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Become a Volunteer Artist for The 'Shroom!
Throughout its history, The 'Shroom has been extraordinarily lucky in having not only a massive slate of writers, but numerous talented and dedicated artists from this community voluntarily put their effort and time into crafting art assets for the paper, ranging from backgrounds to banners to portraits to music to much, much more. Be it through serving as Design Manager, contributing art in another staff role, or contributing art as a guest artist on special issues, this community's artists have contributed a great deal to making the paper look as professional and visually striking as possible.
We're deeply thankful to have had so much support for so long, and our hope is that the paper has served and continues to serve as a way for artists who have graciously contributed their talent and effort to hone their craft. Now, we'd like to open up new avenues for the artists of this community to contribute to The 'Shroom, and in doing so, hopefully provide new opportunities for artists to practice their skills, to improve, and to add to their section of the ever-growing metaphorical tapestry of this community's creative endeavors.
To that end, we'd like to extend an offer for anyone with interest to become a volunteer artistic contributor to The 'Shroom!
What becoming a volunteer entails:
In the past, as projects and special issues have warranted it, The 'Shroom has contacted members of the community and asked if they would be willing to make certain specific assets for the paper. Volunteering to be an artistic contributor for The 'Shroom is indicating that you are interested in making assets for special issues and events and are willing to be contacted with requests.
You do not have to take on any requests sent your way. You will always be told what the request is, be told how long you would have to complete it, and be asked if you'd be interested in taking it up, and you may always decline, and there is no negative impact from doing so.
If you're interested in and willing to take on a request, you'll be able to talk with the Design Manager about specific expectations for the request, a good timeline for check-ins, what's essential and where you would have creative liberties, etc. Then, you work as suits you and the schedule you've agreed on with the Design Manager, and turn it in when it's complete. If for some reason completing the request becomes untenable for you, we only ask that you let the Design Manager know in as timely a manner as possible so that we have time to adjust our plans.
If at any time you'd like to be removed from the volunteer contact list, you only need to ask and we will remove you. You can always ask to be put back on later!
Our expectations and your expectations:
The 'Shroom is a volunteer community newsletter. No writer, staff member, or artist, is paid or rewarded for their work beyond the satisfaction of being part of a long-standing community tradition and getting to share their passions with the rest of the community. We recognize that our volunteer artists are contributing an immense amount of time and energy to us for free, and it is of utmost importance to us that our volunteers are treated with respect.
We have a number of guidelines we'll be following to ensure volunteers receive that respect. As a volunteer, you deserve to know in detail what to expect from us, and what we expect from you. To that end, here are key points as to what you should expect as a volunteer:
1. Infrequency - Our goal is that volunteers are given requests no more than twice in a year, if even that much. When given requests, we'll work with volunteers to keep the size of the request manageable within the time they'll have to work on them.
Oftentimes, The 'Shroom has two special issues in a calendar year. It's in advance of these special issues when volunteers are most likely to be contacted, though there may be occasions where volunteers are contacted for special 'Shroom events (e.g., the Blooper Race, or a Scavenger Hunt).
To keep requests to a given volunteer to a minimum, it is our goal to rotate requests through our volunteer list, which means, depending on the nature of the assets we need and who has recently been contacted, it is entirely possible you will not be contacted at all.
2. Comfortable Schedules - We're not an AAA gaming studio; our goal is to avoid, as much as possible, any crunch for all of our contributors. When you're approached for a request, the Design Manager will tell you when that request would need to be finished by. Typically, we'll aim to give you three months for a request. You and the Design Manager can work out a schedule, including check-ins, that works well for you, and adjustments can be made as necessary. If a request is not panning out as the due date approaches and it seems likely that pursuing it will result in crunch, the Design Manager may work with you to rework the request to avoid that outcome.
3. Specialisation - We want these requests to be suited to your interests, style, and talents, so we will try to bring you requests that match your past work and what you indicate you are comfortable working with.
4. Declining Requests - Again, we'd like to emphasize that you are completely welcome to decline a request with no consequence. If you feel a request would be a bit too much on your plate, we encourage you to decline it, in fact. Likewise, if you begin to feel a request is not working out, you can talk to the Design Manager and see about reworking it or have it taken off your plate completely.
These are the key points you should expect from us. Key points of our expectations from our volunteers are:
1. Communication - We're here to work with you, but in order to do so, we will need you to communicate with us. Don't leave us with radio silence, and let us know sooner rather than later if you have any questions, need any help, or are going to need to rework or drop a request.
2. Timeliness - Related to the above, please try to let us know of changes or issues in as timely a manner as possible. The earlier you let us know you need something adjusted, or you need to drop a request, or that you have a question, the more time there is for everyone to find a suitable path forward. Likewise, try to keep check-ins and due dates in mind as you work.
