Hello Brianna,
Here is some feedback regarding the Greenspun project, as seen by graphists
from fr.wikipedia (which I will call fr.graphists in this email). I C/C this
email to the Greenspun mailing-list, I guess other people could be
interested.
Regarding the way illustrations would be done :
* The images should have a very high quality: they should be reviewed both
by good graphists and by people who know the topic. Images should be
assessed both regarding their accuracy, their use of colours, their possible
internationalisation, etc. : fr.graphists said that payment should be done
after quality has been acknowledged.
High quality means using good sources: these sources should be sought
beforehand and approved by people involved (zoologists for animal diagrams,
for instance). This is a key point for making good diagrams. The source(s)
should be quoted/acknowledged on the image description page.
* For each illustration, there should be a version with numbered labels and
a blank version, on top of versions with English or other localised labels.
The numbered version allows easy reuse on small Wikipedias (without
graphists), the blank version allows interactive diagrams using ImageMap for
instance.
* Each illustration should be translated in as many languages as possible.
This part can be done by volunteers, but the image has to be advertised to
them.
* Free software should be used if possible. By free software, they mean of
course Inkscape. There are several reasons: first, it is free :-) so in the
same spirit as Wikimedia projects; this software can be used by anyone
without the need to buy a license; it produces better SVG code than OOo or
Illustrator if you don't have the good plugin. Fr.graphists said that this
may be a problem with professional graphists, who tend to use more
professional tools.
* Maybe it goes without saying, but all illustrations should be in SVG
format. PNG is much harder to translate / adapt. ANother good reason to use
Inkscape.
* The selection process may be private (ie not open to anyone) as
competition for money should be avoided. When images are produced, they
should be made available to everybody for review, criticism, and inspiration
!
* Some fr.graphists were anxious about a possible "en.wikipedia-centrism",
meaning that some illustrations would be useful to the en.wikipedia project
but maybe not to others. This can work the other way around too (Wikipedia
vs. Wikibooks, etc.). This also means that they should be easy to translate
(maybe problematic when jargon or technical language is used). Maybe
illustrations for "core topics" should have higher priority as well...
Finally, they also said that it would have much more impact to teach
graphists to use their tools (Inkscape / GIMP / etc.), to create tutorials,
etc. than to pay for a few hundred pictures. This would be much more in the
spirit of Wikimedia projects. People could be paid to teach new graphists,
to write well-illustrated tutorials, etc., which should also potentially
generate less frustration between paid and volunteer graphists.
Another way of avoiding this "frustration" is to make sure the diagrams
produced in the Greenspun project have a really high quality.
The graphists had some general suggestions for the project (which may or may
not fit into the objectives) :
* create commonly accepted standards or recommandations for maps and
diagrams. The French Graphic Lab already uses cartographic standards
extensively (see [1])
* help User:Sting to finish his cartographic tutorials, and translate them
(see [2])
* Make work together a macro-photographer and a graphist, to produce good
quality diagrams of insects and this sort of stuff (see [3] for instance)
* Get programmers to create a cartographic software for Wikipedia, including
standards, etc.
* Help the development of Inkscape, and the SVG rendering software in
MediaWiki (patterns, masks, some issues with arrows, support for animated
SVG...)
That's it, I think. You may read the full comments on [4].
Cheers,
Rémi Kaupp
User:Korrigan
[1] http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aide:Cartographie#Conventions
[2]
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilisateur:Sting/Brouillon/Carte_topographiqu…
other pages from
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilisateur:Sting/Brouillon
[3] http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Sch%C3%A9ma_abeille-tag.svg
[4]
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discussion_Wikip%C3%A9dia:Atelier_graphique/Im…
Hola!
Mi nombre es Abraham, soy ilustrador y diseñador gráfico pero mis trabajos han estado siempre orientados a la ilustración, desde hace unos cuatro años y medio mis clientes más habituales han sido: Ministerio de educación y ciencia de Madrid, Brabander, Acceso a Europa, Editorial Santillana, editorial Libsa, ediciones tentáculo, Relatos blue Barcelona, Publicidad wanda Barcelona, concejalía del principado de Asturias, dolmen editorial.. Así como otros trabajos esporádicos tipo realización de camisetas, cartelería y publicidad.
Le envío un enlace para que pueda ver una muestra de mi trabajo ya que si fuese posible me encantaría colaborar con ustedes.
www.ab-abraham.blogspot.comhttp://abraham.carbonmade.com/projects/94696
Soy resuelto, eficaz y muy comprometido con mi trabajo.
Reciba un cordial saludo.
Abraham. Telf. 679 819 799
_________________________________________________________________
MSN Video.
http://video.msn.com/?mkt=es-es
Hello, my name is Oswaldo Gallo, peruvian, graphic designer and I'm interested in to be part of this community and interchange knowledge and ideas and know more people of course.
Saludos,
Oswaldo
* My native language is spanish ;-)
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