LittleLion Studio

Quick Tips # 2 – Changing a Pattern’s Background Color

LittleLion — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:32:21 +0000

There are several ways to adapt a pattern to the project you’re working on. One of the most hassle free options would be a simple background color change.

Easy as it may sound though (and it really is!), there are a few steps to follow to make sure you get the desired result.

If in doubt, check this video and start coloring your backgrounds away!

Quick Tips #1 – Adjusting a Pattern’s Size and Repeats for Final Printing

LittleLion — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:00:55 +0000

Ever so often I do receive requests from clients with varying levels of expertise in editing vector graphics asking me how to accomplish some simple but key changes before they can apply my designs in their projects. With this crowd in mind and taking to the heart the maxim that "a picture is worth a thousand words", I decided to experiment and see where 20 pictures per second would get me. ;-)

In other words, welcome to the first installment in a series of Quick Tips videos by LittleLion Studio!

The videos won’t follow a strict rule, just the general idea that I might be able to contribute a few tips here and there regarding techie stuff.

Without further ado, please feel free to watch the video on how to adjust a pattern’s size and repeats for final printing.

This video should be particularly interesting to those looking to print wide format jobs such as wallpaper, textile, canvas, posters and similar items.

If the resolution is too low for your taste and bandwidth, make sure to click/select "720" and watch the HD version in full screen mode.

Feel free to leave comments and suggestions for future videos.

New Collection From The Modern Baby Company

LittleLion — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:48:40 +0000

Not too long ago I was pleased to be contacted by Jesseca Trujillo Bellemare, the founder and head of The Modern Baby Company. I guess serendipity stroke since exactly one day before that I came to know

about her company while browsing through chic websites catering for all things babies.

A few moons later, Jesseca, while pregnant of her third child, managed to pull off a new and more focused collection of onesies and mini art cards solely based on LittleLion Studio’s designs in which she primes in simplicity and elegance.

You can check and order the full array of products directly from her not to be missed website, also a refreshing departure from the limited styling Etsy stores.

Still reading? Stop! Click here! ;)

Fabric Contest At Spoonflower

LittleLion — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:39:20 +0000

Ever wanted to see or have the chance to purchase one of LittleLion’s designs on fabric? Better yet… how about winning 5 yards of quilting-weight cotton fabric featuring LittleLion Studio’s "Flower’s Scent" pattern for FREE?!? Yes, you heard me… for FREE!! Well, you just might, with a bit of effort and a pinch of luck. Keep reading…

Step 2 - Click to highlight it dark green.

Step 3 - Keep browsing through until you reach the last page (page 10) and hit the "I’m done. Save my votes" button.

Step 4 - Verify the casting of your vote.

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If you’re an avid LittleLion Studio fan, you might have noticed something familiar while visiting Spoonflower’s website… yes, that’s right… they use our very own Asanoha inspired "Ode to Japan" pattern on their header’s background as well as a LittleLion flower blossoming their logo. Maybe this will bring us good luck, who knows… ;-)

Spoonflower, makers of custom printed fabric is holding yet another "Garden Fabrics" contest and this time around the winning pattern will be made available for sale on their website and the designer will receive a complimentary 5 yard stretch.

Here’s what you have to do:

1) Go to the contest’s page and follow the four steps to cast your vote. Unfortunately the vote is not IP based so go ahead and vote as many times as you like, day after day, until April 15.

2) Come back here and leave a comment.

That’s all there is to it! If it so happens that LittleLion Studio scores this one, the 5 yard fabric will be drawn among those who leave comments. And even if you’re not the lucky one, *if we win* (and that is a big if!), everyone would still be able to put orders for the fabric at Spoonflower, so what are you waiting for?

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The voting process is a bit cumbersome, here are the steps:

Step 1 - Browse through the contest’s pages until you see the "Flower’s Scent" pattern (it will show up in a different page each time).

Parenting Is A Virtue

LittleLion — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 20:30:12 +0000

I took these pictures four or so years ago of some unknown father and son having a philosophical discussion about what seemed to be what the correct way to cross the street is. As you can tell, I kept my distance, but even so, their bodies moved to a tune which I could clearly listen so I took the liberty to add the lyrics…

If father and son ever gets to see this, please understand I mean no disrespect by posting your pictures without proper authorization. Simply, I was moved by the whole scene and just couldn’t resist it. :)

[Click on the image to enlarge]

Microstock Awkwardness

LittleLion — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:34:04 +0000

If you have the stomach, I have the joke! Or the daily misadventures of the microstock world…

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Three months after making the "Peacock Vanity" seamless pattern available for personal projects for free on Vecteezy.com, I have accumulated over 27 thousand downloads. From this contingent, 5 people took the trouble to leave a "thank you" note. [More about that later...]

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Over time I started to figure out each agency’s style and their alleged reasons to rejecting a submission. Inconsistencies in image reviewing among agencies is normal, but it shouldn’t be the norm within a single agency… unfortunately, it is. Classic example: I submitted a print to Agency A, which got rejected for not being "microstock material". A week later I resubmitted the same file to the same Agency only this time around it got approved and was categorized at the highest price level!

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Opening up a design magazine and seeing a 2 page article praising some graphic artist for the originality of her art when it so happens that her "original" work is 80% based on rearrangements of my prints…

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Realizing, after watching 10 licenses worth of credit vanish from my account at Agency B that they have a hilarious refund policy which allows clients to have their money back in case they have "mistakenly" purchased (and received!) my images, based on the promise that they will delete such files from their computers. One day later, it was brought to my attention that those 10 images ended up in a vector piracy pack. What a coincidence, uh?!?

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Receiving emails from small shop startups offering me the incredible opportunity of promoting their websites by donating my work.

