furry arts discussion > Kobuk's Fursuit Guides

How to Commission a Fursuit, Version 2.5

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Far_Raptor:
Lots of good info in there.  That's pretty much the process I use in figuring out the things I need before commissioning a suit from someone.

Another thing people may want to consider before commissioning is that of originality.  It's *very* tough to make an original design when it seems everything has been done.  But going through picture data bases to see the sorts of things you like definately helps to give you an idea of what's been done before and what hasen't.  Choose wisely, and remember: the more unique your suit, the more people will remember and say: "Oh yes!  That's you, in the (whatever) suit!"

~FaR~

lilfurbal:
How excellent.

Actually before I registered here or saw this I've already started the commission process with Lacy.  While I have no drawings, and actually am not really that picky in the first place, the design I'm going for is fairly easy to follow.  But actually what I'm trying to do is get a plushie Amur Leopard that I already have and get a fursuit made that matches.  Other than that I've actually only seen like basically no anthro leopards so have little to base it off of.  I have seen some (few) Leopard fursuits and I will go about saying the plush style I'm going for doesn't really match those other costumes at all. 

This guide has pointed things out though that is most helpful.  I've been really excited about all this, and also have a huge desire to make it to FWA 09.  Exciting, exciting indeed. 

Varg the wanderer:
To anyone who is interested in that book; I have it, and it is amazing. There is so much good information in there it will save you a lot of pain if you decide to build a suit.

Koryak:
Great guide Kobuk, Good info for the future  :)

SPark:
On Kobuk's excellent suggestion, I thought I'd add a bit here, from what I've said elsewhere on this forum. 

Communication is the single most important part of having a fursuit commission come off smoothly.  Especially if you have an exact image of your mind of what it needs to look like.  If you're not picky, so long as it's the right color and species, it's a little less critical, but even then being clear about things like deadlines and payment methods is still VERY important. (And please, be honest with your fursuit maker. I had one very ticked off customer, who had told me "Oh, whenever, though I have a convention on such a day, so by then would be nice." who didn't get it on that day and pitched a screaming fit at me over this. Well, if you don't mean "whenever" don't say it!  Be clear!  She meant "I really want it for this convention" and if she'd said so I would have bumped back something else and gotten hers done in time, or else I would have warned her ahead of time that it was going to be late, and maybe offered her some form of compensation, but I thought she didn't care.)

As a fursuit maker I can say that there is nothing more frustrating to deal with than a customer who knows exactly what he wants but can't clearly tell you what that is.  Especially when you discover this after you've made the suit!  Sending something out thinking that it's exactly what they wanted, only to hear back that it's all wrong, is really rough on both parties!  And a fursuit maker cannot peer into your brain and see what you want.  The fursuit maker knows only what you have told him or her. 

A good example of what happens when communication breaks down is an incident I had a few years back with a fellow who disliked velcro and wanted a back zipper.  I don't know why, he never told me. In fact he never told me anything about his dislike of velcro until after his suit, with a velcro closure on the front, had arrived.  This left us both in bad positions.  I have a full work schedule, and re-doing the body suit would take a lot of time and effort and make my other projects late, which would make my other customers unhappy too, but he of course wanted it how he wanted it, and there was no way to fix this problem that was fair to both of us.  So being clear early on about such details is vital!

HOWEVER!  Flooding your fursuit maker with a constant stream of things that you want is going to cause just as much frustration.  Having details spread out across dozens of e-mails makes it all too likely that a busy fursuit maker will forget something.  Clear communication is not just a matter of including everything, it's also a matter of including everything in an orderly and understandable fashion!

I highly recommend going through your future fursuit point by point and making sure you know what you want in each area.

For example, a head has:
eyes,
ears,
nose,
teeth,
tongue,
jaw,
eyebrows,
neck,
etc.

Make a list, for YOU, of everything on a fursuit.  Every little detail.  Then consider what you CARE about.  Do you care if the teeth are sculpey or plastic?  If you don't care so long as it looks good, then there's no need to even mention it.   But if you do care, then make a note of it.  When you've gone through the whole suit, from top to bottom, and know exactly what you want on each bit, then is the time to write up your e-mail to your fursuit maker and let them know exactly what you want.  (Though please, don't do this if you're just talking about a suit you might someday get, this kind of detail is for after you are certain you're getting the suit, maybe even after your down payment.  Wasting somebody's business time discussing a commission you might or might not get in this sort of detail is a good way to really annoy a fursuit maker, trust me.)

As I have said before, from a fursuit maker's perspective, the best thing is when the customer doesn't care about the details, so long as the end result looks good.  But I do know that some customers DO care, so if you're one of those picky people, you'll make yours and your fursuit maker's lives both much easier if you have one single, complete, organized list of all the details that you want just so.  That way they don't have to be frustrated by trying to read your mind, and you don't have to be frustrated by getting a suit that's not what you wanted.

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