DD Suggestion Guidelines - Updated

Hello everyone,
with the change from Traditional to Digital I felt I should update my previous journals outlining my DD Suggestion Guidelines and all the details of why I may not choose to DD a piece even though it's quite amazing!  So... in this journal, aside from my standard DD Suggestion Guidelines, I will also go over my DD selection process in detail and hopefully shine some light on why some of your great suggestions aren't being picked.  I also would like to point out that this journal is intended to shed light on the less seen aspects of selecting DDs and is not about restricting suggesters in any way.  Please do continue suggesting all of the great pieces of art that you find to the appropriate gallery CVs.

Guidelines

• I only take suggestions from the Digital Art and Community Projects galleries.
  
• Make sure that the deviant hasn't already received a Daily Deviation within the past 6 months. FAQ #313: How can I find out if someone already has a Daily Deviation? 
  
• Please send me one note per artist you are suggesting, this helps me stay organized.
  
• Please let me know if you want to remain anonymous as a suggester; if you do not specify I will assume that you want your name listed on the DD.
  
• Send your suggestions to only ONE Community Volunteer!

Personal Preferences

As CVs we are allowed to be as picky as we please with what we wish to feature as DDs and while I do try my best to feature a wide variety of quality subjects, styles and techniques, I do have some personal preferences that may help you when suggesting to me.

• I prefer to feature more recent pieces from an artist which means if you are suggesting something that was made in 2008, chances are I will not feature it. I like to stick with 2014 and 2013 but will consider 2012 as well.
  
  
• Now that I am accepting suggestions out of the digital art gallery, I am noticing a trend in suggestions of speed paints or similarly unpolished/finished pieces.  While I believe that these pieces do have their place in the art world, I prefer to focus on pieces that are more polished.  

• Along the lines as above, I prefer to select pieces which show effort and skill and or technique (ideally all of the above).  While I won't discredit brush use, I like to see proper and good use of brushes (things like leaves and grass brushes for example).  

• I've made a habit of browsing the suggested artists gallery and sometimes there is a different piece other than what has been suggested that I would rather DD.  If you are okay with me picking anything from the artists gallery please let me know in your suggestion note as this saves me (and you) time and gets the artist a DD quicker. 
  
  
• I like to select DDs from galleries where the deviant is still active on the site.  
  
  
• If I've previously given an artist a DD within the past 12 months, I'd prefer you'd suggest them to another CV or staff member who can take the suggestion instead.  

Other important tidbits

• I welcome self suggestions since I feel they are a wonderful way to help yourself gain more exposure.  Just please tell me why you feel your piece deserves the Daily Deviation when you suggest yourself.  
  
  
• Please, please, please, and I can't stress this enough!  Please use thumb codes when suggesting DDs to me.  Yes, I can click on the links too but the thumb codes really do make things so much easier for me. 
  
  
• I only respond to DD suggestions when necessary which means I prefer not to say if I've selected the piece for a DD or not.  I feel that saying so can spoil the surprise.  However, if you have not seen the piece you've suggested to me receive a DD within a month of sending your suggestion, you are welcome to resuggest the artist to another CV.  

---

Now that you have read my basic guidelines, feel free to read further for more details as to why I may not select pieces that are generally amazing and appear to be nothing other than DD worthy.  

Very specifically this is how I go through my DD suggestions:

I make every effort to read each DD Suggestion note within 24 hours of receiving it, please keep in mind that I am only human and things do come up so this doesn't always happen the way I'd like it to. 

I read my DD Suggestion notes oldest to newest, always!

I open the note, read what the suggester has said (if anything) then open the suggested piece in a new tab.  Before I even look closely at the suggested piece, I visit the artists gallery and check for existing DDs.

If the artist has existing DDs, I make sure the suggested piece is newer AND better than previous DDs.

If the suggested piece does not meet the criteria above I browse the artists gallery to look at their newer art to see if anything would meet the criteria that way. 

If the artist has a DD which I gave them (within the past 12 months), I close the tab and fwd the suggestion on to a team mate who may wish to feature the piece instead. 

If the artist has no previous DDs, I still make a point to browse their gallery and see if I find something newer or something I feel might make a better DD.

I read the artists description of the piece I am thinking of selecting as a DD to make sure references and other resources are credited properly, and to be sure the artist is not displeased with the piece, as well as to check and make sure the piece is not for an active contest.  

---

When I open and look at the suggested pieces, as well as the pieces I look at in the artists gallery, these are some important things I consider before making a decision:

How old is the piece?  If the piece is more than 2 years old, again I tend to cringe at the thought of selecting it as a DD.  Generally as artists we learn new things and grow over time and as such I like to promote newer pieces when possible.  

