ArtCRED
OVERVIEW
This was a interaction design project. It aims to address the problem in the fan art community where fan artists are often not given the credits they deserve. It can be easy to forget that there are people behind art, and, I think, behind things. To forget that there is labor behind products. In the design of the protocols I wanted to remind users simply of the fact of social creation, that everything we touch and everything we love was created not only by someone somewhere sometime, but by communities everywhere, all the time. Link to interactive prototype: http://a74qr6.axshare.com |
SKILLS
Hi-fi prototyping, paper prototyping, sketching, persona, story mapping, QOC analysis, competitive analysis, wireframing TOOLS Axure, Windows Movie Maker |
Problem Description
This prototype is intended to solve a problem for fan artists who have sometimes complained of their artwork being stolen or not properly credited. It is not always the case that people will try to pass of the artists’ works as their own, though that certainly does happen, but it could be because others simply repost the art without permission, or without proper credits, such as using their names or providing a link back to their websites.
This may cause some material harm to the artists, as they often sell original prints or take commissions, along with their freely available works, which can act as advertisements. Without proper credit, arguably the artists lose some income.
This may cause some material harm to the artists, as they often sell original prints or take commissions, along with their freely available works, which can act as advertisements. Without proper credit, arguably the artists lose some income.
Little is currently being done about this. Mostly, artists take it upon themselves to include a sentence or two posted along with the art, asking others to only repost with credit. Other fans in the community are also conscientious and try to ask others to do the same, by using reverse image searches to try to find the original artist.
(Screenshots of individual attempts to fix this problem in the community, most of them being pleas for fans to properly credit art.) |
Methodology
Ideation Phase
Next I sketched 8 alternative solutions in a comic form. These included some outlandish ideas and other more down-to-earth ones. For example, I suggested that fan artists go on strike until their demands are met, and I also thought about a Chrome extension/browser plug-in that made looking up the original artist easier and more accurate.
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I expanded on the needs of fans and fan artists as two audiences in this stage, story mapping. Fans would need an easier and more accurate way to search for the original artists of the work. Artists would need to have more control over how their work is being shared and used, as well as a standard protocol for specifying their sharing and use preferences.
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Prototyping Phase
In this Questions, Options, and Criteria Analysis, I consider several implementations of my solution, which would be a website.
I identified several must-need features and then explored several ways to implement them, while listing their advantages and disadvantages. Features:
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My solution first took shape in this paper prototype, which I had made 2 versions of. This is the second one, incorporating suggestions & feedback from users as well as my peers. I added several features common to fan art platforms here, like stats & notifications.
I wanted to have as little attachment to the existing design as possible so that I could feel free to change it anytime I wished. That meant the result should look unpolished, so I didn't use too many colors or use rulers or similar tools to make sure everything lines up. |
Prototype
Link to interactive prototype: http://a74qr6.axshare.com
Features
Allows artists to submit their own artworks to the database with their own licenses and sharing protocols, specifying how they want their images to be shared or not be shared at all
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Other miscellaneous features:
- Allow artists to connect their existing accounts from other popular platforms so that they do not have to upload their images again one by one
- Allow artists to both use a standard system of licenses and protocols while at the same time make up their own
- Allow artists to keep up with how their images were being shared and if they were shared improperly. This also necessitates a reporting feature which allows fans to report if an artwork is being plagiarized or shared without credits.