How to: Create a Feature

Sep 2, 201620 min read

Deviation Actions

Published: Sep 2, 2016

3.1K Views

So you want to create a feature? Keep reading!

Making a feature isn't as easy as you might think it is. You don't just drag and drop pieces into a journal, it is kind of like creating art!

There are some questions that get asked a lot:

Why is my feature getting so little views?

Am I doing something wrong?

Why aren't people commenting on it?

And a bunch more just like these!

The answer to these is not simple. Thing is, your feature might not be getting much attention because maybe, you're not posting them regularly, or maybe they look like a hot mess, or maybe you're featuring the "wrong pieces."

In this article, I will tell you all about how I work when I create a feature, what I think is important in a feature and some handy tips and tricks for writing a feature.

What is a feature?

A feature is often posted as a journal here on DA, most often for the purpose of giving artists and their artworks more exposure. Features come in many shapes, sizes and forms. Some people choose to feature a single artist, others go with a theme, a gallery category, underexposed works, and so on. The sky truly is the limit on all the different features!

How can I make a feature?

First off, and one of the most important things to me personally, is to make sure you're doing it for the right reasons.
Don't do it because you want more attention. Do it to expose artists, works you like and want others to see. Be honest with yourself about this! If you want more attention, there's other ways to do it.

Second, decide if you want to do this just once, or if you want to make it a series. If you want to make it a series, how often will you be posting a feature? What will the series be named? When will the features be posted? Are you going to go with a single artist, a theme or maybe something entirely different?
These are all things to decide before you start your feature! Also think about things like; will I have enough time to keep this up? Will this be fun or a chore?

After you've decided on all of that, it is time to get started! I am going to be taking one of my feature series as an example:

I decided to do "Feature-Fest" once a week, on Thursdays. "Feature-Fest" will be focusing on either themes or (sub)categories.

So, let's say I want to do an issue on cute animals. This means I will likely spend hours browsing DA looking for my material. Will these cute animals be photographs, paintings, artisan crafts? I think I will go with photographs! So, let's go searching...

Finding works to feature

Since I have just decided I will be creating a feature on "cute animals", this is what we'll search for. When you enter "cute animal" as your keyword in DA's search, you will automatically be switched to the "Popular All Time" section of DA.

This is nice if you're looking for something that has likely been there since 2009, but it's better to swap those sections. Instead, try selecting "Undiscovered"...

Now that is a completely different look, isn't it? However, it's still not quite what we're looking for... Since I decided to go with photographs, I will be navigating to the "Photography" category in the right sidebar.
If you can't find what you're looking for in Undiscovered, try going with "Popular 1 week"...

This is all a whole lot closer to what we're looking for, and I already see some potential candidates!
To narrow things down even more, remove your keyword, and just navigate to Photography > Animals, Plants & Nature > Domesticated Animals (because the cute often hides in domesticated!)

As you can see, right now there are a lot of awesome works displaying on our screen. This is a good place to start collecting works!

Making your feature

So, we've found where we will be looking for works, now let's collect some!

The saddest kitten in the world :) by Katrin-Elizabeth

Now, I have simply "dropped" the thumbs in here, and it is quite the hot mess. Not something people really like to look at either. It's messy, unorganised and there is no flow whatsoever in it. Let's see how we can change that...

I have put these in an order, white bunny - white cat - grey cat - warm colours cat - warm colours dogs - warm colours guinea pig; see the flow? I have also resized the thumbs to make them all the same size, which makes them much nicer to look at!

To find these pieces, I browsed "Photography > Animals, Plants & Nature > Domesticated Animals" with no keywords, set to "Popular 1 Week".

However, the "Popular 1 Week" supply is not endless if you're looking for quality artworks to feature. If you run out of pieces there, you can always swap to "Popular 1 Month".

Why use "Undiscovered", "Popular 1 Week" and "Popular 1 Month"?

The reason is simple: all three of these sections feature recent works. Recent works means they are new, that the artist is very likely active and thus they will see your feature, since they get a notification of it in their inbox.
Recent works also means that they haven't been featured a lot yet, they often deserve more attention and not every member of DA hasn't seen them yet.
These sections also house some of the better quality work on DA, unlike sections like "Newest" for instance.

"Undiscovered" shows you works that have a potential to become popular, but are still underrated. "Popular 1 Week" and "Popular 1 Month" show you works that have been popular over the last week or month, these two kind of speaks for themselves.

So now what?

You've picked your feature's name, how often you will be doing it and so on, made a selection of works and put them in in a nice and organised manner, then what happens?

You can choose to post it right away, or you can choose to hold of for a little. Especially if you're going for a series, and will be posting works regularly. Earlier, you picked a day. Stick to that day. So don't post it a day earlier, or a day later right on your first issue. You've picked Thursday, now be patient and wait for it to be Thursday.
However, if you're unable to get online on a Thursday, don't sweat it. Post it a day later or earlier, but don't make that a regular thing.
Some people choose to notify their watchers if they can't make it for their regular day, others don't. That is a choice you need to make for yourself.

If you're a core member, you can schedule your feature, you can pick nice journal skins, and so on. If you're not a core member, you will not be able to schedule and you'll be stuck with the standard, blank journal skin, but that also has possibilities!

Whether you're a core member or not, creating features is never impossible. You have to learn to work with what you've got, and even with a boring white journal skin, you can still make your features look nice by for instance sizing the thumbs a little bigger, putting them in the centre of your journal, and so on. The possibilities are (almost) endless!

Some Do's and Don't's

Do not update your feature over and over again.
I am especially talking about updating and notifying your watchers. Every time you update that way, your watchers, but also the people you featured, will receive a notification in their inbox and/or on their phone if they have the DA app. Now you might wonder, what's the harm in that? Let me be blunt: it's annoying. If you've already seen something, say, an advertisement, you get tired of it if it keeps showing up over and over again, right? It's the same thing with features. If it shows up in your inbox, you look at it. If it shows up again and again and again, it can get very annoying.

Bullet; Green

Make your feature nice to look at.
Don't just toss in thumbs, that looks messy and unprofessional. I am often very likely to move away from a feature if it is a mess, because it's unpleasant to look at thumbs in all shapes and sizes, and mostly, it looks like you've put in no effort, while we know you did! So, put them in a nice order, make them the same size, and so on.

Feature recent works
The newer the work, the more chance you have the artist is still active. I have a rule for myself: No works that are older than a year. If you're in doubt, check the artists gallery to see when they last uploaded. Has it been some months? Then it's often best to find another piece. Have they just uploaded a week or a few days ago? I'd definitely add the piece!

Don't force people to look at your feature
You made a feature, and chances are you're proud of it. But don't shove your feature down peoples throats by forcing them to look at it. People will enjoy it much more if you for instance suggest they look at it, or if they find it (in their inbox or somewhere else) by themselves.

Look for people that reply to comments
These are also the people that are most likely to post a comment on your feature! If you feature an artists that never replies to comments on their work or page, chances are, they will not be commenting on your feature either. Find friendly, active people for your features. And of course: reply to any comments you get on your features! If someone says thanks, tell them it was your pleasure, and so on.

Be picky
Don't pick the first works you come across, but take the time to browse and look for what is right. Don't feature people because they ask you to feature them, because asking for a feature is just rude! Being featured should come forth from people liking your work, not from people asking to be featured. So, pick the things you like, and showcase them. I promise you that it will be much more fun that way!

Favourite the works you feature
You pick the works because you like them, correct? The least you can do is save them to your favourites. It's also a good way of keeping track of what you've already featured.