihai Herman

As stated above, Restart Energy listened to your feedback and has already taken action, by starting a collaboration with a new PR Director.

In case you didn’t notice, this article is written by said PR Director, so I’ll introduce myself below.

At heart, I am an entrepreneur — started my first online business when I was 19 years old. In the past eight years, I’ve ran several businesses & blogs, including being an SEO & marketing consultant, a fashion blogger and a business coach.

I am a big believer in authenticity and transparency when it comes to delivering a message or building a brand, which are the main values that I aim on cultivating here at Restart Energy — and it’s going to be pretty easy because the fundamentals on which this company was built are exactly those.

PR wise, I was able to collaborate with some of the biggest names in the men’s fashion industry, as well as attend New York Fashion Week, Pitti Uomo in Florence and WebSummit in Dublin.

You can find me on Twitter & Telegram @mihaiherman.

Restart Energy is hiring

Our team has expanded even more by hiring 4 blockchain developers and one UI/UX designer to help the current team handle the workload and deliver a spectacular platform as soon as possible.

We are hiring passionate and ambitious professionals that want to forever change the energy world with us. The following positions are available:

#1. International Positions

RED Franchise Business Developer

RED Platform Marketing Manager

Blockchain developer (Solidity)

Full stack developer (Node, Angular, Truffle experience is appreciated)

For development positions, be sure to include your Github profile.

#2. United Kingdom

Energy Supply Manager

Franchise Sales Manager B2B

#3. Singapore

Energy Supply Manager

Franchise Sales Manager

Renewable Energy Business Developer

Job applications can be sent along with a professional CV and short description at: [email protected]

Website Makeover

An update to our website is due, so we’re passively working on a new design and feel, that we believe will appeal to a more B2B audience.

This is an important step, as the more professional a website looks, the more applications we will receive from respectable business people, and as such, the faster we’ll be able to expand. In this regard, of special importance is our Franchise page.

As the saying goes, ‘first impressions matter most’. The timing of the redesign is also near-perfect, since we’re preparing ourselves for the publicity that the company will receive in the coming months through our marketing & PR efforts.

Speaking of…

Updates on Our Marketing & PR Progress

Now, let me show you what we’re working on in terms of gaining awareness for our awesome project.

Besides what’s mentioned below, we’re also working on a few secret projects and on bringing you exciting contests in the coming months.

#1. We hired two reputable PR agencies to help Restart Energy get the publicity it deserves. Currently, we’re working on getting story ideas and finding angles to deliver the news in a way that reporters can’t help but say yes.

Starting next week, however, the first releases should be sent and hopefully we’ll have the first media appearances soon. The strategy was thought so we tackle the energy and blockchain industry at the same time.

Of course, we’ll share each and every one of them with you.

#2. Restart Energy is actively discussing collaboration terms with some Youtube bloggers that should help us gain more awareness in the crypto space.

#3. These are all the articles and videos talking about our project and the $MWAT token from the past two-three weeks. We’ve shared most of them with the community, but I am sure some of you missed them and will appreciate the list.

(Help us spread the word by sharing your favorite article/video on Twitter)

In Hackernoon: https://hackernoon.com/restart-energy-a-decentralized-and-delocalized-electrical-energy-supply-platform-on-the-blockchain-97ec4b280139

In SeekingAlpha, a whole article about our franchising model: https://seekingalpha.com/instablog/22912651-daniel-jennings/5095182-taking-leap-restart-energy-franchise-model

In Crypto-Prospects, Restart Energy got a rating of 8 out of 10: http://crypto-prospect.com/hot-icos-watch-wepower-vs-restartenergy/

In a Medium blog, referred to as an alt coin with big potential: https://medium.com/@aminder2525/5-altcoin-that-can-bring-highest-returns-in-2018-67cec94b854a

In BTCManager, a nice comparison between the biggest energy projects on the blockchain: https://btcmanager.com/blockchain-meets-energy-industry-analysis-powr-mwat-wpr-slr/

In a Steemit blog: https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@anamnesia/my-strategy-and-4-investments-i-believe-are-ready-to-explode-during-the-next-altcoin-bull-rush-season

Youtuber Mike B posted another video about us — he talks about why he thinks Restart Energy, as a project, is “life-changing” and also about wanting to own a RED franchise himself:

  Crypto Gurus talked about RED as well — including the reasons why they’ve bought MWAT:

Suppoman mentioned Restart Energy as well:

Look-What-We’ve-Found-on-Twitter Section

We do our best to reply to every tweet from our valuable community, but you can all agree that it’s humanly impossible to cover everything all the time.

However, we do check every now and then to see what are people tweeting using the $MWAT tag and we’ve found these tweets that made all of us at Restart Energy smile.

