Welcome to the first instalment of Icon Interlude, A fortnightly iconists’ newsletter written by =E-motive & =TheTrueDanteSparda

As common as Icons are, many people put little thought into who made them, or where they came from; Icon Interlude aims to showcase the best parts of the icons gallery and highlight iconists who deserve the spotlight.

Every fortnight each of us will showcase one Avatar and one Emoticon we feel really shines. We will also be featuring four other pieces from two of the other icons sub-galleries, so keep an eye out for what sections have been featured this time!

Our goal is to give the icons gallery the recognition it deserves.

*livius first joined deviantART july 2004 she quickly set about hoarding a vast collection of friends within the iconist world. I’m sure quite a few of us know *livius for her kind words and ever helpful nature. In this interview we find out why she loves us and her thoughts on the future of icons

1. What is it about the icons gallery that draws you to it?

At first I was just looking for someone for a commission. I needed quality icons -- post and emoticons, primarily -- for my discussion board, and all roads led to dA. Once I got here, though, I was so blown away by the level of detail, by the emotion these tiny pieces conveyed, by the miniaturization itself, that I began to browse it downright passionately.

2. Is there something you particularly look for when browsing the icons gallery? Or is it more spontaneous?

I try to keep an open mind and give every piece at least two good, hard stares. Experience has taught me that every time I've made assumptions about what I like or what is good, someone brilliant has come along to upend all my preconceptions.

Of course, if I'm looking for something specific -- usually a request from one of my forum members -- then I'll skim the galleries with just that one piece in mind.

3. Do you have a favourite artist? Or maybe artists? deviantART based or otherwise.

It would definitely have to be plural for me. There are so many artists I love, from Caravaggio (who gets the most favored title in my dA profile), to his stylistic heir the astonishing baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi, probably more famous for the rape trial during which she was tortured by the state to prove she wasn't falsely accusing her rapist than for her dramatic chiaroscuro representations of powerful Biblical women.

As you can see, it's probably best not to get me started on the subject or you'll run out of space.

4. You are clearly an emoticon lover, but what other art forms or sub-groups within the icons gallery do feel yourself drawn to?

I view the cursor and avatar galleries regularly. Miscellaneous is great browsing ground as well. I love all the stamps, and you never know what you're going to come across.

5. As a person who always gives useful critique, do have any advice you wish to give to budding iconists?

My best piece of advice is the one I have the hardest time taking myself: whatever you've done, no matter how imperfect you think it is, how much more work you think you should put into it before it's "worthy", how deeply you fear criticism, or worst, rejection, just hold your nose and upload it.

Even a single good critique can help you get over an obstacle, maybe even show you a whole new approach to take.

Other than that, browse, browse, browse.

6. When making icons, is there anything you do to make the environment around you more comfortable? E.g. listen to music, Adjust the lighting in a particular way.

What a charming question. Not surprising considering its authors.

I like strong, diffuse, full spectrum light. Glare is the devil. I also have a favorite chair, somewhat akin to the "Comfy Chair" preferred by the Spanish Inquisition.

I bet you didn't expect that, didya?

7. When you create icons, what program do you use and why? Is there anything about this program you don’t like, and how would you change it to improve it?

I use Macromedia Fireworks, mainly. It's an immensely complex program. If I could chance anything it would be my own grasp of those complexities.

8. When you suffer from the dreaded “Artists Block” What do you do for inspiration?

I go through my members' requests and see if there are any that set off any sparks. In fact, I very rarely have ideas that hit me like a bolt out of the blue. Almost everything I've made has been stimulated by something I've read.

9. You have a rather small gallery compared to how long you have been a member of deviantART. Is there any reason for this?

See answer number 5. I don't consider myself an artist, but rather a patron. Anything I upload has been through about a hundred and fifty thousand mental filters to assess its worthiness to be in the same company as, say, =E-motive's T1000. Most pieces don't make it past the initial rounds.

10. How did you find out about deviantART and what made you join the community?

I wanted to find out where smilies come from. Every emote I'd ever seen came from somewhere else and was just passed around endlessly. After some Googling, I found the dA emoticon legend, and for the first time the artists were attributed.

I immediately registered, bought a sub, and went about faving everything I might eventually want for my hoard. Then the requests for permission began...

