Elements are more personal use elements then designer resource. The bracket frame also has a "glow" around it that does not flow the same with the pearl elements within it. 
Designer has creative concepts in allowing scrappers to build their own elements, but again, this is more personal use then designer resource.
The overlays are basic shapes that anyone can use. There is a very subtle texture to them which is nice when using multiple overlays.This designer really should focus on the aspects of designing and growing as a designer before trying to help others design.
44 comments:
OMG, that's really bad, I'm just a scrapper and think it's not good enough even for personal use. Funny thing, this designer founded yet another grab bag reveal blog
http://strictlyreveal.wordpress.com/
where grab bags are being revealed "without drama" which means comments are censored.
And what a coincidence! Most of the designers featured on that blog so far have got well deserved critique from the readers of Nonni's blog. Now ms Morales thinks she's doing a huge favor to the digi community by running that "drama free" blog. She'd better improve her designing skills.
You know what - IRL when i scrapbook i use paint - i rubber stamp and i use lots of mod podge and glue! I love the little (even big) mistakes that i make - because they make the scrapbook something that my family knows I put my sweat equity into!
I love that sometimes when i use pop dots on one side of something and not the other so that the shadows are funky.
I love that sometimes when I use a rubber stamp i have some stray ink on the edge of the stamp and it leaves little ink blots on my layouts.
I love that sometimes when journaling with my own handwriting i make a mistake.
I love love love the imperfections even when I am using digital products and my family does too. All you have to do is look in any irl scrapbooking magazine and see layouts by CD Muckosky, Elsie and other to know that it isnt about perfection.
Only one person is perfect - Our father in heaven. Scrapbooking should be about leaving your legacy to your family so that they remeber you and who you were and that you cared enough to spend the time to leave you mark.
I'm sorry but there is a difference between imperfection and the huge mess clearly shown by the blog owner on the close-up previews.
To be honest, my own digitally made little things (I don't call them designs) are about the same niveau. But I don't charge for them.
Messy CU items = ugly kits = disappointed customers. Not a quality expert, just a scrapper here.
Perfect examples of what NOT to do. The most important one? Do NOT try to be a designer (especially CU) before you are ready. Does this person actually believe that a real designer is going to buy this and use it? Who has misinformed this child? Why haven't her friends gently told her that perhaps she should take a better look at her skills? Here is where a blog such as this really helps people. So many people are afraid to be honest with their friends and family members. Nonni has done her a favor and I hope that she realizes this. This sort of work is just not acceptable to anyone. It's not a case of taste or style differences, or of a couple of jaggies that anyone can clean up. This is about items/products that are simply not usable by anyone. I would think that the owner of the store where she sells would be doing quality checks, but obviously that's not the case either. Unfortunately the market is flooded with new designers many of whom are simply not ready to design at all. This reveal will perhaps serve as a lesson to all that just because you call yourself a designer doesn't make it true.
wow...just..wow. I woudln't even download this as a freebie personal use kit, never mind to actually pay for it as a designer resource. If I did, I would demand a refund. A perfect example of how there are way too many people who think that just because they have a photo manipulation application, *poof* they can be a designer.
At first I thought "Nonni is playing a joke on us." However, I traveled to the store and sure enough, this IS for sale! What's left to say? I can't believe that anyone would think that this is cu (or personal use for that matter) quality. I think this individual (no, I won't call her a designer) needs to improve her skills dramatically before attempting to sell her wares.
I understand about the little "flaws" that make a page your own but you don't start with a stamp that has a mistake in it.
The other reveal blog reveals alot about who is behind it. I can say that it saved me money. I will not be tempted to buy any of the kits listed.
I just want to add that this is a very helpful and fair analysis. Well done, grab bag critique! No drama here.
AMEN to 8:23!! I thought that was weird logic in 6:09's comment. Don't pay for defective things, people.
Is this the designer that includes the religious propaganda? Just wondering because of the name.
6:09...in real life, when I scrapbook, I make a mess as well. But I wouldn't dare sell my mess to someone else and try to make money at it. I'm working on my first paper scrapbook album ever and I can't cut a square to save my life, but I'm not about to put it out there for someone else to buy.
See the diff?
Hopefully this designer will look at these comments constructively and improve her work.
Another quality review, yo!
