New Designer Guide

Welcome to Graphics!

This page is meant to help new designers, artists, and returning helpers understand how the Graphics Team actually works. This guide is less about technical setup and more about how we handle files, communicate, and get work done as a team.

For technical setup information like color space, DPI, bleed, margins, and how to build reusable art, see the New Artist Primer.

For where files go and how to name revisions, see File Saving and Sharing on the Graphics Team.

First things first

Before you start doing official graphics work for con, you need to:

• Sign the art/design agreement licensing SNAFU Con to use the work you give us. You only need to do this once and it's good forever.
• Apply to be Staff. Graphics is a general staff position.
• Get access to the graphics Dropbox
• Join Bitrix24
• Have reasonably regular access to the software you need
• Be okay with feedback, edits, and changes to your work

If you are missing access to something, ask in the graphics chat.

What the Graphics Team actually does

The Graphics Team is responsible for creating and refining the visual materials con needs through the year. That includes things like:

• Fliers
• Posters
• Website graphics
• Social media graphics
• Buttons or pins
• T-shirts
• Badges
• Signage and banners
• Con book pages
• Coloring pages
• Other miscellaneous graphics as needed

Rather than making something from nothing, a lot of the team's work is:

• Taking submitted art and turning it into usable graphics
• Resizing and adapting existing graphics for new uses
• Cleaning things up for print
• Adjusting layouts
• Fixing contrast, readability, or text placement
• Taking a raw file and pushing it toward a finished piece

Art vs Graphic Design

This has been a big point of confusion over the years. While these do overlap, they are not the same thing.

Art is usually the illustration itself: mascots, characters, props, background pieces, decorative elements, and other themed visuals. Art can be anything and its main goal can be to look pretty or good or cool, or to provoke a feeling in the viewer.

Graphic design is taking those visuals and arranging them into something useful and readable with the information con actually needs on it. This includes having necessary elements to make it a useful marketing piece; getting what we need from the viewer. We want to provoke an action from the viewer: go to the site and register, or attend con. It can still look pretty or cool, or provoke a feeling, but at the end of the day it's all about marketing and getting the viewer to do something for us.

Some examples:

• Drawing a mascot is art
• Turning that mascot into a flier with logo, dates, location, URL, and theme is graphic design
• Taking a flier and turning it into a poster or social media banner is graphic design
• Cleaning up someone else's file and making it ready for print is also graphic design

It is okay if you mainly do one and not the other. We just need to know what sort of work you are comfortable doing. We have artists that can't lay out effective text, and we have designers that can't draw more than a stick figure. The more variation on skills we have, the more well-rounded the team will be, so don't worry if you're lacking skills in some areas.

How the team works

Graphics is collaborative.

Any one graphics piece may have multiple people touching it, depending on who has time, software access, and spoons. One person may start something, another may clean it up, another may adjust the text, and another may do the final export.

Because of that:

• Do not assume a file is yours forever just because you started it (but also don't be surprised if no one else has the energy to touch it)
• Save work in a way that another person can pick it up
• Keep useful layers when possible
• Save new revisions instead of overwriting working files
• Expect that feedback and finishing touches may come from someone else

A file does not need to be perfect to be useful. Sometimes "good raw start" is exactly what the team needs.

A file is done when the Graphics lead decides it's ready to go off to whatever purpose it will be used for.

Use what we already have

We try to limit how much new art we do in a year and reuse elements as much as possible to keep things consistent. Early in the year we create the annual themed art we need for our fliers, and reuse those pieces for social media, website, con book, etc., as much as possible. This allows for the art to be recognized by attendees, as they see it in more places.

However, even after our main annual art is created and in use, new art can be created as needed or simply if someone gets to urge to create and we'll use it however we can. If someone on the staff or an attendee donates something to us, we also try to find a use for it. We often have needs for prints for at-con swag, or elements in the con book.

In general, before starting from scratch, it is usually smart to check:

• Current year existing mascot art
• Current year flier or poster files
• Existing website and social media graphics
• Art already uploaded to the current year folders
• Previous year files that can be used as a starting point

If you are not sure whether something already exists, ask.