Special thanks to all of you who took the time out of their busy lives to share an article and/or mention MWAT to a Twitter crypto influencer.

  That’s all folks! Truly hope you’ve enjoyed this article and feel free to give us suggestions in the Telegram Group regarding this update.

Make sure you follow Restart Energy on Twitter // Facebook // Reddit // YouTube.

A while back I made a post asking for advice on scaling strategies for my startup, Fiix, to continue expanding across Toronto, Ontario and eventually Canada. The advice was great from the community and I wanted to return the favour by helping you guys out in any way I can. I received messages from some people asking for a lot of advice after and I thought I may as well just share it with everyone.I actually have decided on doing this as a series to really walk you guys through how the entire process has been because I’ve realized it’s been such an adventure that I could never describe it one post. Probably can’t in a short series either, but hopefully you guys gain a lot more by me going in depth instead of repeating the basics. You’ve probably heard that a thousand times.Just a note, I loved Google and think I’m extremely fortunate to have had that chance to work there, so I hope you don’t take this as me bragging. What I really wanted to get at is the following: come up with an idea you love so much that you would do the exact same thing I would – quit what I thought was my dream job – to pursue it.So, this is part one: coming up with your idea.Ideally, you should already have an idea in mind you’ve been thinking of. The more unique and different your idea is, the bigger the problem it solves is and the more people it solves that problem for, the better. However, sometimes you need to sit down and think to find that great idea. By doing so, it will actually make you more likely to generate new ideas even after you complete the ideation exercise. Here are some preliminary do’s and don’ts for coming up with an idea.Don’t: Just wait for the idea to come to you. You won’t always get that “lightbulb” come and hit you in the head. Though some of the best ideas have come from experts or in eureka moments, many innovations have come from understanding the problems people face really well. Even the geniuses had to develop their thesis/knowledge to get to that breakthrough solution, so technically they didn’t “wait around” either.Do: Brainstorm about problems. Usually, you have to spend time thinking about problems you, your family, friends, coworkers, and even other target groups face. I believe brainstorming sessions are key, because it really gets you to think hard about all the problems you and others face and all the ways to solve them.Don’t: Be unrealistic about your capabilities. Before you start having brainstorming sessions (I’ll get to how you can optimize them), you need to first assess your capabilities. Though I love hearing stores of people beating the odds and creating something revolutionary that changes society, there needs to be some understanding of if you currently have the tools to make that happen. For example, don’t try to find problems that can be solved via virtual reality products if you can’t code them or don’t have the funds to develop them. Hiring or partnering with a tech specialist is always fine, especially if you aren’t a technical founder. However, the less barriers you have to making your product down the line, the better. Many simple products have been incredibly successful – it just has to solve the problem well and be something people love.Do: Come up with ideas that play to your strengths. Don’t just look at a degree – assess any skills you may have, even if it’s small. If you can design, code, engineer, write, financially model or present or do something else well, write it down. All of these may be valuable. When we get to the brainstorming strategy, I recommend writing down which of your strengths will complement that idea the best so you can begin scoring ideas.Now to the brainstorming. We used the An Idea A Day for 30 Days model. In this process, we created an entire business plan with target market, value proposition, adoption plan, funding requirements, and other preliminary items that are included in ideation. A good video guide is here at the Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2013/05/why-the-lean-start-up-changes-everything. The 8 or 9 items it gives for drawing out an idea on what page is really good, and I’d start there or come up with more. This usually takes about 8hrs at least of solid hard work to come up with an idea you feel is compelling and you yourself would invest in.This might immediately sound extremely intimidating, time-consuming and possibly flat out ridiculous to you. 30 Business plans? Full-time? Even 30 ideas sound pretty insane. This doesn’t need to be all done in one month (maybe on 5 or more weekends) but we recommend doing at least 10 business plans and giving each the same amount of time. The important control variable in deciding the value of an idea is how long you’ve spent on it and how it stands out. By your 10th idea, you will be much better at detecting the bias many initial brainstormers have about their first idea. Usually, people think “god this genius, I’m a genius! I’ve just poured my heart and soul out in the last 8 hours coming up with this idea and it’s foolproof!” Nope. This is the start of likely thousands of hours, so you need to be prepared to dish out 8 hours of hard work like its nothing for an idea you enjoy. If it’s something you really love, it should hardly even feel like “work”.When brainstorming, think about all the people close to you or groups you know the best. The better you know them and their problems, the more likely you can realistically come up with a solution. Start by thinking of their daily problems as I said, and figure out what are the biggest problems. For example (this is just off the top of my head, and it may very well be a generalization or outdated), you may think of your grandma who may want to stay up to date with technology. She’s always bothering you to fix it and there is clearly a pain point for both of you. What if you create a business that teaches seniors how to use a computer, surf the web, or even take advantage of their smartphone? If this is the case and you see that this is a common problem, that’s where you start thinking “hey, maybe I can create a business for this”.Obviously, as I’ve demonstrated myself, not every idea will be a winner. Actually, most won’t be. But that’s the point – this exercise will help you generate more ideas and the more ideas you go through, the more strategies you’ll think of for the future ideas. After 30 days (at least go through 10), sit down and evaluate all the ideas. Controlling for time will mean now all the ideas should be relatively equally developed. I’d say at this point, you should pitch all 10 or more ideas to actual customers. Preferably, someone in the target market. If not, the someone with more knowledge about the industry or startups is better, but if family is what’s available, pitch to them. Focus on clarity and making the problem simple and urgent.After you’ve pitched all the ideas, you want to evaluate their feedback and see which idea actually seems reasonable. Have them rate ideas, but care more about the actual feedback than the arbitrary number. If you want to give it a scoring range, external opinion should be weighted as 50-75% of the score. Then contrast the feedback with what you and your partner/team feel about the idea (or just you if you’re rolling solo). Lay out your strengths/weaknesses regarding each plan (how much do I like the idea of working in this business, how successful do I think it will be, what skills/knowledge do I have that complement this idea) that you wrote down earlier. Also, think of objections and all the problems your ide has – not enough founders run through this and then get blindsided but an anticipated issue. By the end of your 30-day trial runs, you should come out with at least a couple items you feel confident on that have gotten high scores.Now this takes a lot of time, but you need to be expecting this sort of commitment and much more when running your own business. I can’t express how much this will help, but just doing one of these exercises will make you so much more creative, realistic and it will actually let you realize if you are ready to or even want to start a business. It definitely helped me start thinking outside of my industry and comfort zone, and I hope it will help you.I definitely don’t have all the answers, so if you disagree or have a different opinion, feel free to let me know. I may have not covered something either, so adding to the discussion is great! I'll try to be in and out to answer questions if you have any, and let me know if you want to know more specifics about Fiix’s specific ideation process.In the next part of this series, I’ll discuss how got our initial traction (first customer, first 1000, whatever is significant for your startup) and what it really takes to get yours. Without it, even a fantastic product will never get funding, and I’d say it’s the hardest step for most businesses. I’m always swamped but I’ll try to post the next one within the next week or two. Hope you’ve enjoyed it!

