SVS Survey

[jimsz]

Curriculum 10

Live/Interactive feedback 3

Assignments 5

Crits: Reasonably priced crits on individual images 3 (prices mentioned are a bit high)

Live in person workshops and classes: 1

What SVS is offering now is good - don't try and expand into writing, etc as there are already a great deal of sites for authors.

[Lee White]

Great guys, thanks!

Our plans for SVS are having a variety of things for students. Which is showcased by your answers here. Some people want feedback, others are ok with video learning. We will be offering more interactive classes where you get feedback. In fact, we are working on a formal curriculum that basically walks you through everything you need to know to be a pro. We are still going to be making video offerings for the subscription too. We will offer assignments as an additional purchase if you want/need that for the classes. So lot's of big stuff coming at SVS!!!

[rcartwright]

Curriculum 3
Live feedback 10
Assignments 1
Crits 10
Live workshops 4 (I live in Canada but with enough notice of an event I would try to plan a vacation to attend

Notes
I would like to see some crits for writing children's books

In the "writing Children's books" videos it is discussed how the Author who illustrates his own work can take a different approach to writing because more details can be put into the art. I would love to see a video series or third Thursday talk from people who write and also illustrate there own work.

[Eric Castleman]

@Lee-White you aren’t getting rid of your in depth portfolio critique, are you? I only ask because I see that critiques are listed.

[Washu]

1: Curriculum- 1 (you could just organize the videos by "recommended")
2. Live- 1 (I'm assuming this does not include Third Thursdays)
3. Assignments- 10 (This would be helpful for beginners who don't have their own projects to work on.)
4. Crits- 9
5. In person- 1 (I live in Chicago lol)

I love the critiques. I learn a lot from Third Thursdays even if it's not my art being critiqued.

[IanS]

@lee-white The curriculum seems like a good idea. It would add structure which would be good as I do tend to dither when selecting which vid to watch next. Although I suppose the order or videos depends of what you're trying to get out of the it.

[jasonandroosmith]

These are all great!

1. 10
2. 8
3. 10
4. 8
5. 8

[MOO]

@lee-white said in SVS Survey:

Curriculum: This would be a guide for which classes to take and what order to take them.
10

Live/Interactive feedback: This wold be higher priced offerings with instructor feedback on your work

Assignments: This would be more downloadable assignments for the videos in our subscription offering.
5

Crits: Reasonably priced crits on individual images ($100 range) and full portfolio crits ($450 range)
8

Live in person workshops and classes: We have a new building now, so this may be possible. Also traveling workshops, etc.
10

Please list anything else you can think of to make SVS better! Your answers will guide the future of SVS, so please chime in and be heard! : )

[mare333]

@lee-white said in SVS Survey:

Curriculum: 10
Live/Interactive feedback: 10
Assignments: 10
Crits: 9
Live in person workshops and classes: 9

Suggestion: Clone the SVS artists so they can be more places than one for all their fans!

[Andyg]

@rcartwright said in SVS Survey:

Curriculum 10
Live feedback 3
Assignments 7 - as a working artist and minister, hard to get even the challenges done, never mind assignments. But I invest in myself an hour a day, so not impossible.
Crits 5 (cost implication)
Live workshops 1. Unless they are recorded in which case 8. I live in the uk and they are never at a good time from experience in other learning international environments. Either family or other business. Attending in person impossible.

[lmrush]

Curriculum: This would be a guide for which classes to take and what order to take them. 7
Live/Interactive feedback: This would be higher priced offerings with instructor feedback on your work 10
Assignments: This would be more downloadable assignments for the videos in our subscription offering. 9
Crits: Reasonably priced crits on individual images ($100 range) and full portfolio crits ($450 range) 10
Live in person workshops and classes: We have a new building now, so this may be possible. Also traveling workshops, etc. 10 ( a little too far for me but think it is great for those who can go)
To continue the awesomeness......
An annual members retreat somewhere cool, lol just kidding

continue recorded group critiques (members submit in advance and a few are critiqued) I learned so much from those.
Continue the group classes (turbocharging etc.,)
Continue Third Thursdays
And I love the new system that shows what you have viewed and you can resume-that has been awesome!
Thanks again I feel so blessed to be a part of the SVS community.