11. What do you think the future holds for icons? Bearing in mind how far we’ve already come, or what would you really like to see happen?

I think three-dimensionality is an aspect which will be explored in more depth as icon creation progresses. Perspective and depth are very hard to achieve in such a small format, and so far the focus has been on rounding out individual figures.

Icons like =Unmentionables' Surround-sound or =Marc-pHX's Emote Bowl are the vanguard of a new CGI-like depth perception, and I think we're going to see a lot more of it coming up.

Oh, and also, at long last: sound.

12. Why do you think we value icons so much? Surely we could just use text to tell us what things are.

I think human brains dig representations. It's a way to share information that transcends the limitations of written expression. Naturally it has limitations of its own, and I do lurves me a great turn of phrase, but an icon can contain more information in 2 square pixels than 20 paragraphs of text.

13. Is there anything you would like to see change within the icon community?

I'd like to see more thorough critiques as a matter of course. It's wonderful to be thanked and to know that your work has made someone laugh, but people put hours and hours of work into their art. Why not take 10 minutes to write up a specific critique?

We'd like to thank *livius for taking time to answer our questions.



This weeks features in the avatar section are:


nesmariostatue by ~Okistea

nesmariostatue is an amazing example of what a pixel avatar can look like when hard work is put into it.

This avatar pays homage to the Super Mario games of old, on the NES. From the little Mario on top, to the Goomba and Piranha plant at the bottom, this avatar is clean throughout.

This static avatar shines with quality.

Featured by =TheTrueDanteSparda




Banana Love by =firstfear

Banana Love by =firstfear is a unique avatar in my opinion.

What caught my eye is the detail, surely you ask “but its just a banana?...” and yes that’s true but the pixel art is well done.

From the shading of the skin to the delicate line to show slight curve, it’s also strangely cute for a banana.

Featured by =E-motive



We also liked in avatars:





This weeks features in the emotes section are:


:reaper: by *Th3-D3V1L-W1th1N-M3

Never laugh at death…

:reaper: by *Th3-D3V1L-W1th1N-M3 is the only emoticon in this deviants gallery.

It’s the humour of this piece that made me choose it, it may not be the smoothest in terms of animation but for concept and the facial expressions it’s earned a place as one of my favourite emoticons.

Featured by =E-motive




:sour: by =brokenboulevard

I love :sour:. The expression on the little emote accurately shows what happens when you suck one of those little sour sweets. The floating in the air for 8 milliseconds is optional though, That generally doesn’t happen. Most of the time.

The construction of the emote is clean, and the animation fluent. I’d love to see this on the revamped list.

Sour Sweetie Anyone?

Featured by =TheTrueDanteSparda



We also liked in emoticons:





The first gallery that we have decided to feature from this fortnight is the cursors gallery.


Oh Noes cursor by *LeoLeonardo

Oh Noes cursor by *LeoLeonardo is an amusing little addition to the cursors gallery. With the infamous ohnoes face swinging from the cursor, How could anyone resist this little gem?

The animation is fluent, and the facial expression does the ohnoes terrific justice.

This cursor can be found in Emoticon cursor project by *dutchie17




Blackcm by ~almo14

Blackcm
by ~almo14 is one of the best cursor packs I’ve seen in a long time.

The smooth and sleek design of these cursors would be a welcome sight on any desktop.

It would work particularly well on the desktop of those users who prefer a darker or sleeker design.



The second gallery that we have decided to feature this fortnight it the Mac OS Icons gallery.


Folder Icons by ~ialaddin

The simple yet informative style of Folder Icons by ~ialaddin really caught my eye.

Macs are well known for their style when compared with PC’s and these icons compliment that well.




Faces of Finder by :devKyle-Minstry:

The Apple Mac operating system shines with its outstanding icons, which give it a sleek and crisp feel. The “Finder” is one of these many little icons that can be seen on the Mac OS.

Faces of Finder by ~Kyle-Mistry takes the little Finder face, and takes it that little bit further, and does it so stylishly.

The many expressions of the Finder are bound to put a smile on your face.



We'd like to thank you all for reading, and we hope you tune in a fortnights time for the next edition of Icon Interlude!