I don't like to do this, but it seems like there's a little reminder in order.
I've been going through galleries for the upcoming promotions and noticed, especially in the senior section, that there is a sad lack of originality and variety in the galleries. There were times where I went into someone's gallery and had the impression I'd seen that gallery before - and yet, the galleries were actually from two different artists.
First on originality. Emulating styles from artists you admire is all good and well, but not to the expense of your own style. If I go into a gallery and think "Wow, this person's work looks a lot like that person's work" I will probably not promote you - and neither will Beth or Susan. It's okay to get inspiration from others, but when your graphics almost look like a carbon copy of those artists, your chances at promotion will drop considerably.
Another thing is the variety in graphics: There are some artists I've seen with a very sound style, but who do the same thing over and over in every graphic - use the same sort of stock, the same colouring technique etc. Those galleries are, to be honest, boring to look at, no matter how good the style of that artist. I can frankly tell you that in doing this, you're never going to reach staff level - because to reach that level you need to go outside your safety zone and try and make graphics others/you haven't made before yet.
Perhaps a lot of you will think this obvious and this should be obvious, but I've been disheartened by what I saw and have the feeling a lot of you need a little reminder of this. If you don't step up your game (and this goes for juniors, seniors and graduates), a lot of people who could get promoted because they have the skill will not be promoted because they're not being creative/original enough And I, for one, would rather see a long promotion list than a short one.
Edited by afterglow, 08 February 2015 - 12:07 PM.