The Snowflake Theory

At some point or another during our lives we have had an event that caused us to doubt ourselves. Chances are someone older and wiser than ourselves at that time smiled encouragingly and told us to "just be yourself."

This afternoon I had to run out to pick up some excelsior. While I was out I grabbed a couple of my favorite magazines from the rack. When I got home I settled in to have a look at them. I came across a picture of a sign someone had made expressing that sentiment. I have both heard and read that phrase many times in my life. But for some reason today it really stuck with me.

I thought about it tonight. I mean I really thought about it. I could hear all the voices replaying in my head that told me that over the years. I wondered if when I left the house to the date or social engagement that had caused me worry if I had actually followed that advice? I wasn't so sure. Children and teenagers have a tendency to like to fit in.

We are a collection of the people we have known who inspire us, places we have been, experiences we have had and things that leave an impact on us whether they are good or bad. We are shaped by others and outside influences so can any of us truly just be ourselves unless we were raised by wolves?

I passed by Gypsy, one of my three cats, as she was sleeping. She always sleeps in the oddest positions. In fact Gypsy rarely does anything cat like. She definitely marches to the beat of her own drummer. And...she is always just herself. In that moment I envied her.

If you read my blog on a regular basis, you know I have been struggling with my new layout design for my website. I keep making layouts and scrapping them. I was halfway through putting this last one in place when I decided I didn't like part of it. I was afraid it was too much like other things I had seen, and kept telling myself to just be myself.

But today really brought home to me that I don't know what that means. I have been told many times in my life I am very unique, but is being unique what it's all about? Is being yourself marching to the beat of a different drummer like my cat? Again I wasn't so sure.

I have always been pretty comfortable in my own skin. But lately I find myself concerned that I might be doing something too similar to something else. I guess that's in part due to the Internet and all those magazines for crafty women, where we can see what others are doing so easily and trends can be created in a moment. I see so many things I like and I want to incorporate a piece of that here and there into what I do sometimes.

By doing that...does that mean we aren't being ourselves? Does it mean we aren't being individuals if we follow a trend? I think one of the greatest struggles artists have is to be creative, make what you love, be unique and still have a product that will sell in whatever the current social marketplace is. Sometimes you have to conform...and sometimes you simply want to. Of course you always run the risk of having someone claim you copied them. It can be pretty overwhelming at times.

As the evening progressed though, I had a theory. They say there are no two snowflakes alike. Snowflakes know how to be themselves I guess. But they are still all snowflakes and connected in that larger way. The same way Gypsy is unique but still a cat. Maybe no two snowflakes are the same, but I bet a lot of them are really similar. They share the commonality of ice crystals and form them into their own design.

I have decided that being yourself is being like a snowflake. We are always going to be that balance of being like others, but in our own unique way. We are all made of the same stuff so there will be similarities and things we like the same and share the same way, but yet no two of us are alike. I guess I should just stop worrying about it and finish my layout. When I created it, I was just being myself.

A Tangled Web

Before I launch into what I wanted to post about, I will tell you about my trip to the dentist. Apparently I broke part of the cusp. So they gave me an option, I could try something called a buckle patch, or I could have a crown. I went with the buckle patch since I really didn't want another crown. It has a 50/50 shot of staying, so I am in a holding pattern for the moment. He said if it wasn't going to hold we should know within the week. Keep your fingers crossed. I know a crown is inevitable eventually, but I would prefer it later rather than sooner.

I spent my evening with a stack of prominent decorating and craft magazines, the computer and a cup of coffee. I decided since I can't make up my mind what I want to do for this most recent layout, that I would go have a look to see what other people have done on their websites. I went through the ads and any that caught my eye merited a trip to their site.

I must say I was quite surprised by what I saw. While a few were truly engaging and delightful and held my attention...sadly many didn't.

So approaching this from a customer standpoint I will tell you a few things I didn't care for. Maybe that will give someone reading this some feedback. I don't want to hurt any one's feelings by any means, but I think feedback helps us all and I always welcome feedback about my site and how to improve it.