A good place to start

If you are new and itching to do something but are not sure where to jump in, a good place to start is often by making in-theme elements we can use.

That might mean:

• Small themed objects or characters
• Background pieces
• Decorative elements
• Mascot poses
• Social post elements
• Little graphics that can be reused in the con book, on social media, or in signage

Reusable art is extremely helpful because it can be utilized almost anywhere.

That said, please make it large enough and layered well enough that it can actually be reused. See the New Artist Primer for those setup details.

Tell us when you start something

If you are working on something specific, especially a specific deliverable like a T-shirt, badge, poster, or con book page, say so in the graphics chat when you start. In general we try not to step on each other's toes but if nobody says they are doing a thing, the team will usually assume nobody is doing the thing.

This helps prevent duplicate work, crossed wires, and someone sending a piece in another direction because they did not know you were already on it.

A quick "I'm starting X" is more than sufficient.

Tell us if you become unavailable

Life happens. School happens. Work happens. Moving happens. Surgeries happen. Sometimes people just run out of energy. That is all fine. This is volunteer work.

But if you know you are going to disappear for a bit, please say so when you can. This helps the team adjust expectations and decide whether someone else needs to pick something up.

Dropbox vs Bitrix

We use both for different purposes.

Dropbox

Dropbox is, generally, our active workspace.

Use Dropbox for:

• Work in progress
• Files being passed back and forth
• Large current-year files
• Anything that needs to sync on all or our systems quickly
• Shared working files like con book pieces, flier revisions, etc.

The big drawback is that free accounts (like the one we expect you to have) barely give you 2gb of space, which is roughly the size of our con book working file. Things need to get moved to Bitrix a lot to keep Dropbox available for the team.

If you don't yet have Dropbox, or need to sign up with a new account (you may not want to use one that already have stuff in it unless you already pay for it and have the space), let us know. Someone on the team can give you an invite. That gives them a boost in their space on Dropbox, giving you access, and them a little more wiggle-room when it comes to con book time.

Bitrix24

Bitrix is our archive and long-term storage.

Use Bitrix for:

• Older archived graphics
• Archived art
• Finished files that no longer need to live in Dropbox
• Finding older year references
• Sharing files when Dropbox is full or not practical

Bitrix sync is not as robust, fast, or reliable as Dropbox, which is why Dropbox is generally used as the workspace and Bitrix is used as the archive.

A practical rule of thumb

• Current, changing, actively passed-around file = probably Dropbox
• Archived, reference, or no-longer-active file = probably Bitrix

If you are unsure where something belongs, ask.

You are also generally welcome to move things out of Dropbox and into Bitrix to save space. Please let the team know when doing so and follow existing conventions for where files go.

Where art goes vs where graphics go

As a general rule:

• Art that is not yet a finalized graphic or WIP graphic goes in the Art workgroup/folder for the correct year. We like to give each artist their own folder in that year so it's easy to tell who owns what.
• WIP or ready-to-go graphics go in the Graphics workgroup/folder for the correct year
• WIP graphics can also live in Dropbox when fast sync and file handoff matter more

If you create your own subfolder for the year, please keep it organized and named clearly.

Revision naming

When you make changes to a file, save a new revision with your initials.

Please do not do:

final.psd
final-final.psd
use-this-one.psd
newest.psd
really-final.psd

Please do something more like:

2026 Flier Rev 1 RP.psd
2026 Flier Rev 2 SS.psd
2026 Flier Rev 3 MD.psd

The exact punctuation is less important than making sure the file clearly shows:

• Year
• What the item is
• Revision number
• Who made that revision

It also helps if a string of files follows the same format so that it sorts in order.

Keep files editable

Whenever possible:

• Keep characters and major objects on separate layers or groups
• Keep line art on its own layer
• Keep text editable
• Keep backgrounds separate from characters
• Do not flatten the only working copy
• Do not crop off parts of a character or element unless that is truly all that exists

We reuse art constantly. A piece made for one use may later need to be used somewhere else entirely.