What does the artists description say?  Is the artist proud of this piece or are they putting it down?  Many times now, I've declined a piece simply because the artist is clearly not proud or happy with the piece and as such I'm not sure they would be all too thrilled with having a site wide feature on that specific piece.  

Is it a WIP?  I will automatically decline any WIPs because I want to showcase finished and polished pieces.  As awesome and amazing and wonderful as the WIP may be, I'd prefer if you waited for the artist to submit the finished piece and then suggest that to me instead.  

Is the piece in the right category?  I do my absolute best to make sure that I do not DD a piece that is miscategorized.  

Is the piece a contest entry?  And I don't just mean official dA contest, I mean any contest.  While I am happy to select a DD that was a contest entry, please do not send these to me until winners of the contest have been announced.  I'd hate to give a piece a DD and thus discourage other users from entering a contest etc because if it was a DD, it must end up winning! which is an unfortunate mindset but it's understandable when it happens.  It's simply easier to avoid this by only selecting DDs from contests after winners have been announced.  

---

While those are already a lot of things that I am constantly mindful of when selecting DDs, the list unfortunately does not stop there.  

Is the style unique, or just another popular trend?  I really really love to DD unique styles and techniques and while it's not always possible to only DD such things, in an ideal world that's how it would be for me. 

Is the piece just a technically sound piece, or does it push past that and give it a WOW factor? I get many suggestions which are technically well done and could certainly be a DD and may even do quite well, but I really like to find the gems that stand out past technical skill and have something to say, or are simply inspiring.  I want to see more than just skill, and I try hard to select pieces that stand out beyond just pure skill.  

Is the artist active?  I want to feature artists who are active and as such able to appreciate the added exposure as well as artists whom members can watch and actually see new art from etc.  

Is the artist brand new? As much as I like helping new artist, I often shy away from selecting DDs from their gallery for a few reasons.  I want to be sure I am not giving a DD to a copyright infringer and sometimes with newer accounts it's hard to tell.  I want to select DDs from artists who are active and often new accounts upload their work and then never log back in again.  

Same Suggester over and over.  I'm sure it's no secret that there are quite a few members who are regular DD suggesters and as much as I wish to encourage suggesting DDs, even if it's multiple per day, this is the problem I run into when I get too many suggestions from one member. I do not wish for the community as a whole to think that I favor anyone's suggestions over another and really, I don't it just happens that some people suggest 10 or more pieces per day and well, it's just how things go and look and yeah.  So.. In the past I've always made an effort to space suggesters out as much as I can so that nobody will feel the need to feel as though I favor anyone over another.  Sometimes spacing regular suggesters out can be difficult as I sit and watch the notes pile up day after day.  So, sometimes, suggestions from regular suggesters get overlooked in favor of selecting suggestions from others.  It sucks, it really does, but that's simply the reality of it and I don't know any better way of putting it.  

Crediting stock.  I really can't stress this enough. A few DDs I'd selected in the past have been removed because they did not follow stock provider rules, or all together did not credit their source.  This is very difficult sometimes because I know we have so many talented artists who can replicate amazing things without reference and I'd hate to penalize someone and not give them the DD because they are simply that good that they don't need stock, but when stock is being referenced, please for everyone's benefit, just credit!  
That being said, I have in the past turned pieces down that credit photographs that are not stock.  If I am unable to clearly tell that the original photographer is okay with this use (since it's not stock) I am incredibly reluctant to feature it because I'd hate to have the photographer complain that no permission was given and the DD be removed.  

The 6 month rule.  Yeah you'd be surprised how often I am unable to give something a DD because the suggested artist has had a DD already within the last 6 months.  Please note that this is not a rule I can work my way around, it's literally hard coded into the site and I absolutely can not give a DD to an artist who has had one within the last 6 months.  In the same breath, if I am familiar with or aware of an artists alternate account having received a DD within the last 6 months, I will still stick to this rule.  

The artist already has a DD set.  If another CV or Staff member has set a DD for the artist you've suggested to me, I am unable to feature them.  

I imagine I have forgotten a few things that also come up from time to time that keep me from picking an awesome work of art to be a DD but I think I've covered the most common things I see and or look for.  Please keep in mind that this is just my own personal way of looking at what to feature vs what not to and as such shouldn't be compared to how other CVs might do things.  I hope that this helps suggesters to better understand why I decline some of the great pieces which are suggested to me, and hopefully you all will continue to send beautiful suggestions my way.  If anyone has any questions or comments I'm all ears 

---

Don't like my DD Suggestion Guidelines?

No problem!  You can send your digital art suggestions to these wonderful people:

Thiefoworld, tinybreeann, kozispoon, Ikue, fourteenthstar, moonbeam13, Shyree, MidnightExigent  

Happy suggesting!