Importance of social media

Social media is an important part of any business or start up. Its different from a website as it encourages people to engage rather than the typical regular viewing of work. Social media is perhaps one of my favourite places to upload anykind of stuff i wrok on, including my art and cosplay.

I personally have made alot of good friends through social media, and infact its so much easier to get in contact with other artists and creators, putting us all really on one platform. I've asked many questions thorugh DM's before about tips and "where to buys" and its helped me greatly. Similarly I've had the same questions posed to me. Engagement is is impotant, it not only helps build a realible audience but helps you grow a bigger and better network with other artists. Talking with people and replying to comments is my favourite part! Though people rarely critque you, I do value my peers assessment of my work, EVEN IF I didnt ask them for it. I love building not only an audidence but gaining friends from posting. Considering how young social media is I believe its affected how people engange and repsond with their consumers are extreme. Artists feel more like people now with voices, opinions and personlities, rather than just names on an art piece. 

Making people feel like they are more involved in the process creating a sense of community, always nice to have when trying to grow and get your name out there Posing questions and giving yourself a recognisable personality builds a rapor and relationship with your audience, and askign questions in your captions or asking for opinions encourages engagment from people, for them to repond, share their opinion or as a question. I've also enganged in "art trades" before. This where I traded a piec of my art for someone else's, they both get uploaded and both artists get notoriety and recognition for their work. So it's a mutually beneficial trade.

This Brings me to my next, spicy debate topic

Working for exposure?

Working for exposure is something not only practised by artists, but encouraged by company’s large and small. Sometimes it’s very VERY blatant in their suggestion, other times it’s disguised as a “competition” this method is primarily used by larger companies or projects. Though working for exposure isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it really isn’t encouraged. You wouldn’t work for free after all and that’s essentially what these people ask for. Mutually beneficial trades differ from a company making a potential profit from your work and you receive nothing but the possibility someone actually checking out your work. 

A recent example of working for exposure would be the newest James Bond movie campaign, though the dead line for the "competition" has passed they asked for designers and illustators to design posters for the up coming movie "no time to die"

Though there is a $2000 cash prize for each piece selected, and 20 others will be sleceted as finalists and recieve $250 per piece. the biggest selling point they honed in on was the use of it on Bond social media and material. The cash pay out is noce but also only once, you dont recieve royalties for your work, long term wise you only really get the posibility of someone from the bond social medias actually searching your name. At first glance to anyone it would be a fabulous oppotunity, and they wouldnt inherenty BE wrong, but really it feels like you're just designing a movie poster that will be 

​Used all across their social media and potentially at movie theatres, thats alot of work for a poster and design work youre not really being paid for. Estentially working for free, to potentially get a one off cash pay out. Though I do think the notion of being part of the creative process for such a big project would be exciting, its work and being part of a process youre not really being paid for.

There have been many examples of people asking for free products in exchange for exposure from independent artist, since social media became such a large part of the illustration world people with a large following often see them wearing or "advertising" a small business' products as a form of payment. Though artists and small business' have been able to see the humourous and ridiculousness side, it does highlight how generally accepted it is now to accept exposure as a form of payment in some desperate attempt to make a name for yourself even if that name is foggied in working for free and for dodgy companys or people.

​Oppotunities like this arrise all the time, countless times I've been approached in regards to my cospplay from clothing companies asking for ME to purchase their items that they can use for their social media to promote their clothes, with the only benefit I get being "exposure" this is naturally something I never go for, because unlike art trades I tale part in that benefit both me and the pther artist and neither of us are really losing out, I would be out of pocket helping a company out because I may gain SOME traction. So where I do think that working for exposure isn't always a bad thing, maybe as you start out and it idnt your main source of income, or its something you enjoy doing and do it in your spare time, youre not really losing out on anything, But if it has become your career and you rely on it for your income, wasting your time on work youre not being paid for is unbeneficial to you "exposure doesn't pay the bills"