The biggest improvement to my Patreon page, by far (Patreon)
Content
(I've put the most important bits in bold text if you just wanna skim through.)
I've been reflecting a lot lately on my work and what I want to create for you. If you've supported me here for a while now, you've probably noticed that the format of the content I make here follows a pretty rigid structure. I make thumbnail sketches, you vote for which one you like best, and then I spend the next few weeks making a full illustration out of it. Then we repeat that. However, I feel like a rigid structure can be constricting to creativity. I would like to have the freedom to make more varied types of work for you guys that don't always follow that same formula, which will hopefully also make it more interesting for you.
With that in mind I'm changing, and hopefully substantially improving, how my Patreon page works for you:
- I'm changing to a monthly plan instead of per illustration. Both have their benefits, but this makes the cost more predictable for you, and is more intuitive for new supporters. I've only made one illustration per month for the past several years, so from your perspective the subscription cost will basically remain unchanged, but can now also support content that's no longer specifically just one illustration. It could be one big illustration, like usual, since I enjoy doing those. Or it could be multiple small ones for example. Or maybe I'll try my hand at making an animation one month, who knows! Having more options makes me happier. Regardless of what I make, I'll try to make sure the effort and work I put in is roughly equal month to month and worth your support. And don't worry, thematically my stuff will still be focused around the juicy stuff I usually make.
- Rewards are from now on found in the posts on my Patreon page instead of being delivered through private messages. So if you start to wonder why you aren't receiving the download links in private messages anymore, that'll be why. And I'll no longer wait for a specific day of the month to send out rewards, I'll just post the content as I finish it, which means you get your hands on it quicker. Great!
- Regular sketch polls are going away because they necessitate the rigidity in my content format. I've also noticed that the polls can cause disappointment for some of you when the results aren't what you want most. I'm hoping you'll instead feel happier trusting me with the full decisions of what to make. It'll also allow me to a much greater degree to chase the ideas I feel most inspired by, since I'll no longer need to plan ideas a month or more ahead of me actually working on them. I think that'll help me be more excited and happier about my projects in general, which I hope results in better work too!
- Finally, the biggest change I've ever made, and the one I'm most nervous about. You now get all my 7+ years of past content included with your subscription here. I'm just very tired of trying to monetize every new thing I make. Capitalism is depressing. I just want you guys to have the things I make. It does mean I'm basically deleting my Gumroad income, which is about 10% of what I earn, and can maybe reduce the incentive to keep you subscribed here in the long term too, which makes me a bit nervous about the future. But it genuinely makes me feel happier to not try to sell you stuff all the time and not try to keep you here through a fear of missing out. If you like what I do, you support me for as long as you're comfortable with, and get everything I can offer in return.
As you might imagine, this makes the newly added Gumroad discount reward redundant, since you don't need to buy stuff on my Gumroad anymore. So the shortlived Gumroad discount benefit is going away, and you can safely ignore my Gumroad if you want to, since you get everything here now.
Here is the new list of your benefits as a supporter. You get
- my work in the highest resolution available (typically around 5K resolution)
- time lapse videos
- work-in-progress images
- layered PSD files
- 7+ years of past content
- + maybe other stuff if I ever feel inspired
Basically the same benefits you've been getting, but with more room for variety, plus all my past stuff.
I think that sums it up. I feel like I should apologize to those of you who have bought my past packs when you can get them at no extra cost now, but I hope you still feel like they've been worth the support you've given me. If you bought them within the last week or so and this change makes you want a refund, send me a private message and I'll sort that out for you.
And I'm sure some of your have questions about things I maybe didn't think to cover here, or things I should clarify, so feel free to ask in the comments!
Also, if you know someone who would be interested in having all my past stuff, you could help me be less nervous about this change by spreading the word. :)
I'll be collecting all that past content into a neat post as soon as I can, including the most recent reward pack, so keep an eye out for that if you're interested.
Thank you for always being so supportive, and for helping me get to a point where I'm comfortable sharing my stuff more freely like this. I look forward to continuing making stuff for you!