[Sarah LuAnn]

1. 5--I think this would be nice, but since everyone is looking for something different and working on different skills I don't know how universal such a curriculum would be. Maybe a few lists--"If you want to improve your drawing accuracy, look at these classes in this order. If you want to learn more about painting in Photoshop, look at these classes. If you're working on story telling...." etc. etc.

2. 10! So valuable.

3. 8--I think we all try to apply what we learn, but when the teacher gives a specific way to try it helps a lot.

4. 9...I really want a portfolio crit but I feel like I would put it off indefinitely because I'm "not ready yet".... I need to stop doing that already.

5. Since I am not located near the SVS headquarters I feel like I can't really comment on this one. It isn't really something I could take advantage of. I wish I could though!

[cassie chancy]

Curriculum : 10! This is what Iv'e been wishing for
Feedback : 10!
Assignments : 10! This would really help to give me something to work on when I feel stuck.
Critiques : 5. would be great when I'm at that level and can afford it!
Workshops : 4. Awesome idea. Just not something I could do right now.

Thanks for all ya'll do. These are exciting changes!

[Spencer Hale]

Curriculum: 6
Live/Interactive feedback: 9
Assignments: 7
Crits: 8
Live in person workshops and classes: 10

Any sort of live/interactive feedback on our work would be super helpful, whether at a live workshop/event or online with a draw-over video or critique.

I took the Illustration 1 live class and having that direct feedback/critiques from the instructors was invaluable. Yes, it was a an additional cost above the regular subscription, but It really helped me level up my work.

I also really appreciate how active the instructors are on the forum. I know your time is important, so any extra time they spend giving feedback and advice in the forum, is a huge bonus. It also seems to fuel the other forum members to also give good and helpful critiques and make it a safe place to share our work and build the community.

[TessaW]

Honestly, they all sound great to me. I think I would always give assignments a 10. As for the others, I see a need for all of them, and my answer would be different depending on where I was at in a moment in time. A few years ago, curriculum would have been very helpful to me- now, not so much. I don't need a portfolio critique now, but can see wanting one in a year or two.

So if I had to choose for this moment in time it would be:

1. Curriculum: 1

2. Live/Interactive feedback: 6 It would depend on if I found a class I wanted to really immerse myself in.

3. Assignments: 10 Doing assignments is the biggest way I've seen myself improve. I look for their inclusion when I pay for a course.

4. Crits: 5 This would probably jump up higher when I get a portfolio together.

5. In person workshops: 6 It would all depend on timing, location, price, and content.

[A Former User]

Curriculum: This would be a guide for which classes to take and what order to take them.

(3) I downloaded the spreadsheet someone made earlier (thanks!), so I have that. Might be nice to integrate it into the site, though.

Live/Interactive feedback: This would be higher priced offerings with instructor feedback on your work

(10) Yes!

Assignments: This would be more downloadable assignments for the videos in our subscription offering.

Crits: Reasonably priced crits on individual images ($100 range) and full portfolio crits ($450 range)

(10) Yes!

Live in person workshops and classes: We have a new building now, so this may be possible. Also traveling workshops, etc.

(4) I like the idea in theory, but I live really far away and have to use my travel budget to see family, so it doesn't seem likely I could attend a workshop.

I would be interested in taking one of the live online classes with assignments and feedback, especially whichever one might directly follow the original children's book illustration class. This is to say, I've watched the whole children's book class twice so know a lot of the content, but would still love to expand on it, especially if it meant live feedback and critiques. My only request is that it be something that someone 9 hours ahead of Utah time could pull off. Haha! I know that's not so easy, but 9 am your time is 6 pm in much of Europe, so that could work!

