#ao3cotd

[ID:  A graphic with the Fanlore logo above the words ‘meet the team’, with file icons below it representing the .psd Photoshop file format and the .png and .jpg image formats.  Next to them is a sticker reading ‘Hello, My Name Is’. The name written on the sticker is memorizingthedigitsofpi /end ID]

Meet the Team is a social media feature that gives you the chance to get to know some of the people volunteering behind the scenes at Fanlore! This week we’re featuring a member of our graphic design team: memorizingthedigitsofpi!

1) What is your role with Fanlore, and what does it involve?

I'm a graphics designer for Fanlore. I'm one of the people who makes the images you see attached to our posts.

2) How did you come to volunteer with Fanlore?

I had been using Fanlore for years as a resource (though not editing yet), and I had the OTW volunteering page bookmarked. I checked every couple of weeks to see what positions they were recruiting for, and when the Fanlore graphics post came up, I knew I could put my photo manipulation and fanart skills to good use!

3) What is your favourite graphic you have created for Fanlore so far?

My favourite one hasn't been posted yet, but my second favourite might just be the one I made for Fix It Fics. I love typography and making text look like the thing it represents. I also made the graphic for Whitewashing, which does a similar thing.

[ID: The word ‘Canon’ in bold font, depicted as shattered and broken, with pieces of tape and band-aids sticking it back together. /end ID]

4) What is your process for creating graphics?

My first stop is always the Fanlore page for whatever I'm going to make a graphic for. I'll read through the page (and probably end up in a click hole for a while) and learn about the topic if I don't know it already. If it's something specifically related to canon, I'll image search screenshots that I can modify. If it's a Thurminology term, I'll think if I can create a typographic interpretation of it. I also make use of royalty-free image sites like Pixabay to gather together the pieces I need to make the image in my head. I'll often start with 1-3 base images that I combine and then fill out with textures or other things.

5) What was your first fandom? How did you get involved with fandom?

I lurked in a lot of fandoms before I started creating in them. One early one that I was definitely in, even though I wasn't online yet, was Star Trek: The Next Generation. Once I had internet access and could actually learn what a fandom was, my fandoms were Buffy and the X-Files. The first one I wrote fic for was The West Wing.

6) What are some of the fannish things that you like to do, outside of Fanlore?

I RP a lot with my bestie. She and I met through a shared fandom, and we're still going strong several years after leaving it. I also run the @ao3commentoftheday​ Tumblr blog, and the ao3cotd Tiktok account. I still create graphics for friends sometimes too, but I'm in between fandoms so the art and fics are few and far between at the moment.