Sta.sh
The Deviant Experience by Jennifer Wang
Click to see photos, interview, and video.
Entrepreneur magazine features deviantART as its cover story
Have You Heard The News?
The admins here at deviantART HQ have done nothing but
(faint) for the past couple days. You see, deviantART recently made the cover of "Entrepreneur" magazine. A journalist named Jennifer Wang and a flock of photographers flooded our offices, giggled at our emote stress balls and silly stuffed animals, and were generally taken aback that beyond our walls lay millions of deviants all over the world submitting, supporting, lol-ing, thriving, all in the name of art and creative expression.
And Jennifer wrote about it. She talked to our CEO, Angelo Sotira, aka $spyed, she toured the office, she took it all in, from the overstuffed Pikachu to the video game references adorning our walls.
The admins here at deviantART HQ have done nothing but
(faint) for the past couple days. You see, deviantART recently made the cover of "Entrepreneur" magazine. A journalist named Jennifer Wang and a flock of photographers flooded our offices, giggled at our emote stress balls and silly stuffed animals, and were generally taken aback that beyond our walls lay millions of deviants all over the world submitting, supporting, lol-ing, thriving, all in the name of art and creative expression. And Jennifer wrote about it. She talked to our CEO, Angelo Sotira, aka $spyed, she toured the office, she took it all in, from the overstuffed Pikachu to the video game references adorning our walls.
And then she translated everything we work so hard to achieve into a flattering article that we could all send to our extended families who sometimes don't understand what it is that we do.
But most importantly, she got it. The vibe that deviants embody, the community aspect of helping other human beings that you've likely never met in real life, the pure selflessness of participating in a thriving community is something you don't find on any other social media websites. To the uninitiated, deviantART has more below the surface than people who simply browse for art might appreciate, but Jennifer dove in and really brought to life the joy it is to be a part of something so vibrant that each and every member contributes to.
But Don't Take Our Word For It
Just to give you an idea, please check out this excerpt of the article:
The enthusiasm can be a little overwhelming, and a first-time visitor to deviantART's site might balk at its busy navigation. But for artists, the site is a real resource, offering products and services like brushes and tutorials, as well as a place to post and sell their work. Even established artists like oil painter John Paul Thornton (`johnpaulthornton) have joined, right alongside early adopting deviants like Lara Jade (`larafairie), whose ethereal, glamorous portraits have landed her gigs for Elle and Lush magazines; and Nina Matsumoto (`spacecoyote), a comic book artist whose manga-fied drawing of The Simpsons captured Matt Groening's attention--and a job offer.
In fact, deviantART is the only online network Matsumoto still uses. "Without dA, my career in comics probably never would have happened," she says. "But now it's hard to find an artist that isn't on it. It's what everyone does."
Read The Full Article
In fact, deviantART is the only online network Matsumoto still uses. "Without dA, my career in comics probably never would have happened," she says. "But now it's hard to find an artist that isn't on it. It's what everyone does."
The Shoot
Angelo showed up donned in a flavorful mix of two of his favorite brands: deviantWear and Five Four Clothing. He rocked our I.D. Box Cap in a pic silhouetted against our orange wall in the lobby, all while sporting threads provided by Five Four Clothing. They were so stoked to be included in a feature about a site that shares much of the same cultural vision and deviant vibe as they do, they wrote up a blog about it!
"Five Four has been worn by so many celebrities in different forms of media to date, but I think this is one of the coolest product placement opportunities for Five Four to date, truly symbolizing what our company represents and whom we support."
Caution: CEO at Play
As the article explains, Angelo's office is full of LEGOs, llamas, and action figures, and it's such a natural part of our office, we don't even notice that it's not a typical office space -- especially on staff Art Fridays, where doodling, drawing, and creating are just another day at work. So it's cool when someone comes in and comments on the personality of our workspace, and how it reflects the wider fun aspect of what it's like to be a deviant on our site.Read Angelo's Journal
Why This Is Extra Cool
While we think of ourselves as Knowing Our Way Around the Internet, the truth is that some artists who maybe don't use computers as much might not know about us...yet! The sort of exposure that a cover story in a major magazine will bring to deviantART will have great impact on our already-vibrant community. We will be reaching a much broader audience of creatives, who, until now, may not have had a reason to encounter our awesome corner of the interwebs. And this sort of exposure helps our community to reach even further and succeed in ways we haven't yet imagined! Artists, writers, sculptors who may not surf the web as much will find a community of like-minded people they didn't even know EXISTED, willing to give them advice, be mentored, be a soundboard to bounce creative ideas off of. Parents discussing the article may be overheard by a young adult, who might then log in and become the next community leader! Just thinking of all the new deviants about to find a home and soon give back to the community that so enthusiastically welcomed them in -- well, it makes us all warm and fuzzy.
