Hello... It's been a hot minute.
Not sure if anyone reads these, but without going into too much detail, 2022 was a long year. I was in an emotionally-draining job for half a year and questioned my entire career (thankfully I'm in a much better job now where they respect me) and because of this my passion for drawing pretty much vanished. If I couldn't be a good graphic designer how could I have been a good artist? It was a mess and thankfully that part of my life is now over with.
About a month ago, my beloved pet Coco the pac-man frog got a sore on her bottom lip. What it is we're still not sure. She's been to two different vets now and we're close to figuring it out. We think it's a parasite (treatable) or a bad yeast infection. The good news is that she's still healthy and energetic (enough for a pac). So that's been on my mind.
Back to art: I do want to submit art more this year and get back to the groove of drawing. However, I'm going to be honest: DA's new layout sucks LOL. It's hard to navigate at times, which is mainly why I haven't been uploading on here. That and the AI art garbage that's been on and off (seriously what's the status of that on here anyway?)
I guess I'm just wondering who is still here? And if anyone would like to see my stuff again? I can try navigating the layout and get used to it if it's worth it.
So I've known that DA wanted to change their look for a while now, but now that it's become a permanent thing, I feel like I should write about it.
For starters, everything is too big: the text size is gigantic and so are the preview images for the galleries and group icons, pretty much everything is much bigger than it needed to be. It honestly gives me anxiety/a headache.
Second, the new layout is confusing, but granted it's probably because I still need to get used to the new placement.
Adding a cover image is a good idea, but the instructions for it are so unclear to the point where doing exactly what it says doesn't even work. It told me to upload an image with specific dimensions, and on any other website, the header would be fit according to that. With DA, adding the header image extends past that mark where the user can't control the formatting properly.
As I'm typing out this journal, another problem arises: I can't scroll down to see what I'm typing out if I exceed a certain amount.
I could go on about this new look, but overall I am honestly disappointed in it. The old look was so much more easy on the eyes and more customizable for users with memberships. I will say this: at least now I don't have any reason to be a member on this site anymore and can save my money.
That being said, no, I am not leaving Deviantart. Despite all its issues, it's been a home to me and my art for almost a decade, and I honestly don't see myself leaving any time soon. Plus, I've even joined a new group that I've wanted to be part of for years now, so I'm excited to create new content for that soon. ;)
TL;DR: DA's new look is not good, but I'm not leaving. I'll just try and get used to it and eventually it won't be so terrible (tumblr has made so many dumb design decisions that I'm numb to this shit by now).