deviantArt

deviantArt

Screenshot of deviantArt's homepage
URL	www.deviantart.com
Slogan	deviantArt: where Art meets application!
Commercial?	Yes
Type of site	Artist community
Registration	Optional
Owner	deviantArt, LLC.
Created by	Angelo Sotira, Scott Jarkoff, and Matthew Stephens
Launched	August 7, 2000
Alexa rank	114[1]
Current status	Active

deviantArt^[2] (commonly abbreviated as dA) is an online community showcasing various forms of user-made artwork. It was launched on August 7, 2000 by Scott Jarkoff, Matthew Stephens, Angelo Sotira and others. deviantArt, Inc. is headquartered in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States.^[3]

deviantArt aims to provide a place for any artist to exhibit and discuss works. Works are organized in a comprehensive category structure, including photography, digital art, traditional art, literature, Flash, filmmaking, skins for applications, and others, along with extensive downloadable resources such as tutorials and stock photography. "Fella", a small robotic cat character, is the official deviantArt mascot.

As of August 2010^[update] the site consists of over 14.5 million members, and over 100 million submissions, and receives around 140,000 submissions per day. In addition, deviantArt users submit over 1.4 million "favorites" and 1.5 million comments daily.^[4] The domain deviantart.com attracted at least 36 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete.com study.^[5]

Origins

deviantArt was originally launched in August 7, 2000 by Scott Jarkoff, Matt Stephens and Angelo Sotira, as part of a larger network of music-related websites called the Dmusic Network. The site flourished largely because of its unique offering and the contributions of its core member base and a team of volunteers after its launch,^[6] but was officially incorporated in 2001 about 8 months after launch.^[7]

deviantArt was loosely inspired by projects like Winamp facelift, customize.org, deskmod.com, screenphuck.com, and skinz.org, all application skin-based websites. Sotira entrusted all public aspects of the project to Scott Jarkoff as an engineer and visionary to launch the early program. All three co-founders shared backgrounds in the application skinning community, but it was Matt Stephens whose major contribution to deviantArt was the suggestion to take the concept further than skinning and more toward an "art community." Many of the individuals involved with the initial development and promotion of deviantArt still hold positions with the project, from administrators to volunteers serving as gallery directors and Message Network Administration. Angelo Sotira currently serves as the CEO of deviantArt, Inc.^[7][8][9]

Growth

On November 14, 2006, deviantArt gave its users the option to submit their works under Creative Commons licenses giving the artists the right to choose how their works can be used.^[10]

On September 30, 2007, a film category was added to deviantArt, allowing artists to upload videos. An artist and other viewers can add annotations to sections of the film, giving comments or critiques to the artist about a particular moment in the film.^[11]

On August 7, 2010, deviantArt launched its own HTML5-powered digital drawing program, deviantArt Muro.^{[12][13][14][15]}

Versions

deviantArt has been revising the site in versions, releasing multiple features at once. After version 2, versions were released on the date of site's birthday, August 7, excluding Version 6 and 7.

Version 2, released on February 5, 2002. In version 2, browsing was made easier.^[16]

Version 3, released on August 7, 2003.^[17]

Version 4, released on August 7, 2004. In version 4, the chat client called dAmn was added to the site.^[18]

Version 5, released on August 7, 2006.^[19] In version 5, each deviant has a Prints account, through which they may sell prints of their works for money, receiving 20% of the profits. Users can also obtain Premium Prints Account offering 50% of the profits and an immediate check of material submitted for sales. Before version 5 of deviantArt, users did not have by default access to this service and it had to be obtained separately. By paying for a subscription, a deviant could also sell their work for 50% of each sale.

Version 6, released on July 10, 2008. In this revision, the message center, front page and footer were revamped. Users are now able to customize the deviantArt navigation toolbar. The design style of the site was slightly modified as well.^[20]

Version 6.1, released in early 2009, slight change of design and easier search options, users are given more options to customize their profiles. Stacks added to message centre later in 2010.