3. Effort - Different people have different levels of artistic experience, and we're not here to judge a less-experienced artist against a more-experienced artist. In fact, we want to encourage and present opportunities to as many of our volunteers as we can, and we're not expecting the Mona Lisa from anyone! But we do ask that, if you take on a request, you take it seriously. Don't throw a low-effort submission in on the last day. There's a sweet spot between making a masterpiece and scrawling something on a canvas last-minute to aim for!
Please also note that, just as with our writers, we expect you to behave properly and considerately throughout the community. We may remove you from our contact list if you engage in extensive misbehavior in any part of the community.
Finally, as a general note, please understand that we reserve the right to not use an asset you've created for a request. We will always strive to find some way to use a finished piece of art we request, and we will not make a request unless we are all-but-certain the art will be used, but in very rare cases if the final product is made with little to no effort or strays from our request too greatly, we may not use it. Of course, you'd still own it and would be free to use it as you wish!
How do I sign up?
Lots of words so far, but now we're at the easy part! If you want to sign up to be contacted as a potential volunteer artist, simply follow these steps:
1. Contact the Design Manager.
2. Express that you'd like to be a volunteer artist, verify that you've thoroughly read the expectations in this thread and that you agree to the conditions therein.
3. Tell the Design Manager a little bit about what kind of art you're interested in contributing! Explain what medium or media you work with, what you have past experience with, and what you'd want to contribute.
4. Optionally, you can present some of your past work.
And that's it! The Design Manager will let you know you've been added to the list!
Miscellaneous FAQ
What if I'd like to feature art I've made in the paper, or make and display art in an ongoing section, without taking requests?
You don't have to sign on as a volunteer artist to get your art in the paper! We also allow community members to put their art in our Palette Swap team as one-off submissions or to have ongoing sections where they create and display art. If you'd like to send in art to have it featured, you can send it directly to the Palette Swap Director with no application required. You can also contact our Statistics Manager to ask about the best way to get your art in the paper.
Does getting on the list preclude me from taking one-on-one commissions from a 'Shroom writer for their section?
Nope. Some of our writers have, in the past, reached out to artists inside and outside of the community for private commissions for their sections. That is an entirely private matter, between an individual writer and the artist they contact. The 'Shroom takes no responsibility for these transactions and you are free to pursue them or not pursue them in a private capacity as you wish.
Throughout its history, The 'Shroom has been extraordinarily lucky in having not only a massive slate of writers, but numerous talented and dedicated artists from this community voluntarily put their effort and time into crafting art assets for the paper, ranging from backgrounds to banners to portraits to music to much, much more. Be it through serving as Design Manager, contributing art in another staff role, or contributing art as a guest artist on special issues, this community's artists have contributed a great deal to making the paper look as professional and visually striking as possible.
We're deeply thankful to have had so much support for so long, and our hope is that the paper has served and continues to serve as a way for artists who have graciously contributed their talent and effort to hone their craft. Now, we'd like to open up new avenues for the artists of this community to contribute to The 'Shroom, and in doing so, hopefully provide new opportunities for artists to practice their skills, to improve, and to add to their section of the ever-growing metaphorical tapestry of this community's creative endeavors.
To that end, we'd like to extend an offer for anyone with interest to become a volunteer artistic contributor to The 'Shroom!
What becoming a volunteer entails:
In the past, as projects and special issues have warranted it, The 'Shroom has contacted members of the community and asked if they would be willing to make certain specific assets for the paper. Volunteering to be an artistic contributor for The 'Shroom is indicating that you are interested in making assets for special issues and events and are willing to be contacted with requests.
You do not have to take on any requests sent your way. You will always be told what the request is, be told how long you would have to complete it, and be asked if you'd be interested in taking it up, and you may always decline, and there is no negative impact from doing so.
If you're interested in and willing to take on a request, you'll be able to talk with the Design Manager about specific expectations for the request, a good timeline for check-ins, what's essential and where you would have creative liberties, etc. Then, you work as suits you and the schedule you've agreed on with the Design Manager, and turn it in when it's complete. If for some reason completing the request becomes untenable for you, we only ask that you let the Design Manager know in as timely a manner as possible so that we have time to adjust our plans.
If at any time you'd like to be removed from the volunteer contact list, you only need to ask and we will remove you. You can always ask to be put back on later!
Our expectations and your expectations:
The 'Shroom is a volunteer community newsletter. No writer, staff member, or artist, is paid or rewarded for their work beyond the satisfaction of being part of a long-standing community tradition and getting to share their passions with the rest of the community. We recognize that our volunteer artists are contributing an immense amount of time and energy to us for free, and it is of utmost importance to us that our volunteers are treated with respect.
