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Art PACT: Paying freelancers in exposure
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<blockquote data-quote="Steve Conan Trustrum" data-source="post: 6233482" data-attributes="member: 1620"><p>I guess then where my disconnect with your point is coming is that the stock art aspect of your point doesn't necessarily have much to do with your conclusion.</p><p></p><p>Cheap, poor art is cheap, poor art. Whether it is stock art or original art, overused or unrecognized, the quality will be what customers care about -- attributing this to stock art instead of just art, period, doesn't jive with how we can see art affects sales in the market.</p><p></p><p>I've used several images that end up being used in a lot of other products, and when I see them appear on a cover for someone else's product and that they are poorly utilized and look horrible, I admit to groaning a bit inside because my instinct is to think "great, how will that reflect on how I've used it?" Once that initial instinct passes, though, I put it entirely out of my mind because, as sales and reviews indicate, their use of it doesn't affect my sales in any measurable manner.</p><p></p><p>Short of outliers, a typical customer might (at most) think "sheesh, this art again? Blech" and move on to judge the overall content as a whole. But, short of something else souring their experience, the core market won't walk away from a product or publisher that otherwise suits their needs over cheap or overused stock art. The fact that some publishers use original art from artists with styles that are known for being judged poorly (or outright hated by large sections of the core fans) and still make respectable or good sales with the products would seem to confirm this. For example, I think the worst art comments I've received on my products were regarding original pieces, but that product continues to sell quite well.</p><p></p><p>I think that sometimes as publishers and creative talents we often feel the need to interject our own subjective perspectives into our market the wrong way, attributing our opinions to a typical customer through our own biases, and this would be one such instance. Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying art isn't important for a good product or that it doesn't make a difference to the customer. What I'm saying is that I think you're not properly taking into account the customer's primary goal of buying something they can use in their game in a practical fashion, and just how much they are willing to forgive things like bad art -- regardless of its source -- in pursuit of that primary goal. Because, to be frank, I see more than a few popular products that sell well wherein the art is absolutely amateurish and horrid to look at, be it stock art or not, but the customers keep voting for it with their dollars.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Steve Conan Trustrum, post: 6233482, member: 1620"] I guess then where my disconnect with your point is coming is that the stock art aspect of your point doesn't necessarily have much to do with your conclusion. Cheap, poor art is cheap, poor art. Whether it is stock art or original art, overused or unrecognized, the quality will be what customers care about -- attributing this to stock art instead of just art, period, doesn't jive with how we can see art affects sales in the market. I've used several images that end up being used in a lot of other products, and when I see them appear on a cover for someone else's product and that they are poorly utilized and look horrible, I admit to groaning a bit inside because my instinct is to think "great, how will that reflect on how I've used it?" Once that initial instinct passes, though, I put it entirely out of my mind because, as sales and reviews indicate, their use of it doesn't affect my sales in any measurable manner. Short of outliers, a typical customer might (at most) think "sheesh, this art again? Blech" and move on to judge the overall content as a whole. But, short of something else souring their experience, the core market won't walk away from a product or publisher that otherwise suits their needs over cheap or overused stock art. The fact that some publishers use original art from artists with styles that are known for being judged poorly (or outright hated by large sections of the core fans) and still make respectable or good sales with the products would seem to confirm this. For example, I think the worst art comments I've received on my products were regarding original pieces, but that product continues to sell quite well. I think that sometimes as publishers and creative talents we often feel the need to interject our own subjective perspectives into our market the wrong way, attributing our opinions to a typical customer through our own biases, and this would be one such instance. Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying art isn't important for a good product or that it doesn't make a difference to the customer. What I'm saying is that I think you're not properly taking into account the customer's primary goal of buying something they can use in their game in a practical fashion, and just how much they are willing to forgive things like bad art -- regardless of its source -- in pursuit of that primary goal. Because, to be frank, I see more than a few popular products that sell well wherein the art is absolutely amateurish and horrid to look at, be it stock art or not, but the customers keep voting for it with their dollars. [/QUOTE]
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