I have been working on this dragon for three weeks now to get a nice smooth polished look to it... I want it to look as good as the art in angry birds. I was hoping to get some opinions from the Corona Community!!

THANKS

i actually like it quite a bit :)

I think it's awesome! Keep up the good work!

Really nice :) It will look amazing once animated!

Regards,
Jordan Schuetz
Ninja Pig Studios

That's pretty good Jake.

As far as "is it polished enough" a lot has to do with how your going to use it and does it fit the art style of where it's used. Right now its really good clip art, but if you're wanting something like the dragon in SKYRIM you've got a bit further to go.

But you've done a great job for that vector/gradient feel.

Thats my style!! :) You explained it perfectly!! :)

I think this dragon is great!

If I had one critique I would consider sliding his tail down toward the hind legs a bit - it's flirting with coming out of his back rather his behind LOL, but other than that I love the style - keep it up!

--Croisened

Ha! Thanks @Croisened! I never noticed that!!

Just updated... :)

@jakescarno how did you make that drawing of the dragon?

Also our company looks interested in hiring you!

If you want to know more email me: sebitttas[at]gmail[dot]com

I have been working on this dragon for three weeks now to get a nice smooth polished look to it... I want it to look as good as the art in angry birds. I was hoping to get some opinions from the Corona Community!!

Hi Jake,

I think that you are asking for some honest comments on your work.
Here is what I think :

Is your dragon "polished" enough?
Well from a business point of view there has been a lot of games that achieved success with characters that were not polished at all.
If it took you so long to draw that dragon, you should leave it like this and move to other tasks -> release then improve your character for the next update.

Now, here are some other thoughts...

Is your dragon "polished" at all?
No, it's not.
Your character doesn't have any identity.
It's not "lovable", cute or charming. It's not even a powerful dragon. The colors, the style, the execution, are "average" or below.

It's not marketable. It won't get much attention from game sites, forums, but you need PR if you want your game to stand out and sell.

So to your question I would answer "well, it's an average dragon".
Nothing to say against that, nothing to say for that dragon.
It's just... a clipart.

Are you working on a puzzle game? Then I believe it's "ok".
Are you working on a platformer? Then it's far from being good.

You were asking : does your style look as good as the art in angry birds?
Not at all. Not a second. I'm surprised nobody told you before in all honesty.

What can you do to improve it?
Don't spend so much time on your character.
Work on your game, the overall atmosphere, the music, the feeling that you want people to get when they play your game.
Your graphical style will come from that research, not the opposite.

Also, you should learn more about character design if you want to reach the level of the great character designers that are currently working on ios titles.
Learn, study.
Don't wait for your style to be perfect (it never will be) to release your game, but don't think that this is "good enough" because it's not.

You got enough positive comments so I believe that some constructive criticisms could help.
Don't take it to heart ;)

Hey, Jake, MrMells has given you a very honest and great advice. Take a breath, and then read what he wrote a few more times, and then move on with your project, and then come back to it when you can divorce yourself from the three weeks you've already spent on it. You'll be able to see it a little more objectively, and then you can decide if you want to improve it, or it's okay the way it is (based on how your game has all come together.)

I do the same. I need to decide when I should call it a quit and move on. But I also need to remember to push a little harder even when I feel like calling it a quit too...

Naomi

@MrMells Thank you so much for telling me exactly what I needed to hear!! You are absolutely right! I need to take a few steps back and look at the game as a whole. Instead of looking at a small part of the game.. Do you know of any good books on character design? Also that Icon looks great!! Is that a dragon on his head? Did you draw that yourself?

@MrMells ... I totally disagree with your "honest" comment. If your post had the intention to constructively criticize Jake's work, you have failed. What you did accomplish though is you shredded his creation to pieces, while not contributing at all as to how he should improve. He obviously wouldn't be here asking for an opinion if he knew the answers to his own questions.

Did you provide him with an example as to the meaning of "lovable" "charming" and "identity" ? Is he supposed to draw little red hearts around the dragon, make him smile and give him a collar with a name tag? What did you mean? If you're going to write such an elaborate response I think some examples are in order, and if you're so good in criticizing others art... would you care to share some of your own creations to show us how lovable, charming and full of identity those are?

