dougsmith1000 wrote:I'm not really an active woot person, but I like looking at the designs and I order shirts now and then. I don't normally write, but am now because I'm a little surprised that 3 of the 4 designs made it to the top 4.
I like Edgar, but I don't get this shirt. It's the outline of a raven and a line by line copy and paste job of The Raven.
Hey Doug, great post. You write your thoughts well, and as a designer, I appreciate the critique.
Certainly the design is a bit simplistic, but I put real thought into what parts of the poem to include. In terms of art or time, this design might not rank well, but the goal of this derby is to make a shirt that will appeal to consumers like myself. In almost every derby, I make two designs: one that takes a fair amount of thought and effort, and one simple idea that has general (I hope) visual appeal. You'll find the former in this derby with about 14 votes labeled "The Poet's Arsenal". It's frustrating to spend hours on a failing design, but informative.
In that sense, it's with wry humor that I observe this doing so well. But no one is being fooled or cheated, nor should they be mocked for liking it. "The Raven" does not lose any poetic merit because it is popular. Plus, ascii art is awesome.
The goal is votes, not esoteric humor or lofty references or anything else. That way, the voters win, woot wins, and artists get better insights into what designs are the most broadly appealing.
I think the "taking oneself too seriously" thing is a dangerous view. It can be a vague way of insulting someone by saying "that person should have my priorities instead." I do see where you're coming from, and you may read this thinking, "wow, 5 paragraph response; I have this guy pegged."
Now, if you just want to make sure I have some sense of humor, here's my irregularly updated blog.