First of all some of them led directly to a blog that people were selling their wares from. Now I know a few of you do that, and I suppose there is nothing wrong with it really. But websites are extremely easy and inexpensive to create what with the software available these days. While I do know how to code, you really don't need to know any more.

From my perspective if you are taking an expensive ad out in a major publication, you should be selling from a site. It just seems more professional.

Another thing I came across were several sites that were one page with a picture or two and a link to their Etsy shop. I didn't click the links because I thought why did you bother doing a site if all you are going to do is send me to Etsy? And quite frankly I don't want to have to track you all over the Internet to find your stuff.

For the sites that I did go to that were actually sites, I noticed a few other things. Some people seem to put so much text on their front pages that I wasn't sure if I was at their site or at their blog. I don't want to read 15 paragraphs on the front page. I want to see your stuff...and maybe a nice little welcome note. IF your stuff interests me then I want to read more about you and your techniques, but to me that should be on another page where it's up to the guest if they want to take time to read that or not. If I am still intrigued then I will pay a visit to your blog. But the first thing you need to grab my attention is a couple pictures of your work that will draw me further into your site and inspire me to click the links so I can see more.

I also don't want to see tons of personal pictures and stories about your family or pets on your front page. Save that for your artist page or better yet, your blog which is like your house, not your place of business.

Which brings up another point. Some of the front pages I saw had tiny pictures in random sizes. That's fine if you're going for a specific puzzle-esque sort of look. But if it's unintentional then you might want to consider making things a little more uniform so it doesn't look haphazardly thrown together. Also many of the pictures were terribly dim. Tiny dim pictures don't tell me what I am even looking at. Thumbnails are fine if they can be clicked and lead to a bigger image of that item. But make sure what is in the thumbnail is discernable on an average computer screen.

Now for the tricky part. The graphics that support your stuff. I am going to say the same thing I have always said to people about their work when I have taught classes. CONTINUITY!

Chances are people who appreciate art or other artists themselves are going to be the bulk of who visits your site. Those types of people are visually stimulated. Make your site visually appealing. But make sure it is has something in common with what you sell. For instance, you wouldn't put graphics that look like they belong on the Facebook page of a 16 year old girl on a site that sells high end victorian antiques. (That was just an example I didn't see that specific thing. But I did see a few things that didn't make any sense.)

Since what I make has a vintage vibe to it, usually my layouts also have some type of vintage vibe to them. It has to make sense. That's not to say you can't make a theme and run with it.

Something else I found truly annoying was sold items. If you have A LOT of items that have sold take them off of your site please. I went to one site that had nothing but page after page after page of sold items. I finally gave up looking for something that was still for sale because even on my fast computer it was taking ages to load. If you want people to see your past work, do a nice gallery of past works, but please don't leave it all up there after it's sold. I would prefer a note on that page that says more items will be arriving soon and maybe a small montage or a group photo of what types of items that page would have, if everything is sold rather than waiting for it all to load and finding nothing available for the effort.

I came across one site that was so nicely done that I stared at their enter page for a full 15 seconds before I moved on. Their site was similar to mine in many ways, but honestly they did it better than I did. I bookmarked that site. I will be returning to it.

Now I realize you may not agree with my assessments of what I saw. But this is just my opinion. I feel that creative people need to express their creativity on their website as well as in their work. It's all an extension of ourselves as artists. That's the goal I keep working towards with my own site. Mine isn't perfect by far, but I keep trying to improve it so that you will enjoy your visit to my world.

I want it to be a fun experience and hopefully something unique that you will think about after you leave and want to return...although that is no easy task. Which is why I keep making new layouts and not using them. I will get there.

For me the perfect site is something attractive, with graphics that enhance but not overpower the work shown, and tells a little bit of a story about what's being sold and the artist who makes it.

Ultimately I think if you are going to spend a lot of time and money on advertising, then make sure you have something that makes the person happy they set their magazine down and went to the computer to have a look. I know it can be time consuming and difficult at times, but your guest deserves it and so does your work.