☾Extended Project: The Progress of the Project (March) ☾

1st March 2017

I am still confused as to why but Josh left the a group chat on Facebook which means he can longer keep in contact with the rest of the leaders. He told us that if we wanted to talk to him, it would have to go through Jon which isn't good as work flow will now be disjointed and inefficient. The rest of the leaders tried to add him back to the group chat but he wouldn't join. To resolve this, I told Lizzy this was a problem that had occurred, that we had tried to add him back but he wasn't interested. Instead, Lizzy and I came to the conclusion of having regular leader meetings on Thursdays to keep everyone up-to-date without having to go through the Facebook group chat. Problem Solving.

The animators have began animating the characters for the game but needed some varied facial expressions for Eliza. I created different facial expressions for the character that should cover any emotion she would have in our game. Evidence Below.

Eliza Facial Expressions

3rd March 2017

Today we received the full assignment brief for the Extended Project. As a class, we went through the booklet making sure we include everything to get the grade we want. I am hoping to receive a distinction so I highlighted all the distinction grade criteria I need to reach. I started to feel quite stressed about the final presentation we would have to show to the tutors so I decided to start planning what I will show at the end. Problem Solving.

I also decided to redo some of the GDD pages I had created as I didn't think they were professional enough or to a good enough standard. I decided to use the bios the writers had written for each character but then cut them down so only a small amount of information is given about each character in the GDD. I did this so personalities of each character were hinted at, not just out rightly told to the reader, that way, more mystery and humor is added to the game. Evidence Below. Problem Solving.

Recording with Jamie on my Phone

6th March 2017

The Instagram page wasn't getting much attention from the public, let alone the target audience so I looked up popular art tags to help 'spread the word'. Hash tags on Instagram are used to help people find pictures that they would be interested in and help us branch out and advertise to a relevant audience who would be interested in what we are creating. Problem Solving. I let my art team know to start adding the relevant tags to the end of their posts and as a result, we are now receiving more followers and likes. Evidence Below. Problem Solving.

Art Tags for Instagram

 Ryan Talking About the Improvement of Using Hash Tags

7th March 2017

Callum, the 3D artist, and I were discussing are concerns with the low poly style. From his point of view, when putting the models in Maya, they became too jagged and distorted. From my point of view, this low poly style couldn't be drawn efficiently by the artists to keep up with the design process. Due to this, Callum and I decided that creating the characters with slightly softer angles and bigger proportions would combat the two problems we were facing. Evidence Below. Problem Solving.