Jake reached out to the community not to be confronted by a person who has no clue how to give an "honest" advice, but to get an opinion from the community he feels and rightfully belongs to.

If this is how you provide constructive criticism to people you don't know, I'd hate to see how your advice plays out with the ones you care about. Bashing and bullying will never encourage improvement.
--
@Naomi - way to kick the kid while he's already down :)
--
While I agree with both positive and negative criticism, I think the honesty here was a bit out of place. I agree Jake should take what he's got and use it to see if it fits the game/project he's working on... and improve on it if he feels like it's needed. Criticizing art is one of the toughest things to do, as we all see art in a different way... but let's not start with throwing daggers at someones work :)

@ Jake - hope you're moving along in the overall project progress you're working on :)

Jake
Thanks for the icon and yes, this is a part of my work.
Please give me an email address so I can help you better and give you some directions if I can.

nemensiris
Hi, nice to meet you.
- Don't get me wrong, I am trying to help.

So, this is embarrassing, you are just disqualifying yourself as a professional (or a serious developer who is always trying to improve) *if* you couldn't find anything constructive in my comment and my tone.
You answered with emotions (poor Jack) and I answer with facts.

If your post had the intention to constructively criticize Jake's work, you have failed

I fail all the time. Let me read Jake's comment again :
Thank you so much for telling me exactly what I needed to hear!!
Yes. You are so right.

I am wondering if your previous comment took Jake closer to his goal?
Because that's all this conversation should be about.

and if you're so good in criticizing others art... would you care to share some of your own creations to show us how lovable, charming and full of identity those are?

If you are so good at giving "positive comments", show us how this has given disproportionate behavioral changes?
You see, asking for proof is ridiculous. And I don't even need to prove anything, especially asked that way :)

Help me understand your comment, I'm naive.
Should I understand that :

1. You have decided that it's better to hide the reality to Jake and you truly believe that "thinking positive" is enough to help people to get closer to their goals ?
2. Or you were not able see that his work was not a second close to what he is aiming for (beautiful application + sales)?
3. Or you couldn't get that my post was all about "moving to the next task, improving, releasing, making more sales, motivation" and that it was totally relevant to what Jake was asking.?
4. Or you are trying to keep the competition away from your field (are you working on an app with dragons inside?)?

But I'm probably wrong in all cases.

Tough competition
By entering the ios market, we are competing with some of the best designers in the world.
Being kept in a false reality is the best way to fail. And I don't have any special interest to see Jake fail.
It's called reality check, and it's a good filter to let whiners behind.
Work hard, release, improve, listen to customer feedback, invest in your learning, apply, contact, market, etc… is that bullying?

If this is how you provide constructive criticism to people you don't know, I'd hate to see how your advice plays out with the ones you care about.
I appreciate your concern. I was wondering the same about your "positive thinking" mentality without providing any sense of action and improvement.

Ok so you disagree with my honesty, and I can say that your lack of honesty made you think that you know what's good for Jake better than Jake himself.
So, we disagree.
The important is what Jake could get from this conversation, from all the people that commented.
My post represents 5% of criticism in that thread, should we all move in the same direction "as a community"?
We both tried to help him differently and that's great, but I don't rate your comment as valuable to me. Nothing personal, really.

Jake reached out to the community not to be confronted by a person who has no clue how to give an "honest" advice, but to get an opinion from the community he feels and rightfully belongs to.
Does "the community" do any good if it's building a false reality around you?

"a person who has no clue how to give an "honest" advice"
Is that a judgement? Are you competent for that? Show me your degree!
And.. should I care?

Jake is serious enough to make his own opinion from divergent comments. By acknowledging that fact, that proves I respect him more than you do.
Don't try to think for the others.

How can you know what is better than people than what they say themselves (read Jake's comment. Again).

So :

• Do I care your opinion? I could have cared because I am not against criticism. But you proved me that you are taking the discussion in the wrong direction. So no, I don't care your opinion
• Did I hurt Jake's feelings? It seems not.
• Did he get something from my comment? It seems yes.

I know I know, I'm not "lovable".
Bu anyway I was not talking to you from the beginning.