Line art may become a coloring page. A character from a flier may need to move to make room for badge text. A small decorative element may get dropped into the con book. Full art may need to become a poster.

The more editable the file is, the more useful it is.

Do not hand us art we cannot use

If you are contributing art for con use, please be aware that the team may need to:

• Reposition it
• Resize it
• Adjust contrast
• Pull pieces out of it
• Add text around it
• Build graphics on top of it
• Adapt it for print or other formats

If the expectation is that the team cannot change it for con purposes, that can make it unusable for some jobs.

That does not mean we are going to casually trash somebody's work. It does mean con graphics need to be workable.

Feedback and critique

Your work will get critiqued and changed. That is normal.

Sometimes the issue is not that the art or design is bad. It may simply not work for:

• The size
• The printer
• The amount of text needed
• Readability
• Contrast
• The format it has to fit into
• The deadline

We have people on the team who are particularly good at catching weirdness, readability issues, contrast problems, or layout problems that the rest of us may miss because we are too close to the file.

Try not to take edits personally and if you're struggling, please let us know.

Print is less forgiving than web

A design that looks good on a screen can still fail in print.

Print work usually needs more care with:

• Size
• DPI
• Bleed
• Safe margins
• Readability
• Export settings
• Color choices
• Vector vs raster decisions

If you are not sure whether something is for print, web, or both, ask before you get too far in.

The technical setup details live on the New Artist Primer, so this page is not going to repeat all of them.

The con book is its own beast

The con book deserves a special warning.

It is one of the biggest graphics projects every year, and it tends to become a crunch because information comes in late from other departments.

Things to know about con book work:

• It is usually a shared file passed back and forth
• Timing is often ugly
• Layout work and proofreading tend to stack up close together
• Sometimes the best help is not editing the main InDesign file but reviewing PDFs, preparing assets, cleaning up ads, or making page elements
• If you are opening or actively working in the main con book file, say so in chat
• When you are out of the file, say that too

Even if you are not the layout person, there are often ways to help.

Also: We almost always forget to mention the artists that are actually on the team in the con book. Several of us feel weird about putting our names on something we worked collaboratively on, and in the crunch we often simply forget until someone at the convention is asking about "who made that awesome T-shirt art" and we're like, oh hey that was you. Help ensuring that happens would be appreciated, for the sake of not looking like we are snubbing our artists, even if the artists are ourselves.

Deadlines and urgency

Some graphics are needed very early, especially social media, website, and fliers. Other things, like badges, T-shirts, signage, and con book work, tend to tighten up around a month before con. Some tasks will also pop up suddenly because another department realizes they need graphics.

Please do not assume a thing can wait just because nobody is yelling right this second.

The annual to-do list exists for a reason.

Common ways to make more work for everyone

Please try to avoid these:

• Designing too small
• Forgetting bleed
• Putting important text too close to the edge
• Flattening the only working file
• Not separating line art
• Cropping off part of a reusable element
• Starting a specific project without telling the team
• Uploading files somewhere other people cannot access
• Saving over a file instead of making a new revision
• Disappearing without a word while holding something time-sensitive
• Building something that cannot be adjusted for con use

These are all fixable, but they cost time, and the team is usually short on time.

In short

• Sign the contract
• Get access to Dropbox and Bitrix
• Check the wiki and annual to-do list
• Tell us what kind of work you do
• Tell us when you start something specific
• Use current year art when it makes sense
• Save new revisions with your initials
• Keep files editable
• Ask questions early
• When in doubt, communicate

When in doubt, ask

It is always better to ask than to spend hours making something unusable.

Useful questions include:

• Is there already art for this?
• Is this for print, web, or both?
• Is there a template?
• Where should I save this?
• Has anyone already started this?
• Should this be vector?
• Is this large enough?
• Who needs to review this before it is final?

If you find yourself confused about how the department works, that probably means the wiki needs improvement. Please say so. The goal is for the wiki to become the source of truth, and that only happens if we keep updating it.