Take the 10% Challenge (locked)

As an artist, we tend to spend a lot of time deciding what to put into our portfolio. Which pieces will buyers like? Which ones do I like? Which ones do I think will be popular?

These are all important questions to ask yourself when trying to create a body of work to show to the world. Before we know it though, we have pages and pages of our work on display. This often results in confusion and disorientation for the viewer/buyer and can easily make things overwhelming and an unenjoyable experience for them.

Ever notice how many images are on display from any one artist at a gallery show? Quite often it is only a handful (or even just one). Even at some of the largest exhibits, it is rare to see more than a dozen pieces of work on display from the same creator.

Why is that?

Well, it helps keeps things fresh, allows for a more intimate experience for the viewer and puts the spotlight on individual pieces.

Now, RedBubble might not be a physical gallery, but a lot of the same principles can be applied here. Coming across a member’s portfolio with pages and pages of work is quite overwhelming for a viewer and lessens the impact of each of your images. You may have some great stuff in there, but buyers can be reluctant to sort through everything.

A good exercise to go through for any artist is to re-evaluate your entire portfolio every couple of months and cull it back by at least 10%. Not only does it clean things up, it also helps you create a more critical eye of your work as well as creating a better environment for your new works to be displayed. Plus you get a certain sense of freedom and a fresh start. Kinda like a good spring/fall cleaning.

So, are you up for the 10% challenge?

EDIT If you want to clean up your portfolio but still show some of your older work, you can still create a “storeroom” for buyers like this. Remember though to only keep your best.

Cool idea (and, as an aside, are you/we running out of server space?!). I’ve loosely given myself the challenge of not having more than three pages, or maybe sixty, items of work (of ‘art’ at any rate).

But I like the idea… especially if you’re a member of Challenge Cafe, there’s a regular creation of work for a specific even and time, which can result in your portfolio blowing out. Those sort of entries tend to get removed relatively frequently since they ‘date’!

...and, as an aside, are you/we running out of server space?!...

LOL. :)

Nope, this isn’t about server space. Just offering a suggestion to anyone that is looking to make their portfolio shine for viewers/buyers.

this is a great idea.. thanks

I tend to constantly review what I’m uploading and cull it back. I was trying to keep it at 1 page only, but I’ve gone a bit over.
Even so, the ones I have up here are only a small fraction of my images anyhow, but I haven’t had a cull in a while, might be time to do it soon.

no sales. i deleted a bunch of art, still no sales. =(

Interestingly enough, I’ve had more comments on my work since I did that then when I had more work on there.

That is interesting – but curious… mmm has this increase in views happened since you got that red dot by your name? Or perhaps after your fascinating trip to SA? :)

damn… for the dot… :(

Please tell me how to arrange for pity sales. lol

and for the record… I do believe the cull / refresh is a good idea – it’s why i change the images on my main (profile) page regularly, and try to keep a coordinated theme. And in the real world, I will be removing all the work I have up at gallery 26 in a week or so, and putting only new work up. (even though there’s a couple of images there that always get comment/attention etc – they’re getting a bit tiresome I think)

I just think the structure / drivers for RedBubble don’t support the cull properly … after all, if someone at the gallery says to me “oh, that photo I liked is gone, I was going to buy it today” I can just say – “not gone, it’s in the storeroom – get your wallet out and don’t move!”

Actually I sold a painting from the storeroom a couple of weeks ago – people were looking at a particular artist’s work (bodymechanic) but what he had on display didn’t quite “fit”. I went back to the store room, checked what was there and sold them one of those.

RedBubble members need a store room :)

Oops…I meant to say “I’ve”...damn lousy typing!

I’ll tell you what would be nice, speaking about rearranging your folio….

A bloody page up/down button!!!!!!!!

Whew, I managed to get my folio down to 100 works, down one whole page. I can’t just seem to slash more, maybe I’ll try again in the near future. I’ve been meaning to do this for awhile now.

Can’t you just set the image to “not visible to the public”, that way its still there for later usage but no-one can see it? That would work as a pseudo store-room.