IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR SOME GRAPHIC ADVICE,

The Food Fighters are here to help! Their tips aren't listed in any particular order, just from shortest to longest pieces of advice! 

TERRAXXA: maybe it's been said enough, but it's true: the way to get better at anything is practice & hard work.

JENSEUL_: Umm...Fighting! You can do it! And also give credits if you are inspired by someone. Don't compare your edits with others ♡

DONGHAESHUSBAND: I'd advise everyone to just participate and enjoy. It's okay not to win. You got to participate so that you can test yourself better. Also, learn from other participants.

PITTIELAU: I can recommend them to try different things and go more on the styles they can't do. Using fonts they've never used and using things they've never done on their covers I'm sure will improve them.

LENNIE_836: Umm I'm not good enough to give advice haha! But I would say, don't just run after tutorials because the main product comes from your own mind, for me "watch me edit's" helped a LOT so basically don't get spoonfed, try new things yourself! <3

TOKYOTALES: I myself don't know enough to help someone else, but I think they should go for it and make what they want to! I hold back from several ideas bc I dont think I'm skilled enough to make stuff but when I try, it comes out pretty well. You wouldn't know if you can do it or not unless you try.

MIRNA_DEVOJKA: my advice would be to join as much contests as u can, a lot of us face the problem where we cant think of what to make and want to practice more to improve our skills, and they give exactly that. u get to have fun, met some new people and u constantly work on ur skills. u have to be consistent with making ur graphics to get better.

LIKEFUL: one tip i would have is to experiment around! for example, when i designed the menu, i had no idea that it was going to turn out like that, but after multiple drafts, i created something that was both unique and personal to me <3 when joining comps, it's also important to be proud in ur own work n to not let comparing yourself to others get too much in ur head.

EGGYEULS: Find the right balance between having a comfort zone and stepping out of that comfort zone. Never force yourself to do specific things just to please others, you will never be able to satisfy everyone, because everyone has different tastes and preferences. The most important thing is that you're having fun! But also gather enough courage to try out new and unexpected things every then and now! No matter what feedback you'll get from others or what you think about the result yourself, appreciate the process, you've spent a lot of time and energy on that project, be proud!

SKRRRAA: Don't be mad at yourself if stuff doesn't work out like you wanted to ! Just maybe throw it all away , take a break and start over new if you want to . Also , a thing that I realised through this contest.. not everybody is good at every single style of editing . Maybe somebody can create a great fantasy cover and somebody rather calm and simple covers for poetic stuff or for science fiction or anything else . It's okay that you have strengths and weaknesses . Even the most experienced editors will have flaws and that's absolutely nothing to be ashamed of . Just acknowledge them , if you want to you can work on them , or just try to accept them ..

COLEREVEAL: I'm not really good at advice but I think I can share this one. If you're the one who likes confronting "art thieves" or maybe people that haven't understood copyright laws in terms of designing, learn to mute them right away. They might misunderstand your words and find ways to report you. My former account was forcedly closed by wattpad due to "Parent Request". Although I'm not really sure what it meant, someone reporting my account might have been a factor (because I'm dumb and even other people was muting those person I do not).

One more thing, don't state in your bio or book that you're offering services for book covers because I believe that goes against Wattpad policies (I don't know why). Again, I'm not really sure if this was the reason my account got closed but better be safe. (Note: Just like anybody else, I also used symbols to cover up the word "commissions" or whatever but maybe it didn't work.)

Well, my advice for beginners (this sounds weird because I'm also a beginner), be brave. Don't be afraid to take those challenges because that's what shifts you into a better designer. But what are those challenges exactly? It's up to you how you define it. Maybe a new style you wanted to go for? A new way to do the lighting or shadows? Don't just stick to your normal route. You know what I mean. Everybody has their own way of creating their own graphics. There are buttons that you always click and don't click. Try to switch it up! In that way, you'll discover something new and better.

Don't just practice and press the same buttons everyday. Practice efficiently, and always try new things. Be brave to step up and don't be intimidated in this sea of talent. Of course, it's okay to feel small at some time. When I decided to join this contest, I kinda felt intimidated with people doing this business for years, and I'm here doing it barely a year. But I mean if I didn't join then I wouldn't be able to have this 50 backgrounds, 40 textures, 30 pngs, and 10 graphics from the host!

Definitely not just plugging in here but I'm an inch closer to releasing my graphic guide book containing my own tips and tutorials named Chamber Of Whispers. As I already mentioned, my previous account was deleted and the same as the book. Another bad news, I don't have any backup for that because I never saw this coming. But wait for it, it's a project I'm dedicated to do.

SKRRRAA: It's pretty random and maybe you answered it somewhere already , but , For how long have you been editing already ?

VANi: I've been editing for two years now!

