Posting Guidelines - (Please Read Before Registering)

[Steeldolphin]

Here are the basic posting guidelines here at this forum. These are provided to ensure everyone's mutual benefit and enjoyment.

These guidelines are in place to make the visits more enjoyable and more accessible.

Rules/Guidelines

SPAM
Before coming a Full Member here at the forum you will be required to have replied to a minimum of 5 posts. Until that time you will be unable to create your own post or use a signature.

If you have just signed up to merely post a link to your site or service this is considered SPAM and we take it seriously here, your post will be deleted and you will more than likely be banned. There are exceptions to this and these are as follows:

1. Posting of a website for review and critique - Critiques are what this forum is all about, but in the case that it appears the new member is trying to spam a service it may be considered a violation.

2. Posting news of events or projects from your site...- This is reserved for those members with more than just a couple posts. We don't mind regulars promoting things here, we are a community, and its what we are all about. What we don't want is this feature to be taken advantage of. These types of posts should be directed to the Random Nonsense forum or the Inspiration forum, whichever is more appropriate. Moderators may still be required to make a judgment call however.

3. Requesting work on speculation or free work
This type of request belittles and insults the professionals who make a living by design or art and are not welcome here. Posts of this nature will be deleted.

Once you have been a contributing member for a significant period of time - and you want to promote another forum/service etc, and you feel it might be seen as SPAM then please contact an admin and ask, chances are permission will be given if the request is approached properly.

Jobs and Work
We have provided 2 forums where serious requests for contract work or for those looking to hire contractors can post their jobs, etc.

Freelancers looking for work:
http://www.steeldolphin-forums.com/f...splay.php?f=72

Jobs:
http://www.steeldolphin-forums.com/f...splay.php?f=73

Image Sizes and the Forum

If you are posting an image in one of the showrooms or other forums please do not post images larger than 700 pixels wide. Images larger than this may stretch the forum tables and make things look bad. If the image is larger please post it as a link. Moderators will be called upon to convert images that are larger than this to links.

Conduct and Material

Please respect the moderators and their decisions they have not been randomly picked from a list of popular members. They are all either seasoned mods from other large boards, or they are experts/professionals in their respective fields.

Original Work: All work submitted here MUST be your original work or you MUST have permission of the artist that you are using in your work. If it is determined that you have 'ripped' another artist's work you will be banned permanently. The misuse or stealing of other artists work is viewed with extreme disdain here, there will be little or no quarter given in these decisions.

Nudity & Mature Subject Matter: Nudity is allowed in the name of art - not pornography. Moderator's will have the right to make the decision based on their impression of the submission, and violator's posts will be deleted. We would also ask that you put a warning in the subject or message like: 'Warning contains nudity', or 'Warning: Mature Subject Matter'

Profanity: I personally feel that swearing is usually not needed in a forum, however I am not in the business of censorship so I simply ask if you don't need to use profane language, then don't. Racist or discriminatory remarks or images will also not be allowed, banning may result for serious offenders.


Profiles

Signatures:
Here are the restrictions for Sigs:

Dimensions: 400x60 maximum pixel width and height
Weight: 18k

Animation is allowed but please realize that this can be very distracting to viewers, so you may wish to limit your animation to one loop, or keep it very low key. Moderators may be called upon to make a judgement call and as a result may ask you to make adjustments to your animation if it is excessively distracting. The same applies to avatars.

Critiques

Critique: Perhaps one of the most important features of the SDC Art forums is delivering useful and quality critiques.

This is where a lot of other boards fail miserably. Please, if you like an artwork, add a comment as to what it is that you like. Stating "whoa..that rocks!" is great but does nothing to further the artist's work. "whoa..that rocks, because you have used repeating shapes so effectively and the use of colors make me feel so relaxed!" would be a much more helpful critique.

The same goes if you feel the artwork isn't that strong. State what you think the artists can do to improve it or make some sort of helpful comment...there is no need to be harsh if you cant say it nicely. Constructive criticism is strongly encouraged as it serves to help the artist and anyone posting here should not be afraid to receive this type of critique.

Receiving critique and your response to positive or negative feedback is also important here. I am hoping people are going to be honest with their comments and critiques so if you feel you can't emotionally handle honest (possibly negative) feedback on your work, maybe you just shouldn't post it.

A helpful guide on critiquing can be found here: http://www.steeldolphin-forums.com/s...ead.php?t=3787

Most importantly...please critique. Its a great way for you to learn, and for the artists themselves.

Flaming or 'hurtful' critique will not be tolerated, repeat offenders may risk temporary or permanent ban.

Things not to post in these forums for Critique.

Avatars, signature banners, sketches or drawings you did on loose-leaf in math class cause you were bored, or work that has not been given some serious time and effort. This forum is for serious art and design work only. Posts that seemingly violate this policy will be reviewed and may be deleted.

In Closing
We have an open door policy here, if you have any suggestions for the forum your voice will be heard. Feel free to PM me or one of the mods.

Regards,
Chris Arlidge
Steel Dolphin Creative

[Steeldolphin]

Updated Dec/01/06

[Steeldolphin]

Updated August 25, 2010