Version 7, released on May 18, 2010, it features a new smaller header design and removal of search bar except on home page. After several complaints made by most of the community about bugs and glitches in the newest version, the staff made updates to Version 7, including a search bar to every page.

Special events

The Hollywood Palladium while hosting the first deviantArt Summit

deviantArt Summit

On June 17 and June 18, 2005, deviantArt held their first convention, the deviantArt Summit, at the Palladium in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States. The summit consisted of several exhibitions by numerous artists, including artscene groups old and new at about 200 different booths. Giant projection screens displayed artwork as it was being submitted live to deviantArt, which receives 50,000 new images daily.

Leaders of deviantArt had hoped to hold a new summit each year; however, no plans were ever made for a 2006 Summit. This may be due to lack of interest, money, or inability to find a location. It should be noted that despite a big turn out, only a tiny percentage of the deviantArt population actually attended the summit.

World Tour meet in Toronto

deviantArt World Tour

Starting May 13, 2009, deviantArt went onto a World tour, visiting cities around the world, including Sydney, Singapore, Tokyo, Warsaw, Istanbul, Berlin, Paris, Rome, London, New York City, Toronto and Los Angeles. During the world tour, the new "Portfolio" feature of deviantArt was previewed to attendees.^[21][22]

Criticism

Copyright and licensing issues

There is no review of potential copyright and Creative Commons licensing violations when a work is submitted to deviantArt, so such violations can remain unnoticed until reported. A mechanism for notifying administrators of potential copyright and licensing violations is available.^[23] Some members of the community have also been the victims of this type of abuse from disreputable vendors using artwork illegally on products and prints.^[24]

Termination of Scott Jarkoff

On July 29, 2005, co-founder Scott Jarkoff was removed from the deviantArt staff, angering members of the community.^[25][26] deviantArt staff have portrayed his termination as necessary, but this assertion was disputed.^[25] With Matthew Stephens' resignation in 2003, supporters of Scott Jarkoff assert that now neither of the founders remain in deviantArt's administration. In contrast, Sotira insists he was a founder, and also the first full time working staff member of the deviantArt administration. The deviantArt administration has been generally tight-lipped throughout the incident, due to legal restraints.^[25]

Various campaigns have sprung up in support of Scott Jarkoff, including the "Bring Back the Community" campaign, "Save the Alien", and "Yellow Day" (because Jarkoff was known as the "yellow alien," Jarkoff's mascot) which was carried out by many of Scott Jarkoff's supporters.^[27]

On July 31, 2005, Sotira posted an official response to explain the situation.^[25] The response to this entry was mixed. Jarkoff also posted an explanation on his personal website.^[26]

On October 7, 2007, Jarkoff wrote a journal in which he complained about his video getting deleted due to a copyright violation.^[28] On October 13, 2007, Sotira responded,^[29] claiming that Jarkoff lied about his role in deviantArt's development, that Jarkoff did nothing on the site in the beginning, and that he was the one who fired Matthew Stephens in 2003. He accuses Jarkoff of hypocrisy by saying that Jarkoff still owns shares of deviantArt stock. Jarkoff claimed he needed money to sue Sotira for wrongful termination, and even went so far as to set up a fund for it, but Sotira claims that in reality, he had more than enough money to cover any legal costs for any lawsuits. Sotira implies that Jarkoff defrauded even though Sotira was going to use deviantArt's money to fight any legal battle against Jarkoff.^[30]

See also

• Elfwood
• Pixiv

References

Further reading

• "Deviants Descend on Tinseltown" by David Cohn, Wired News, June 21, 2005, retrieved June 22, 2006
• "Cool 2 Know, deviantArt.com" by Deidre Stein Greben, Newsday, March 1, 2006, retrieved May 25, 2006. (Original archive of NewsDay article)

External links

• Official website