TERRAXXA: oh, I meant to ask out of curiosity, what was the round 4 prompt going to be? (unless you're going to reuse it!)

VANi: Round 4's prompt actually wasn't completely figured out. It was sort of a last-minute addition, really. There would be three Food Fighters who passed the previous round, and Round 4 would determine their Final Standings!

Now, the prompt was to create a matching set of two posters. You would need to design the posters based on the two other Food Fighters you were competing with, one poster for each person. Additionally, you would need to design their posters based on their avatars, including their avatar's animal/food and colors!

There were many other versions of this prompt, but that's pretty much the version that I had settled on. The gist of the prompt was for the Food Fighters to give each other little treats/prizes in a sense!

LIKEFUL: what inspired you to make this comp and all the creative prompts?

VANi: I've always enjoyed hosting graphic contests on Wattpad! I love interacting with everyone, and I absolutely love seeing all of the talented editors' different intrerpretations of the same prompt. Graphic wars are pretty much contests, but at a more interactive, in-depth level, and I wanted to try hosting one myself!

I found inspiration through many, many graphic wars on Wattpad! I really wanted to analyze what previous hosts have done with their events, and I wanted to further develop those ideas in the "Food Fight"! I decided to create food-inspired prompts for different types of graphics because contests usually limit their prompts to story-based and cover-based graphics. Which isn't a bad thing at all! I just wanted to experiment and try new things for this graphic war.

When coming up with the prompts themselves, I'm not really sure how to describe the process haha! I find inspiration through other graphic prompts and art prompts. I also find inspiration from random everyday things, such as food, product packaging, plants, colors, and people.

I just think about certain ideas and challenges that I would enjoy participating in myself! And I also think about "What if?" Like, what if participants had to design a logo based on fairytale characters? Or, what if two opponents got to choose one photo for each other to use in their entries? I came up with those prompts in only a few minutes, just thinking of random things I could combine together. 

DONGHAESHUSBAND: How was your experience?

VANi: To be completely honest, hosting this event was incredibly stressful and hectic, but seeing the interactions between everyone made it all worth it! My main goal throughout this entire event was to make it as fun and enjoyable as possible, and I think I achieved that?

However, I do regret not being prepared enough, and if you plan to host your own graphic war or any kind of long-term event, please don't make the mistakes as me! Here are some tips for you:

TIPS FOR HOSTING LONG-TERM EVENTS!

1. YOU MUST BE COMPLETELY OVER-PREPARED!

"It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it." You must consider every single possible factor that might affect your event, whether it's having enough time, participants pulling out of the event, or prompts being doable enough for the participants. You need to be extremely organized. Of course, you won't always know what to expect, so improving your organization comes with time, experience, and trial and error.

2. YOU MUST ALWAYS BE KIND AND RESPECTFUL TO EVERYONE!

Now, this is just something everyone should know, whether it's online or in real life. You never know what someone is going through, so you always need to be understanding and word what you have to say as respectfully as possible, no matter how frustrated you might be. Not everything will go your way, so you should not get frustrated if things don't go as planned or if people don't do things as you planned. (You don't have control over people anyway.)

Also, when facing conflicts with participants, remember to put your pride aside. This goes for participants, too. You won't always be correct, and you need to admit your faults or wrongdoings. There's no need to prove people wrong or to prove yourself right. When facing a conflict, you should share your concerns, listen to the other person's concerns, then help each other come up with compromises or solutions from there.

3. YOU MUST ALWAYS BE PATIENT WITH PARTICIPANTS!

This goes along with the previous point. Understand that things will not always go as planned, and not all participants will submit their entries on time (especially with different time zones.)

4. COMMUNICATE WITH THE PARTICIPANTS AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE!

You need to make sure that everyone is on track and understands everything happening in the event. Remember to encourage participants to ask questions, too!

5. WORK ON THE EVENT WHENEVER YOU HAVE TIME!

Now, I'm a classic procrastinator. I usually don't feel like doing any sort of work, and I think the work will just magically get done by itself. I wait until I actually feel like doing the work, but that's usually right before the deadline. Then, I would have to rush the work, which results in poor quality. Do not make this mistake. I lost so much sleep, I was incredibly stressed, and all of that would have been prevented if I just worked when I had the time to.

Even if you only have five minutes, working on the event is better than not working on it. If you have the time to collect entries, judge entries, answer questions, or make graphics for the event, you should make good use of that time! Pushing your work "later" will only make things more stressful.

VANi: Now, I'm still barely experienced as a host, both in short-term and long-term events, so I don't know everything. Those are just the tips I think can be most helpful!

I HOPE YOU FOUND EVERYONE'S ADVICE HELPFUL!

It's always great to get some advice from someone with more experience. Don't be afraid to ask questions when you need answers!