Is this the designer that includes the religious propaganda? Just wondering because of the name.
__________
I don't know about her, but the religious propaganda comes from Neverland Scrap if I remember her name properly. I downloaded a freebie once and since I got that religious crap, I never went back on her blog.
And about this designer, OH GEEZ!!!!! Anyone just starts to make CU because they hear they can make tons of money with it. Her products are CRAP. She should learn how to use her software and propably design freebies for about a year before trying to make money with crappy stuff.
Unbelievable! This bag speaks volumes for the the store though! I won't be purchasing anything there. I thought that stores had quality standards that designers had to meet before being able to be a designer. Guess this one doesn't!
Anonymous said...
This bag speaks volumes for the store though! I won't be purchasing anything there.
Hey now, don’t be calling a tree a forest! Benevolent Boutique is a Charity store. 100% of the proceeds from the monthly collab kits go to the Charity of the month, and 25% of all other designer contributions goes to charity as well. The designers who contribute there do so because they have a desire to make the world a better place. This month we’re making a donation to Reece’s Rainbow, and helping an orphaned Down syndrome child find a family to love and care for him. You can read more about the cause here: http://www.reecesrainbow.com/childofthemonth.htm
If that doesn’t speak volumes for the store, then I don’t know what does.
Perhaps before condemning a store for the products of one designer you should actually look at what is sold there and why. There are some very talented people at Benevolent Boutique designing for a cause.
Very bad, I think the designer needs to carefully check her stuff before zipping them up. These are major flaws that's not supposed to be left on the products, especially when it's commercial use.
I can handle some minor flaws like little jaggies, but when it shows up too much, it's unbearable. Thanks for showing this. It teaches me some lessons.
She needs to learn how to use her graphic programm before trying to sell her stuff.
The major problem is this kind of designer can bring bad reputation to the site.
"Perhaps before condemning a store for the products of one designer you should actually look at what is sold there and why."
Does it really matter? That's quite a bad statement and it's a very unimportant point when selling something. A lot of people sell all kinds of things for charity. I'd rather simply donate money to the causes I believe in. I don't buy stuff simply because the money is going to charity. If I see something I like and it just so happens the profits go to charity, then great. Otherwise, it simply doesn't matter..if the product is not something I can use or is crap, why would I want it? If a homeless person was selling their old sneaker for food, I might give them money but why would I want a smelly old shoe?
If this digi store is donating to charity, wonderful. However, if the items being sold are crap, they're better off setting up a donation website without offering anything at all for sale.
If this digi store is donating to charity, wonderful. However, if the items being sold are crap, they're better off setting up a donation website without offering anything at all for sale.
My point was have you looked at the store to see if all the items being sold are “crap,” or are you judging an entire store and all of the different designers there on the basis of one grab bag? Have you even gone over there to browse?
I personally stand behind the quality of each and every one of my kits; both those sold at BB and those at my personal store. The one time I found a problem with a product that had already been uploaded to my store; I issued vouchers to all the customers who purchased that item before most of them had even noticed the error.
I take the quality of my work and the satisfaction of my customers very seriously. My request is that you don’t make blanket statements about a store based on one product issued by a single designer.
I’m sure if we all think about it we wouldn’t want to be judged based on the actions of others, right?
Hmmm....6:09 must be the "designer" in question.
This is SO bad! I would never buy anything this person designs. I had also never even heard of this store, but I had to go look. Sorry, but I won't be back.
People...take the time to learn to design usable products!! And for God sake, don't embarras yourself by putting stuff like this up for sale!! I'm embarrassed for you!!
Anne, I have looked at your designs. They don't look any better then those critiqued here. You say your items are of quality and stand behind them, so send them in to this critique and let us see your quality. You could save the reputation of this store.
Signed anonymous July 13, 2008 5:36 PM
Hi Anne,
What you say would have some merit, but having surfed over to the store I didn't find any indication that your stuff is any better. I saw that most of the items in that store are subpar, imo. Why not send in a kit of yours and let's have a critique reveal. This way you could prove your case.
Why I'd love to! I don't do grab bags so you'll have to go over to the other blog to get the results though. :)
I'll be sending in some links in a few minutes.