We have a number of guidelines we'll be following to ensure volunteers receive that respect. As a volunteer, you deserve to know in detail what to expect from us, and what we expect from you. To that end, here are key points as to what you should expect as a volunteer:
1. Infrequency - Our goal is that volunteers are given requests no more than twice in a year, if even that much. When given requests, we'll work with volunteers to keep the size of the request manageable within the time they'll have to work on them.
Oftentimes, The 'Shroom has two special issues in a calendar year. It's in advance of these special issues when volunteers are most likely to be contacted, though there may be occasions where volunteers are contacted for special 'Shroom events (e.g., the Blooper Race, or a Scavenger Hunt).
To keep requests to a given volunteer to a minimum, it is our goal to rotate requests through our volunteer list, which means, depending on the nature of the assets we need and who has recently been contacted, it is entirely possible you will not be contacted at all.
2. Comfortable Schedules - We're not an AAA gaming studio; our goal is to avoid, as much as possible, any crunch for all of our contributors. When you're approached for a request, the Design Manager will tell you when that request would need to be finished by. Typically, we'll aim to give you three months for a request. You and the Design Manager can work out a schedule, including check-ins, that works well for you, and adjustments can be made as necessary. If a request is not panning out as the due date approaches and it seems likely that pursuing it will result in crunch, the Design Manager may work with you to rework the request to avoid that outcome.
3. Specialisation - We want these requests to be suited to your interests, style, and talents, so we will try to bring you requests that match your past work and what you indicate you are comfortable working with.
4. Declining Requests - Again, we'd like to emphasize that you are completely welcome to decline a request with no consequence. If you feel a request would be a bit too much on your plate, we encourage you to decline it, in fact. Likewise, if you begin to feel a request is not working out, you can talk to the Design Manager and see about reworking it or have it taken off your plate completely.
These are the key points you should expect from us. Key points of our expectations from our volunteers are:
1. Communication - We're here to work with you, but in order to do so, we will need you to communicate with us. Don't leave us with radio silence, and let us know sooner rather than later if you have any questions, need any help, or are going to need to rework or drop a request.
2. Timeliness - Related to the above, please try to let us know of changes or issues in as timely a manner as possible. The earlier you let us know you need something adjusted, or you need to drop a request, or that you have a question, the more time there is for everyone to find a suitable path forward. Likewise, try to keep check-ins and due dates in mind as you work.
3. Effort - Different people have different levels of artistic experience, and we're not here to judge a less-experienced artist against a more-experienced artist. In fact, we want to encourage and present opportunities to as many of our volunteers as we can, and we're not expecting the Mona Lisa from anyone! But we do ask that, if you take on a request, you take it seriously. Don't throw a low-effort submission in on the last day. There's a sweet spot between making a masterpiece and scrawling something on a canvas last-minute to aim for!
Please also note that, just as with our writers, we expect you to behave properly and considerately throughout the community. We may remove you from our contact list if you engage in extensive misbehavior in any part of the community.
Finally, as a general note, please understand that we reserve the right to not use an asset you've created for a request. We will always strive to find some way to use a finished piece of art we request, and we will not make a request unless we are all-but-certain the art will be used, but in very rare cases if the final product is made with little to no effort or strays from our request too greatly, we may not use it. Of course, you'd still own it and would be free to use it as you wish!
How do I sign up?
Lots of words so far, but now we're at the easy part! If you want to sign up to be contacted as a potential volunteer artist, simply follow these steps:
1. Contact the Design Manager.
2. Express that you'd like to be a volunteer artist, verify that you've thoroughly read the expectations in this thread and that you agree to the conditions therein.
3. Tell the Design Manager a little bit about what kind of art you're interested in contributing! Explain what medium or media you work with, what you have past experience with, and what you'd want to contribute.
4. Optionally, you can present some of your past work.
And that's it! The Design Manager will let you know you've been added to the list!
Miscellaneous FAQ
What if I'd like to feature art I've made in the paper, or make and display art in an ongoing section, without taking requests?
You don't have to sign on as a volunteer artist to get your art in the paper! We also allow community members to put their art in our Palette Swap team as one-off submissions or to have ongoing sections where they create and display art. If you'd like to send in art to have it featured, you can send it directly to the Palette Swap Director with no application required. You can also contact our Statistics Manager to ask about the best way to get your art in the paper.
Does getting on the list preclude me from taking one-on-one commissions from a 'Shroom writer for their section?
Nope. Some of our writers have, in the past, reached out to artists inside and outside of the community for private commissions for their sections. That is an entirely private matter, between an individual writer and the artist they contact. The 'Shroom takes no responsibility for these transactions and you are free to pursue them or not pursue them in a private capacity as you wish.
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