We don't need to keep on talking. You disagree, I disagree, "show your work Mr arrogant!" blablabla

Talk to Jake if you have anything more to say and I am sure (and I'm not trying to be sarcastic) that you will have something constructive to say to help him.
You are a pro developer and I'm not.
You are experienced in that field and I am probably not.
And we have different backgrounds = much more to share.

I want to know how Jake could improve his work from your point of view as a Pro developer (not a challenge, not being sarcastic at all).
I just like to learn from others.

@MrMells - seriously? why are you digging yourself a deeper hole than the one you're already in? I don't think I'm getting you "wrong"… I think you come off "wrong" and this all clearly shows in this and other threads you participate in.

You seem to be bitter that others charge far less for quality artwork, all while raving about how good you are how expensive art has to be in order for it to be recognized. Are you kidding? Or are you trying to pat yourself on the back (because no one else will) while saying "one of these days I'll find a sucker who will pay me a $1000 for a vector circle"

I'm not gonna go to the other threads and bring up examples of how confusing your responses are, but just like on other ones you continuously confuse and twist…

While your initial post is confusing at best, your second contribution takes the cake. In your initial response you basically tell Jake that his work sucks, and then you proceed to confuse him by telling him not to waste any more time all while telling him that he should improve on it because his work is neither marketable, nor everything else you said… then you tell him that working on his character is not important. I mean come on? Really? Do you seriously believe what you're saying or are you just saying that because you have nothing better to do.

As a self-proclaimed PRO you should be the first to understand that there are different types of art and everyone sees it differently and its common (especially in the iOS world) to see a project where some sucker spent thousands on artwork and all that effort was dwarfed by an app created by a 12 year old with drawing skills of a chicken. As far as character development… really? A character (if one is in your game) is just as important as everything else in the game. There are probably hundreds of slingshot games out there that look and feel just like Angry Birds, yet Angry Birds is the only one that hit it off… why? In my opinion it's the characters they have in the game, if not… why would they waste their time on creating stuffed animals, shirts, you name it with the angry bird character on it? Yea you may say branding… but in the same time you can brand something all you want, in this scenario it wouldn't be possible without a strong set of characters.

So tell me how did I embarrass myself? Or did you simply bash me because I genuinely liked what Jake had to offer as far as his creation? I never knew that someone's take on something (also known as opinion) could be taken as embarassing… I am not a professional, I like what I do and I always want to improve, learn and better myself. If you read my other posts I usually seek help not the other way around, and that's because I know when to keep my mouth shut (something you should think of when you begin to bash others).

No one is hiding anything from anybody… I think it's your paranoia setting in. I believe that those of us who responded to Jake genuinely liked what he was showing off… so bash us for it!

So stop telling me that I've embarrassed myself, stop telling others how much they should pay for art, stop telling others how much their work sucks, and take a look in the mirror for a change… because right now you come off as a bitter/hurt/upset (I don't know which one, or maybe all three) individual who has no problem in telling others how badly their work sucks all while trying to reassure us that all this comes from the goodness of your heart and highly overpriced professional ethics you developed as an artist.

Ps. Stop revising your posts… this is what a fourth one? If you don't know what to say at first better say nothing at all, or follow the old saying "put brain in gear prior engaging in a conversation" :)

… yup, couldn't resist the smily face, that one was just for you… you like?

@mrMells my email: jakescarano@gmail.com

Hey, Jake, if I discouraged you, I apologize. It was never my intention.

Naomi

@MrMells Thanks for sharing your honest opinion. I actually agree with you totally. Oh and I'd love to get your opinion on our Cannon Cat icon. :)

@nemensiris Jake was asking for a comparison between his dragon and Angry Birds level of polish. Some people thought it was great. MrMells didn't. And maybe he didn't express it in a way to your liking, but I think he was honestly trying to help. So give him the benefit of the doubt.

Btw, if anyone is interested a wrote a blog post on this exact topic! :)

http://cannoncat.tumblr.com/post/15696909154/asking-for-feedback

@jakescarano I applaud you for asking for feedback. Most people wait too long or never to ask for honest/brutal feedback.

This business is hard, and it can be painful if it's your passion. But if you want to make it big or get better you need to listen to the critics more than the praise.

This is something my partner David and I have had to deal with. He does the art, but I have to be honest with him if I don't like it. And sometimes it comes across wrong and feelings get hurt. But I think we're over that now cause it's all about laying down some ground rules and setting expectations.