I think the concept behind Benevolent Boutique is a great idea. So maybe you "donate" some money and get a kit for your good deed... and you might have to clean it up a bit or chuck some of it... okay. Still, I think its a wonderful idea. Just sayin', folks. I haven't been over there to inspect the work with a fine toothed comb, yet. Just want to give props for a store that gives to charity... that thing about Reece's Rainbow really touched me as I have a younger brother with a developmental disability.
Just a thought, while yes this is a good cause, there is already an extremely successful charity boutique called "Songbird Avenue" which donates 100% of their proceeds to charity. However, you won't be able to donate any money if you have no sales because of poor quality. Perhaps, it would be far wiser to contribute by buying one of their kits, rather than to try to raise money with poorly constructed products of your own.
I sent in my links to the blog owner for her to critique one of my kits as well as one of my CU products.
I was thinking though (that's always dangerous LOL), and decided that there's no reason the critiquing should be exclusive. I'd like everyone to go ahead and take a look at the same kit I sent in to be critiqued.
I'm offering up my Lakeside kit to the readers of this blog free until August first.
Just go here:
Lakeside Full Kit
to pick up the "Lakeside" kit.
Then enter in this coupon in the "Discount Coupon" box on checkout:
critiqueblog
You will receive 100% off the purchase price of that kit in my personal store.
Also, please feel free to register for my store using annon info if you're not comfortable sharing your contact information.
If you have any problems, or would like to share your critique with me, you can contact me here:
anne @ creative-dreams.net
Enjoy!
I think the critique was pretty fair. The designer needs to work on her basic design skills before venturing into the world of commercial use. I thought the whale was darling and she does have some nice ideas once gets up to speed.
Unfortunately a lot of new designers are jumping into commercial use prematurely and I don't fault the blog moderator for giving consumers some information - esp for designers who are trying to find some solid commercial use products - it's very important to us that we invest our money wisely and most commercial use products don't give adequate previews or samples to help us assess the quality of the product before we buy.
she's a bottom feeder in the digi scrapping world and her poor work is the example. never anything new or different, just copy cat stuff. she gives advice? unreal if anyone with half a brain would even listen to this egotistical no talent. terrible stuff and pity the store that gets fooled by her arrogance.
Agree with 1:14
Purchase a kit at Songbird and you will help the charity but please don't try to sell this kind of stuff.
I'm embarassed for this designer. I'm so sorry for all customers who bought this bag... if any.
Designer please open your eyes!!!
You don't have any talent or skills to sell digital scrap.
Like another person posted, I do feel embarrassed for her. What I can't understand is how she thought this was commercial use quality? It's not personal use quality either but you know what I mean. Surely she's been in other stores and had a look around? I can't figure out if she's that ignorant or that stuck up if she seriously thinks this is good or will sell.
The other side of this story is the store owner. Doesn't she quality check the items in her store? Didn't she ask for samples before she accepted her into the store? Just filling up a store isn't the way to run a successful business.
---The other side of this story is the store owner. Doesn't she quality check the items in her store? ----
Which is exactly why it's very easy to judge a whole store by one designer. After seeing this, I really would think twice about purchasing anything from any of the designers because I don't recognize any of them.
Not to beat a dead horse but this stuff is really bad. Not simple stray oversights--everything looks like it was taken from the web, then poorly extracted and pieced together. Back in 2003 when I first discovered digiscrapping, the very first personal use stuff to start being sold was 1000 times better (and it was pretty bad, compared to today's standards).
Anne, I'm not interested in bashing, and I really do mean this to be constructive. I just looked at the Lakeside kit that you are offering up for critique, and I won't even download it. It looks very much like freebies that I was downloading 18 months ago. The quality may be perfect, without jaggies or stray pixels, etc. but the fact remains that any freebie hunter could find something comparable or better. It looks like something made by a new designer who is just testing the waters, and I wouldn't pay for it.
I’m sorry, isn’t a critique supposed to be about quality, and not personal taste? I thought that’s why this blog, and its counterpart, was here. So that customers can be informed of the quality of a kit before purchasing an item.
I gave you an opportunity to judge the quality of my kit freely, for yourself, and you turned it down based on a judgment you made from the preview.
I think that speaks volumes.
I am a new designer, I’ve had my store for less than a year, and you can see it’s not jam packed with products. That doesn’t mean I’m a bad designer though.
