Promotional Websites/ Research

Deviant Art

deviantArt (official typeset as deviantART; commonly abbreviated as dA is an online community showcasing various forms of user-madeartwork. It was first launched on August 7, 2000 by Scott Jarkoff, Matthew Stephens, Angelo Sotira and others. deviantArt, Inc. is headquartered in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States.

deviantArt aims to provide a place for any artist to exhibit and discuss works. Works are organized in a comprehensive category structure, including photography, digital art, traditional art, literature, Flash, filmmaking, skins for applications, and others, along with extensive downloadable resources such as tutorials and stock photography. Additional utilities consists of journals, polls, groups and portfolios.

As of August 2010 the site consists of over 14.5 million members, and over 100 million submissions, and receives around 140,000 submissions per day. In addition, deviantArt users submit over 1.4 million "favorites" and 1.5 million comments daily. The domain deviantart.com attracted at least 36 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete.com study.

DeviantArt allows submissions across a wide variety of media, although the community predominantly focuses on manga and digital

I am a user of Deviant Art and I have found it to be one of the most important websites in not only improving my work as an artist but also promoting my work to employers. Since I have been a member I have uploaded various art pieces that have had interest. A few of these images have given me job opportunities where I have produced work for graphic design companies.

Conceptart.org is also another nonprofit company founded by Jason Manley, Andrew Jones and Coro Kaufman. The site also incorporates a forum where artist can discuss artwork and give critiques. The site is targeted towards professional artists working for the entertainment industry, but is generally welcoming towards neophytes too.

I think the idea of creating a promotional website that is directly associated with the college and its students could be a very positive move in encouraging young, creative individuals to produce good quality work. We could also incorporate opportunities for students to talk about their work, give critiques and even highlight important techniques and skills which could improve the work of post graduates for the future.