If Jake went into this thread saying, rip my dragon to shreds, I think you would have seen more critics.

With that said, there are lots of books on vector art and character design you can find.

Jake, I know you use Flash so I can recommend this book http://www.amazon.com/How-Cheat-Adobe-Flash-CS5/dp/0240522079

Here are some videos too: http://vimeo.com/16357456 http://vimeo.com/18234522 There's some NSFW language and images, but if you're cool with that it's highly entertaining and educational!

Thank you so much Don! I may just change the name of the forum to that)... Because to be honest I have had worse... i have had people tell me "I don't like it" and don't tell me WHY they don't like it. Plus of course if I look at my art I am going to like it no matter what... @Naomi you didn't hurt my feelings :)

Jake > I will contact you soon.

Don > Give me your email address and I'll try to help , thanks for the comment.

nemensiris > You focus too much on me, I'm still waiting that you help Jake.

Stop revising your posts… this is what a fourth one?
I know, those notifications are annoying sorry about that.
I was too sarcastic in my first versions, and thought that it didn't reflect my thoughts well.

Or did you simply bash me
Where? I don't even know you nor care about you.
That's not in my interest to bash anybody, especially from this community. You should read again.

I think it's your paranoia setting in. I believe that those of us who responded to Jake genuinely liked what he was showing off… so bash us for it!
You give yourself too much importance. I didn't even care about you said.
I never said that others were wrong, but still I have the feeling that some people knew that his dragon can't be compared with Rovio's artwork (how could it be, they are PROS and can invest millions in their apps) and I thought I could help by responding in that thread.
All the people are trying to help, and that's great. That's the sense of community.
But if you talk to me like you did, this is my right to tell you that I don't care about you.

because right now you come off as a bitter/hurt/upset (I don't know which one, or maybe all three) individual
It's a bit different, it's just that I don't care about what you think about me and still think that you should try to help Jake in that thread.

stop saying blabla stop telling blabla stop blabla stop
You are feeling powerful, aren't you?

I know when to keep my mouth shut (something you should think of when you begin to bash others).
So now you are asking me to shut up? Gentleman above all. Don't change!

As a self-proclaimed PRO you should be the first to understand that there are different types of art and everyone sees it differently and its common (especially in the iOS world) to see a project where some sucker spent thousands on artwork and all that effort was dwarfed by an app created by a 12 year old with drawing skills of a chicken.
Wait wait. Are you talking about Jake or about yourself?
I can't handle that, I'm not a psychologist.

A character (if one is in your game) is just as important as everything else in the game
Mm? how is that different from what I said. I'm wondering if we are discussing in the same thread.

More seriously, I get what you are trying to say.
I know that we all have a different way to judge the value of someone's art and it's hard to express what we think without hurting one's feelings.
So I tried to do it in english (as you know well is not my first language) and I'm glad he got my advice.
It was an effort for me to take the time (and the risk) to do so, I knew that some people would disagree and maybe dislike me. Still, I did it because I got help when I was starting and I want to help too.
Maybe you don't like what I said, the way I said it, you won't like my work, you will search the forums to find some angle to attack me more, etc... but that was expected and - again - I don't care.

But Jake said that his goal was that his artwork can be considered as good as Angry bird and while you don't like me you can admit in all honesty that it's not. YET.
I'll try to help him by email if I can, and that's what that thread was about in the first place.

@MrMells you can reach me at don @ loqheart com

I think the dragon is fine and you really should go on with your game! In fact, your task is to put your work out in the market, which will give the *right* answer to your question.

We have seen mediocre apps selling very much and many other polished games not selling at all, so there is a bit of luck in the process.

We have to live with that and advertise as much as we can. Good luck!

@MrMells - you must be one of the most fact twisting people I had the pleasure of dealing with. I suggest a career in politics. While attempting to save your own self from coming off wrong you try to throw me under the bus by saying that you're waiting for me to help Jake?

If you've only spent 1% of the time helping (as you so claim) you spend on digging yourself out of these holes you create, we'd all be in a better place, and this wouldn't have been a giant waste of time.

