I'm a Week in and I'm 100% Hooked on Steem!

Where do I even begin to describe my feelings about the Steemit platform? There are so many things — SO. MANY! You guys are so creative, intelligent, profound, beautiful, compassionate, motivated, driven and just hands down kick-ass. I completely feel embraced by everyone here and I am absolutely riveted.. truly you guys… the excitement in watching the system work, reading everyone’s comments and getting crazy inspired by the content here – I was on a whole different level – I couldn’t go to sleep! HAH!

I just want everyone to know that I am sincerely appreciative of the support those have shown so far and really look forward to my journey through the evolution

My First Post Earned $100? — WHaaaaaaaaaaaaT?!

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Y’all – this is really cool. I really didn’t know what to expect. I was trying to be positive and hoping for the best – but I really did not expect the reaction I got from my first post here on Steemit. (If you are interested in taking a peek: Click Here! to learn a little more about me!). I really appreciate everyone who up-voted and decided to follow me – I have tons of things to share that I hope you will all enjoy! Hopefully my work can inspire you all the way your work has inspired me!

Fun AND Networking — Who Doesn't Love That?!?!

In the process of introducing myself, I had two fellow steemers who sent creative requests — @Tinashe & @Navaneeth! These two were so nice and complementary of my work and now they are my first Steem-based creative clients! 😊 I really had a good time making some graphics that I think they really enjoyed.

@Tinashe really liked the style of my up-vote, re-steem and follow graphics that I created and used in my post. He enjoyed the watercolor splatters and expressed that he wanted his username to be a part of the overall graphic so he could have a branded visual treatment and logo for his blog. In reviewing his post repository, I noticed he used a strong type graphic for his “Quick Tips” that looked like paper lifting off of the surface – playing with dimensional space. He wanted blue incorporated into the design — suggesting this was his ideal brand color of choice — and the Quick Tips image used a very lovely shade of blue – PERFECT!

The new logo integrates perfectly into visual elements that were already in place and being incorporated in a series of previous posts. Having his Quick Tips image and Logo maintaining this similar stylistic approach should strengthen his identity and aid in strong memorability with his followers! Now, when his audience sees a graphic within this style, using these colors - they are going to make an automatic association. They will instantly know it is a post from him and if they like to read his posts they will quickly be able to identify and select it to read (This is the goal anyway - as with all things this process can be a bit of an evolution. Once you have some measurable data you can really start to tune into how your audience is responding to what you are doing and make positive adjustments!)

@Navaneeth was a different type of request - purely creative - he didn’t have any type of marketing need, which was awesome because I got to play with a fun visual composition of dark, creepy elements! I mean, there is nothing more fun than playing around with the darker aesthetic (can anyone else relate to this?)

He specifically requested for an Alstonia Scholaris tree with an old house in the background; he wanted it to be dark and "not right" - HAH! I implemented his specifics and added some additional elements to it to help add a bit more intrigue. Using a stock photography site I am a member of, I was able to find some pretty awesome images to compose with and started slicing and dicing to create my total composition. Once my composition was in place – I worked on mood elements and color balance treatments — dodging, burning and other techniques that would help to tie the images down. These processes really helped to integrate the variety of visual resources together to create proper unity as a singular new image.

Below is a time-lapse .gif of the work in process!

Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening and Goodnight!

I leave you at the close of my first week on Steemit having had so much fun with all of you. For those who may be interested in having commissioned work created for you, please let me know! I am happy to trade my artistic services for SteemPower or a negotiated payment in USD through PayPal in return for my time and creativity!

For all of you that are inspiring me daily with your mad skills – thank you – its truly a pleasure to escape into each of your own worlds every day, re-charge my creativity and move on to create awesome things!

Until next time – STEEM ON!

@j-vo

If you enjoyed my post and are interested in seeing more of what I do and where I go, please consider following me, up-voting my post, and re-steeming to the rest of the Steemit community! I look forward to following each of you back and I look forward to getting to know everyone :) <3

All photography and creative artwork displayed in this post were created by @j-vo.