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Being offered an irrefutable documented proof that a US$12 million children’s apparel manufacturer pays their employees to copycat my work just so they can claim the originality of their designs.

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Receiving emails from people asking me how much money I make with microstock. Yep, just like that! "Hi! I’m (fill in the girl next door’s name) and I love your work. How much money do make with this?? I was thinking about doing it myself but I’m not sure it’s worth my time…"

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Being contacted by some clueless company asking me to copycat my own work.

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Being threatened by Agency C to having my keywording rights restricted, reason being Agency C offers anyone US$0.02 per "inappropriate" keyword found and some amazingly bright person did not see a small circus tent in one of my patterns and decided to accuse me of keyword misuse for choosing "tent" as one of my keywords, just so he could make US$0.02 out of me. Two days later, the PR person from agency C unknowingly contacts me saying they would be "honored to feature my work in their front page".

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Oh… and by the way, I figured out why at least one of those 27 thousand people didn’t leave a note: Last night (perfect timing for this post!) I received an e-mail from a fan pointing me to yet another usurpation of my "Peacock Vanity". One which I *have* to share with you since it is the cherry on top of the ice cream, translating perfectly the now common awkwardness of daily microstocking. Just look at "Mr. Cavity" (on the right) and you will understand that if I don’t tell you this he will kill me!!

A so called student of Fine Arts from Chicago, sells banners and collages of the "Peacock Vanity" seamless pattern at her Etsy store and she warns customers about "her" artwork:

"These are the real-deal, designed by a design student getting her BFA in Visual Communications [...] You may not sell, trade, or give away unaltered images in either print or digital form. I work hard on each sheet, so please no sharing. Thanks!"

No kiddo, THANK YOU!
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If you haven’t yet gotten your free copy of the "Peacock Vanity" for personal projects, go grab it now! :)

—– Update —–

A LittleLion fan contacted me yesterday to let me know that she was terribly upset about what she had read above, specifically about the Etsy misuse, and that she had filed a complaint with Etsy which, in turn, pulled the mentioned pages from their website. So I guess I am left with a feeling of appreciation for the gesture and hope that LittleLion Studio’s fans will continue to be vigilant and pro-active.

Simplicity Is Key

LittleLion — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:56:48 +0000

One concern which constantly permeates my illustrations is usability. Creating images from a blank digital canvas can be liberating and all but if your goal is to reach the microstock audience, you’d better keep your work useful. Unless of course, you are planning on selling your work through art galleries, but that is a totally different ball game…

Sometimes usability can play as the enemy though, since it trims off all sorts of initiative when you find yourself in one of those days with your creative juices flowing all over. The result: tunnel vision.

In an effort to balancing things out, I discovered that "simplicity" does quite alright for me. So here is the outcome of some moderately fun time playing with the notion of flat ripple effects. I hope you like and enjoy using them. :)

Coordinated Graphics

LittleLion — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:02:20 +0000

Here we are at it again. :) Seamless patterns are all the rage but there comes a time in the life of an illustrator when… okay, too dramatic, let’s try this again.

Seamless patterns can be dandy and challenging to create (in a fun way) but the microstock market claims for versatility. The audience is broad and the use found to graphic content is varied and boundless. With that in mind, I have been working on coordinated graphics which, as implied, are comprised of graphic sets created to be used individually but as a part of a larger compound, project or presentation.

As mentioned, their application is limitless but I foresee a large use in print, be it as cover and inner sides of a card or scattered throughout several pages of a magazine’s article. Maybe they will adorn a nursery’s feature wall or even end up in some poster, who knows?

The "Hi", "Oi" and "Hola" sets are the ones featured in this post but rest assured there are way more sets already available at ShutterStock, both in packs or separately, and there is even more to come, so stay tuned!

GET THEM FROM
(some links available, come back later for more!)

ShutterStock, iStockPhoto, Dreamstime, DepositPhotos

Meanwhile

LittleLion — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:05:53 +0000

Hello earthlings, fear not, LittleLion is still here and still pumping, so don’t write us off just yet! ;-) The short absence is justifiable, read through if you will.

As most of you know by now, LittleLion Studio started as a hobby and as such, without rules, guidelines, best-practices and methods. Almost 3 years and 2,000 images later, things tend to get a little confusing to say the least. Multiple sales channels with different technical requirements and audience profiles don’t really help matters either. What am I to do? Organize!

Documenting best-practices, creating meta-data schemas, verifying technical consistency across files, developing a database to manage all artwork data and their statuses on all sales channels, creating analytical spreadsheets to learn

about and properly direct the business… altogether this is no small feat and as I’m sure you know, extremely time consuming.

These are the tasks I have been spending most of my time on lately and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, thus forcing a slower pace in other fronts such as content creation and posts.

But procedural work is not all. With organization comes business intelligence and with it, strategic decisions leading to innovations… I wish I could tell you to hold your breath but good things take time and I don’t want you to asphyxiate. All I’ll say is that patience is a rewarding virtue. :-)

Nevertheless, visibility is essential in microstock so meanwhile…

Get them from ShutterStock.

Lucky Jade

LittleLion — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:36:42 +0000

Lucky Jade is a children’s apparel brand with a zest for style. Like many others, the company was founded from Leslie Pitts stepping into motherhood and seeking the absolute best for her baby.

It wasn’t long until the high quality products made of cashmere and bamboo became a success. And in

Leslie’s quest for style, elegance and uniqueness, she resorted to LittleLion Studio’s prints.

What is great about it is that Lucky Jade managed to capture the whimsical side of our prints, finding lots of room for playing around with the elements. The result was impressive and can be verified on their website and all the fancy magazines and stores their product found a home at.