I'm late to this topic, but here are my tl;dr ramblings... /o\
Was there a certain person or group that inspired you to get into making shrines?
One of my earliest memories regarding shrines is of a collective (tokyo-love-story.net) by a German person. I've mentioned it on the forums before, but they had made at least two shrines to Angel Sanctuary characters, one who was immensely minor and who I may not have come to notice, let alone appreciate, without the shrine, and one who I disliked and didn't think about much.
Just the fact that dedicated sites exist for something you've thought of as obscure says so much and leaves such a deep impression - it shows that something that someone has created (the original creator) did indeed get noticed by someone and has touched that someone, and in turn, their appreciation of the original work is passed on to the visitor... Sharing that something has resonated with you and showing that you've got your own thoughts on it - those are just such powerful things to me, and those are the sentiments that got me into shrining.
Thank you for opening a world to me, unknown person! May we all continue opening worlds to others.
When currently working on your shrines, do you get inspired by certain shrines?
Yes, definitely. I keep a button wall on my network of shrines that inspire me, and a text file of inspiring elements from other people's shrines that I'd like to toy with in future projects. There are so many different shrines by so many different people out there, I think that it's just as important to sit down and read those shrines as to try your hand at making your own, see where you can take things and how to put your own spin on some elements. Browsing other people's shrines isn't just a way of taking part in the community, but part of developing and continuously refining your own style and approach.
Different shrines affect me in different ways, and I plan to discuss inspiring elements in other parts (the current "inspiring series" on the forums, for example), but here are some people in the community whose shrines have surely influenced my style and guided me
when I had just started out (the list is incomplete, of course; that's what individual button walls are for haha):
- Robin/Samantha: Their shrines, in different ways, encourage you to do your own thing. Robin's site ideas are always so creative and she breaks out of conventional structures with them. Samantha loves analysis, so she won't shy away from including a bunch of analytical pages. They made me realize that that's what I love, too, and that I should go about it the way I want.
- Todd: When I had just joined/come back, Todd was very vocal on the forums about reading shrines to subjects he doesn't know, and his own shrines have great spoiler warnings as well as newbie-friendly introduction sections. That led me to thinking more about visitor experience, and made me refine my own spoiler warnings as well as set aside entire sections for those unfamiliar with the material.
- Larissa/dubiousdisc: Had I not read their posts, visited their shrines and spoken to these two when I returned in 2015 (there's a "font design gap" during 2012 and 2015, when I was inactive), I think my font-size on sites may be smaller and thus less readable now, still under the influence of older shrines. Thank you for making me see the importance and beauty of bigger font-size!
- Megan: I like the learning experience on her shrines with regard to miscellaneous information; it's playful and interesting to branch out and not just see what design aspects went into a character, but how those elements have come about "in reality". A lot of other people do this on their shrines too, but it's particularly noticeable in Megan's, and she doesn't mind dedicating several pages to it on her shrines too. *-*
- Overall, I think Larissa, Samantha, Todd and Ava's shrines have really influenced me content-wise! I love analysis.
Those are just a few
early examples of people and their shrines inspiring me! :D There are many more people who inspire me now, including the above, but in other ways.
How does the rest of the community impact your end result?
I think the forums in general have been instrumental in how my shrines have come about and how I keep evolving. I backread all the time (the forums, the LJ) and there are so many things you learn by looking around and interacting with the community... For example, on the forums, Aku and dubiousdisc's posts over the years have really opened my eyes to many things, or fundamentally impacted me: regarding what shrines can be (how there is no set way for
anything), the process of shrining things, etc. I think it's great when the community has discussions that lead to new ideas or trends, or even practices or lines of thinking being challenged!
I think we also shouldn't be afraid to point out where a shrine can be improved or where something may be difficult to understand, or what else would be good to include in any given shrine: Any time such feedback has been given to me, that has led to improvement on my shrines! In the same vein, leaving detailed feedback about what you've particularly enjoyed on a shrine also helps those who read those comments (not just the person they're directed at); I'm sure browsing
arainymonday in the past was a learning experience for me too.
I love how the community is still growing even now, and how active we are with not just feedback, but encouragement while a shrine is being created: External motivation and other people's enthusiasm make such a difference. Making new friends here and mutually supporting each other means so much to me. On some recent layouts of mine, I also liked how many people I could go to for help and input... The end product then feels like a "collaboration", and it makes me happy because I couldn't have arrived there myself.
?? I have no idea what else I should talk about here so I'M GONNA CUT THIS OFF.