The blog owner has reviewed my CU ribbons here:
Curled CU Ribbons
If you’re interested in another opinion of my work.
People buy your kits based on the previews. If your previews aren't appealing enough for people to download the kit for free, that's what speaks volumes.
Part of the issue here is that it's so easy to open up a store online and let yourself believe that you are then a "designer." Takes more than that ladies, it takes skill, talent, and creativity. There are some amazingly talented people who enjoy simply giving out freebies who are designers. Then there are stores such as this one who take anyone and it's very clear when you around the store that not only do you not recognize the names, but it's clear WHY you don't.
As with any trade, learn it first before you start trying to sell it or yourself. Buy some books, invest some money, learn your programs, look around and see what top performers are doing. I'm not saying you should copy them, but learn from them. There is a reason why they are top performers!
I'm sorry, but I have to agree with the previous poster. I have seen the Lakeside kit, and have no desire to download it. Yes, this is personal taste. But every consumer makes purchases based on personal taste. I'm sorry, but if you are unwilling to accept that, your store will fail. I'm not wishing that on you, I just hope you will listen to the opinions of people who are on the other end of the computer screen...those of us with the cash to spend.
Amen, 6:54! If I see one more designer on DST whining about how they spend SO much time on their designs and don't even make enough money to cover the cost of the CU items they buy, I'm going to puke! If your products don't sell, it's because they're not good! Period! You may not be able to make a living designing, but you should at least be able to make a small profit for goodness sake! If you make no profits, maybe you need to rethink your decision to design. If you do it because you truly love it, that's one thing, but if you're doing it for money, maybe it's not the best field for you.
All of that being said, I marvel at some things that DO sell. A certain amount is taste, I guess.
I have to be honest. I didn't d/l the Lakeside kit either, though I checked it out.
If you would like constructive criticism, I will say this: I didn't find anything in that kit to be unique and grab me thinking, "I need to buy this!" And since it was free, I still did not opt for it. I also found the color combination to be drab (again, this is my personal taste).
But if you aren't appealing to people, you won't make sales. If you know you are producing high quality stuff and you are making money, who gives a hoot what we are saying here? KWIM?
"I’m sorry, isn’t a critique supposed to be about quality, and not personal taste?"
Nope, you're completely wrong there. According to the Webster Dictionary website, a critique is a "critical examination or estimate of a work of literature or art". A critical examination can entail anything that the critic wishes to discuss, whether it be personal taste, quality, or whatever. Hence the word 'criticize'. Can you imagine a movie critic who only bases his/her critiques on quality and not personal taste?
I downloaded the LakeSide kit today. I wasn't going to, as it doesn't appeal to me, but decided to do it anyway, so I can actually see it up-close. Your work seems to be clean and clear of stray pixels, which is good, but I found it lacking in appeal, all-around. Mostly, I think, because this color-palette just does not grab me in any way. I found the colors drab, muddy, and all alike, except for the blue. Here are my comments on individual kit parts:
Elements:
Using all the same chunky/clunky metal style (like hammered pewter or similar) contributed to the "clunky" look of some of the elements -
especially the staple, which was much too fat and un-realistic - most of the metal pieces were very 'digital-looking'
(unrealistic) Buttons, brad, photo-turn, staple, buckle-ribbon-slide, decorated (flower) paper-clip, eyelet, flower-shaped eyelet,
key, ribbon-holder (triangular thing) were all done in this overly clunky metal style, all looking exactly the same, with the
same dents and dings and same rounded bevel size for all. (Not all elements have the same thickness/bevel/chunky-ness IRL).
I did not find any stray pixels or jaggies on the metal elements. The CU "gem" in the middle of the flower-paper-clip is very
digital and unrealistic-looking, and there was not shadowing within the element as there should have been.
The 3 stitches (for buttons, I'm assuming) were quite blurry, and surrounded by a wide, almost invisible shadow of some kind,
which was hard to see (it just looked 'muddy' around the stitches) until I applied a 3-pixel stroke. The resulting stroke was at
least 30 pixels wide. There were also some stray markings around the stitches (maybe supposed to look like fuzz? but they
were not attached to the stitch and therefore looked like they didn't belong there).
The ribbons (5 or 6 straight ribbons) were basically a strip cut from papers made with a frabric-textured CU overlay, all had the same texture (exactly), with no difference around the edges (where you should see a finishing stitch or binding of some kind),
and all had pretty much the same (very simple, drab) pattern, just done in different (drab) colors.