[A Former User]

Oops, forgot assignments.

(6) Nice, but it's not terribly hard to make our own if we're just working independently.

[Miriam]

1. Curriculum: 10
I think I e-mailed SVS to suggest this. I agree with other comments that say it should be optional, and different lists would be great (i.e. beginners, material/medium {traditional and digital}, format/style {comics, kid lit., gallery, …}, etc.)
2. Live/Interactive feedback: ?
This would be amazing! Unfortunately, I can’t afford it, and I’m a beginner, so it would probably be better to wait until I’ve gone through more classes and had more practice anyway.
3. Assignments: ?
I have appreciated the assignments in the classes I’ve watched so far, but to be honest, I probably wouldn’t pay more for additional assignments. Personally, I don’t like it when I subscribe to something, and then they’re trying to up-sale left and right. It makes sense for things like personal critiques and live classes, but for other little things, I find it annoying and makes me feel like my subscription / loyalty isn’t appreciated. (Keeping’ it real!)
Also, I’ve been meaning to send an e-mail regarding the file-size. If you could break up the larger ones into multiple downloads (or maybe offer it both ways) it would be helpful for people with slow internet connections.
4. Critiques: ?
Unfortunately, as with #2, this is out of my price range.
I agree with what someone else said: It would be great if videos of critiques were available—I have benefited from watching critiques of other people’s work, and have been hoping that you’ll continue to do them, since it seems like it was a monthly thing, but it hasn’t been done recently (unless I’m just not seeing them!).
5. Live in person workshops and classes: ?
This would also be a great experience! However, I don’t live close by & it wouldn’t be in my budget. 

———

I also like the suggestion of adding certificates / badges. I had been thinking of suggesting the same thing. 
I think it would add some fun / motivation / sense of accomplishment for many students.
A certificate sounds like it’s from a graded class (like with an accredited school), so “badges” or another name would probably be more appropriate. 
Or have the ability to earn certificates for the live classes in addition to badges (or whatever you name them) for the video classes. But then you’d get into the issue of grading (which I’m guessing you don’t do in the classes) or issuing the certificate to anyone who participated, which would make it less meaningful, so maybe it’d be better to just have “badges” for those classes as well. These could be in conjunction with the curriculum idea.

I’m pretty new to SVS, so I’m not too familiar with everything that is offered / covered in the classes, but I am expecting / hoping for classes starting with the absolute beginner (for someone who’s never taken an art class before)—all the way through to a professional level. Right now, I need classes that cover the basics and fundamental principles. 
Things like: Materials & how to use different mediums (all the stuff you’re supposed to know—like keeping your paints clean & how to care for your brushes, different hardness of pencils and what they’re used for, different papers/surfaces, etc.), Drawing Fundamentals, Design Principles, etc. I don’t even know what all I need—ha, ha!

Thanks for asking us what we think! I've enjoyed everything on SVS so far, and appreciate that you and other SVS staff participate on the forums. You've created a great supportive community here!

[SmallsOrd]

Curriculum: 6
Live Feedback: 8
Assignments: 1
Crits: 8
Live workshops: 20!!

Love you guys, SVS is just amazing and I look forward to whatever the future holds!!

[Lee White]

@miriam Thanks for the info. In terms of pricing for assignments, we are just exploring that option. At our subscription price point, we just don't make much money (which is why the subscription price has to go up, otherwise we would go out of business). Our costs keep going up up up with hosting fees and paying teachers for new videos, etc. and if we don't keep up, we won't make it as a business.

Most companies make money from additional items. Restaurants make it from drinks, Airlines make it from seat upgrades and luggage fees, apps make it from selling upgraded items or coins, etc. So we have to have options to make the experience better for the students and we have to be able to stay in business. By making upgrades to the base subscription, it gives options to people who want it, and doesn't make everyone pay for it.

I hear you though. No one likes to be "bait and switched". We hope it never seems that way with our school. : )