Daily.Phirebrush

We decided to close down the old Facebook group page and made a brand new Fan Page. Be sure to add us as a friend. Also, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or join our Flickr group!

Expect some more news soon . . .

Hello Everyone!

It’s been awhile hasn’t it?
No, we have not forgotten about you guys. Life has been hectic to say the least and sadly this great site has taken a hit. James and I have been talking in great length over the last 2 months about what to do with Phirebrush. Do we want to keep it the same or move it forward? Change it? Evolve it? But thoughts of change can be scary thus we have been mulling over it for some time now. Here is what we have in mind:

In short, we want to turn the site into an “uber-blog”. Scary huh? What about the art? What about the interviews? I’m sure you have a lot of questions. Let us explain it a bit more.

Currently as you know, we release monthly issues of art and interviews, and we have a blog; but that’s really about it. The change here would actually remove the monthly aspect of the site entirely – make it a living, breathing, user-generated site.

Let’s try and break it down by section, first up the art releases. These would actually disappear, but in its place would be daily art posts. You, the user, can log in and submit articles on not only YOUR art but art you find online, showcasing artists you come across. We also plan to make FULL use of our Flickr Group for you to submit your art to — we’ll pick out our daily favorites and showcase them as well as have a feed directly on the main page. So, rather then waiting each month to see all these amazing creations, you can see them daily. As for our monthly interviews, these will stay the same. We’ll still find out top contributors to the site as well as take in your requests. If your requests pour in, maybe we’ll even offer more than one interview each month.

As you can tell this changed format really will revolve around YOU more. We’ll implement a new login system, giving you access to more. You’ll be able to write articles, comment on posts, etc. We really want to expand on what made Phirebrush, it’s contributors — giving you more control!

This is just a brief description of what we have in mind for the site. The problem with such a huge overhaul like this is it probably won’t go live for a few months. In the meantime, we’ll still take in your submissions like we have (currently we are pushing past 500 submissions!) and will plan to release the ultimate “last issue” when this new version would go live. All our past issues and interviews will still be able to be viewed. This change in question is quite a drastic one and we want your input. This site is and will always be about YOU! Comment, email us, do what you have to but please, let us know! We’d love to know how you feel about this change, what things would you like to see added/removed while we’re at it and more!

Thank you for the continued support and love you show Phirebrush. We never forget it and look forward to your thoughts! Once we gather your feedback, we’ll try to nail a more concrete date on when you can expect these updates.

- Jason & James

Update: We’ve created a Twitter account as well. Be sure to follow us!

November is finally here and you may be asking “Where is Release65?!?!”. Fair enough. Truth be told, James and my schedule didn’t slow down like we had thought, instead, they seemed to just get busier. We weren’t able to line up new interviews or go through the already 200+ easy submissions. So as you can see, we’re not back with #65 as we had hoped.

We talked it over last week and have come to the conclusion to wait to launch it until January 2009. As much as I hate to bring up the economy, it does also play a fact as we have to work to pay our bills (and to keep our jobs, haha) mixed in with the upcoming holidays, it just seemed like the best for us to do for the site. I promise to have it back up then as I don’t want this site to fade away, we’ve been around far to long. In the meantime we’ll try to continue to update with news as much as we can!

So, what do we have to look forward to for the first of the year? A HUGE issue, that’s for sure. Please please keep submitting. Even if you’ve been submitting via email, we have been getting them. So don’t worry. We’re also working to line up a huge interview so hopefully that pans out as well. Another possibility (not a promise) is a fresh and updated layout for the site itself. I’ve gotten some ideas sketched out, just a matter of getting time to fire up Photoshop on my time off. If you have some ideas of what you would like to see added / removed, please, comment, let us know! We’d love to hear!

Again, we want to thank EVERYONE who comes to this site. Who submits and to all of you wonderful people waiting for our next release. You are all amazing! Enjoy your holidays, soak in that creative energy and please continue to submit. We’ll be back in force come 2009!

Thanks!
- Jason and James