Recording with Callum on my Phone

9th March 2017

This morning, Lizzy let me know that Lauren had been feeling very stressed and overwhelmed with her group due to their negative attitude and lack of attendance as she feels it reflects on her. I felt sorry for her and wanted her to feel more in control so Lizzy and I went through both art groups on what they needed to do for the project. After doing this, I relayed it back to them and made sure everyone was clear with the task and was happy with what they had to do. Evidence Below. Problem Solving.

Jobs for Each Artist that Week

19th March 2017

After starting the making of the levels, Jon let me know that we would need more characters with the Trickster in the toy shop to fill out the level. I cam up with the idea that we could have some distorted and damaged toys that could be controlled by the Trickster. Problem Solving. Jon was happy with this idea so, after talking through it with Lauren, I set the artists who didn’t have any work to do to create some of these characters. To add some humour to the game, I drew a distorted Lego Man, tying in the idea of using pop culture references our target audience would understand. Evidence Below.

Evil Lego Man Toy

After showing both art groups by Lego Man idea to get any feedback off them, one student voiced their opinion on copyright laws and how I couldn't include this character in the game because of this. Since none of us knew about copyright laws, I decided to look up the specific laws on copyright in general and in regards to Legos own rules. Evidence Below. The general copyright law states that work can be used for educational or research purposes, which is what I am doing for this project. I then looked up the Lego copyright rules and that stated that their work can be used as long as a disclaimer is included. Due to this information, I am able to use the Lego Man drawing I created. Problem Solving.

General Copyright Laws

Lego Copyright Laws

Telling Lizzy About Copyright Laws

23rd March 2017

As the level designers and 3D artists started creating assets and levels, they realised that more assets needed to be created to fill up the empty spaces. To combat this problem, Lauren and I wrote down a list of all the extra assets needed for the orphanage and sewer levels to which everyone had to chose one to either draw or draw and then 3D model in Maya. Problem Solving. I chose to design a bath asset for the orphanage, taking inspiration from a real life example of a Victorian style bath. I wanted to create the look of an old, steel bath to create the darker tones for the game so using this example would help me achieve that. Evidence Below.

Real Bath Asset Example

Bath Asset Drawing

I also had the time to create the Warden, an old, miserable woman who runs the orphanage. Evidence Below.

Warden Concept Drawings

The Warden

24th March 2017

A few artists have been struggling to draw in the Tim Burton inspired art style that we decided to do at the start of the project. I knew already that some artists didn’t want to change their art style as they found that the one they usually draw in is easier for them, however they needed to explore other drawing styles for future job prospects anyway and me and Lauren wanted them to move out of their comfort zones. The attendance with a few of the artists is also a problem as they didn’t know characters in detail so they couldn’t express the characters personality through its facial features and body. Finally, some of the artists had also not done any research into the Tim Burton art style to begin with so they didn’t know how to take inspiration from it. To help them draw in that style, I created a ‘How To’ guide with pictures to help them with facial features and will move on to body parts and clothes soon. Underneath each facial feature, I detailed what character would have this type of lip, for example. On the side, I also put little notes on how to draw the facial features and how to add detail if needed. Evidence Below.

So far, there have already been a few positive outcomes from this solution. All the artwork in the game will now be in the same or very similar art style, which will keep continuity throughout the game. The art guide I drew also explained what features each character would have so the student who haven’t been in will know what type of character would look a certain way. Problem Solving.

Eyebrow Art Guide

Eye Art Guide

Nose Art Guide

31st March 2017

I was lucky enough to be chosen to be in charge of the visual design and feel of our exhibition showing at First Site. I already have lots of ideas that I can’t wait to plan and put into action. I already know that I want to make most of the decorations, not only because it will save us money, but also because I find it fun to try and create and make different things.

I want to set the exhibition up as if it was Gregory Gills’ Fish Bowl club in the 1920s to really immerse the visitors into our game and get a true understanding of the story. Luckily, I had a friend that had a Great Gatsby themes party so she kindly gave me some of the left over decorations she had from that, but after planning some of the other decorations we would have to buy, I let marketing know that we would need to raise around £80 to pay for those. Lizzy and I came up with the idea of selling tickets at different optional prices that equate to receiving items such as the art book or soundtrack. The money we receive from that would hopefully be able to fund the money to be able to buy the extra decorations needed. Problem Solving.

I’ve already started creating some decorations for the exhibition such as the gold spray painted bottles that I will use as centre pieces on the tables and a the beginning of the backdrop that will be used as a background for the ‘prop’ table. Evidence Below.

Bottle Spray Painted Gold

Gold Bottles  

Beginning of Backdrop