The cardboard photo-corners were jaggy all the way around, and obviously created with a CU style, all the same (except for
color, which were all drab, except for one nice blue one.) Cardboard edges were created with same CU styles, and were also
very jaggedy all around, which can be clearly seen even before applying stroke. All other pieces with cardboard (frames, tag,
etc.) were also extremely jaggy around the edges. You would expect to see this if they were torn edges, but these were along
cut edges - even scalloped edges. Jaggies on torn edges are fine, but not on cut edges.
Curled paper edges were clean (no stray pixels), using the same couple of paper curls just flipped (not a big deal), but
definitely could have used some dodging and burning to bring out light and dark areas, for more dimension. They appeared very
flat and digital. Also they were very drab looking, made mostly from solid papers in drab colors, or in 1 or 2 very similar one-color patterns. I had to look again to be sure they were actual kit-pieces and not templates, due to lack of color and dimension.
Folder tabs were even more drab than the rest of the kit, and had an improper bevel applied to the words ("vacation" "relax" etc.) It looks like you used a pillow-emboss rather than an inner-bevel, which might have given a more realistic appearance.
Bows - there were 5 or 6 identical bows, except for different colors and slightly different pattern (barely). All were, again, very drab (except for the blue one) and lifeless, digital-looking. They were made from the fabric-textured straight-ribbons, and so were also missing the different stitching/binding that real ribbons have along the edges. These need to have dodge-and-burn applied to give them more dimension, and I noticed a couple of spots where the folded/flipped ribbon-pieces did not line up properly, leaving a
jaggy, un-matched corner. (these were very small, however, and would probably not show up in printing)
Paper-flowers - these really needed some shadowing between the 2 flower layers. It looks like maybe you added a tiny bit of a shadow, but if so, it is barely visible, and needs to be increased. Creating custom-shadows for the upper layer would be the way to go, since the petals are uneven that should show up in the shadowing as well. The 'gem' center used on these is the
same very digital-looking one used in the paper-clip. (Atomic cupcake, I think - this is one of her worst actions ever, IMO).
Besides shadowing, these (flowers) are another element that would benefit from some work with the dodge-and-burn tools, to bring them
to life and give them dimension.
Papers - Again, these are all made from such terribly drab, dull colors, with almost no variation or variety. The blue you used is
lovely, and one of the taupe shades could be nice with it, but you really need much more variety in your color-scheme. All
papers had the exact same texture, which appeared to be the sandstone filter in the Adobe texturizer filter. It would benefit
you a lot to learn how to use pattern overlays and other layer-style techniques, as well as using various other overlays to
include a variety of textures in your papers. Having them all have the exact same texture is another reason this kit is so lifeless.
Besides the texture, I can see the same overlays being used in all of them (light linear pattern on almost all papers) and again using just a couple of pattern variations has made all of your papers look almost exactly alike (aside from color). The one paper I really did like was "paper 12" (with the grass along bottom and vector-florals on the left side.) This one paper also appeared to have a bit of extra texture and possibly some brush-work blended in along the sides, and looks like you took a bit more time with it, giving you a nicer result. I think the round swirl pattern that is subtly blended in was the only thing I didn't like about this one - as it brings it down to looking like all of the other papers again. At least it is very subtle, but I think this paper could be better without it, and with some various brush-work and blending in it's place. Again I wish there was more life and variety in the colors - that alone could make a tremendous difference in the appeal of the kit. Most of the papers are 95% solids, with very slight and light patterns that were all alike.
So, there you have it. That's my critique. I think your work has potential, and I hope that something I've said has been
helpful.
Forgot to say this (I'm the nasty critic above) I got a huge kick out of your "Fun Stuff page in the download file. I expected it to be TOU and anti-piracy info, and was very pleasantly surprised and enjoyed reading that. Very creative, and you have a great attitude. Two thumbs up!
Wow, that's a very thorough and thoughtful critique, 6:29! I hope she realizes how lucky she is to have someone give her such sound advice.
it's too poor even for freebie... the designer should learn more before selleing in stores
Honestly, this designer's name is very off-putting. I would expect that something created by a god would be far more superior to anything out there. :-P
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