TalentDatabase.com is a social network for artists. A pretty good one too, at least from what I’ve seen of it, and unlike MySpace or Facebook it’s a gathering place specifically for the talented.
But don’t let that fool you—pretty much everyone’s invited.
TalentDatabase is for all types of creative people, not just visual artists. It’s made up of 21 channels, one of which is the Art Channel. Other channels are Body (for martial artists, yoga trainers, etc), Fashion, Music, and Film, just to name a few.
And if you join, you also choose whether you should be listed under Talent (an artist or creative type), Industry (a producer of art-related products perhaps?), Publisher (of a magazine or even a blog), Venue (gallery/theater owners that sort of thing), Promoter/Agent, Organization (like a group of artists), or even just a Fan.
So I guess if you’re looking for a snobby art club, this isn’t the place for you. : )
Once you’ve got all that out of the way, you can then add more information about your art, who you are, and up to 25 images in your portfolio.
Plus, if you happen to have other online outlets for your creativity—like an art blog, a portfolio site, or even a membership in another social network—you can add those links to the top of your profile page. Pretty convenient, actually.
And as long as I’m pointing out things that I like, design-wise the layout is much better than MyArtInfo, and a little better than MyArtPlot. It’s also nice that the name of this network isn’t “My” something-or-other.
But that’s beside the point—TalentDatabase took some time with the design, and it shows. There are LOTS of images everywhere (as there should be for a creative network) and even the ads seem pretty good - in other words, they’re not exceptionally obtrusive.
If you’re browsing TalentDatabase looking for art, you can either search by “listing” or by “portfolio”.
Searching by “Listings” brings up all member profiles (including publishers, venues, agents, and etc., not just artists) and can be narrowed down by location, name, and a few other parameters.
Searching by “Portfolios” brings up individual works of art, so you can only use keywords, channel, genre, and type (image, video, etc.) Either way, the results show up in 5 rows of 4 fairly large thumbnails.
TalentDatabase also has a fairly unique feature called the “POPfactor” which is basically a score, or ranking, given to everyone who joins TalentDatabase.
Those with higher scores get featured on the home page and elsewhere. It’s not just a popularity contest either. . . Here are some of the ways you can raise your score:
1. Be as active as you can on TalentDatabase
2. Invite new friends
3. Bookmark other artists (it’s kind of like “favoriting” them within your own profile)
4. And of course, try to get acknowledged by others on Talent Database (it’s essentially a “thumbs up”)
Immediately after creating your own listing, you’ll start off with a POPfactor score of 50—at least, that’s what they gave me when I tested it out.
Maybe if I had uploaded more images, or filled out my bio I would have gotten more.
Ah well.
Overall, TalentDatabase has a lot of potential—and I know I haven’t even gotten near to covering all of it in this article. For instance, if you’re multi-talented, you can add your listing to additional channels once you’ve signed up.
And there’s more than just a portfolio and biography on each listing. . . you can also let people get to know you a little better by uploading extra photos of yourself in a section called snapshots. It is a social network, after all.
So go ahead. Visit TalentDatabase.com and check it out for yourself.
Just don’t blame me if it gets a little addicting.