Quickie question...

[ash48]

Do you think having a graphic, as in a banner, enhances a fic or vid post? Do you think a banner makes a difference as to whether you would read or watch something?

Just curious..

Also. Not sure why. Lost and Gillian's Island. Just a thought.

Oooh and an art rec while I'm here: The Dicks It's ok. It's safe for work. :D It's fab art of the angels in SPN. Love it.

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

LOL, did the art post inspire the question? It would certainly be appropriate.

For myself though, no, it makes no difference at all. I certainly appreciate a nice piece of art (or pieces as in the case of BB and some long-running stories). But for me it works like advertising. I might notice a story because of art, but unless the story seems like something I want to read on its own, it won't matter. And if the story seems like something I might like, it won't matter if art's attached to it or not, or what the quality of art is.

I've seen some people say that they won't try fic that has poor quality art, or even if the author uses an icon the viewer doesn't like! It strikes me that this is a habit that comes out of being in a large fandom, where the main problem is narrowing down your choices, not hoping that someone has posted anything in the last week.

You've made me ponder how I tend to click on vids though. I think it tends to be an equal combination of the vidder, the song, and the characters in it. Except for the characters part this is pretty different from fic, because most of the time I don't even remember who wrote something.

[mara-snh.livejournal.com]

Your icon is lovely.

[yourlibrarian]

Oh thank you! It was made by indulging_breck as part of a series on all the episodes of Angel.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

LOL, did the art post inspire the question?

Hee! No. Actually it's this vid I'm working on... ;) I'm trying to decide if I should have a banner made for it. (Though that picture she has of Cas would be cool - if the vid was crack or something).

I've seen some people say that they won't try fic that has poor quality art, or even if the author uses an icon the viewer doesn't like

Wow, that's harsh. Though I get your point about having to narrow down the choices. though for fic it comes down to the author (I certainly have my set "go to" authors") recs and summary.

For vids...um... recs mostly draw me in and if I know the vidder. The art work doesn't usually make a difference whether I'll watch it. Though I do like it to give me an idea of what the "feel" of it might be like.

(Loki has offered to make me a banner, so I can't really pass that up because I always love her work).

<333

[yourlibrarian]

It's always great when people will make you nice things ;D

I think for me the vidder matters more than the author because there are relatively few vidders (many of whom are multifannish) and there can be a significant difference in technical skill. Assuming an author is a passable writer, I will likely enjoy the story mostly for the premise and any little twists or nice bits of dialogue they offer. But there are many passable writers, and relatively few authors whose every piece of work is a must-read. So I may enjoy one thing from a person and nothing else, or at least nothing else for some time. So who the author is matters less to me than what they chose to write about.