Let's get some facts straight over here. Jake approached me to help him with his dragon via Skype prior to even posting this on the forum. I told him what I thought of his design but overall I thought it was a killer dragon and that if he required further assistance or opinions from someone who might be more knowledgable with the subject, he should post it on the forums for all to see. Which he did.

I love the forum, I've gotten a great deal of help from it, and I've made a large number of acquaintances and probably a handful of people with whom I communicate and have almost regular in person meetings with and now consider friends.

I thought Jake's experience with having his artwork judged would have been somewhat similar, given how positively things turned out for me. Have I known that instead of a positive feedback from someone who considers himself a professional artist would be this giant mess of responses, I would have never suggested to Jake to reach out to the community.

While I support and encourage self promotion and community participation your attempts of doing so come off so strongly that out the emails (oh, yea about a dozen) I received only one person defends you while others say that you're probably a great artist (for which I applaud you and am envious of) but lack the basics of people skills, and while you claim to help others… you do nothing but belittle and shred someones work to pieces while continuously elevating yourself to a near perfection of an artist. Trust me, if you were that good… you wouldn't have to keep telling us that, we'd probably know :)

You have managed to steer this thread in such a direction that the main focus now instead of helping Jake judge his art turned into yet again "your professionalism" "how good you are" and "how shitty other work is" … very reminiscent of your other responses to the threads you participate in.

I did help Jake, I told him what I think of his art… I find it rather cool and I wish I could do it… sue me for being really honest with him, and if you think you've helped him by tearing his creation to pieces without any constructiveness then you should go pound sand because there is no help for you.

If on the other hand you're helping Jake via email without self-promoting yourself and convincing him that what you're telling him is really helpful (like you did with others) then I thank you. If and if only that is the case while there is no help for you… you've restored my faith in this thread and the goodness that it will produce for the OP.

I BEG YOU: Instead of writing back, help others (Jake in this case) like you claim to do.

PS. As amusing as this whole thing is/was I've been warned that this will turn into exchanging essay long responses with you. I have no desire to continue wasting time with someone who has a superiority complex and likes to belittle others while twisting the facts and tell them "this is only for your own good"… something really tragic happened to you in the past, something even though I was not involved in, but something I am deeply sorry for as the tragic event from your past left you cold, bitter, and arrogant.

Hey guys,

A bit of healthy debate and difference of opinions is OK but this is getting closer and closer to being something really ugly.

You've both voiced your thoughts so please, no more comments from anyone that are not specifically related to the original post - I don't want to close the thread but if it just degrades into bickering I'll have to.

Thanks,
Peach :)

Hi Peach,

sorry that you had to intervene here.
I don't want to disturb here, but as you know what is on the internet stays forever and I don't want false claims to remain.
You might give me a yellow (red?) card for that, but I want some people who read to know (don't worry Peach, no attack in that message) :

I really didn't want that thread to be around me and that's perfectly fine if people dislike me for what I am, but not for what others wrongly think about me.

Also, I believe that this conversation could be interesting in another context.

I am a pro = I'm able to deliver the results that my clients are expecting, I try my best to be reliable and produce great results.
To be pro = to raise your level or to lower your client's expectations
That also means I have filled the paper to be "official" in front of the law.
And that's all. Would would not aim to be "reliable, professional, trustable"?

Don't see anything else, any arrogance, you won't find anywhere a word where I say I am good.
I never said that "I'm pro = I'm the best".
Everyone should be a "pro" here, or aiming to be "reliable, effective, able to deliver client's results".
I see no reason to be offended by that claim.

I'm NOT good. If there was a ranking (well, it's subjective) I would be in the lower side. The world is filled with great artists that I admire. I am not a great artist and I don't even try to make such a claim : I'm not self promoting, I'm not filling the forums with my links, and I don't even have a public website to show my artwork.
If people like my work, thank you. If not, no harm.
But if I can help someone, I do it. I hope it's clear when it's said that way.

I have been good enough until now to meet some of my client's expectations and that's all I care.
That doesn't make me a great artist, but a reliable pro.
People can dislike me for my position, but I never said I'm good and the others are not.

Yes it's perfectly fine to try to be paid a lot
that's why people enter the ios market. If that was not for money (+pleasure), people would create game for their own pleasure and for their friends.

If being paid a lot = more time to spend with your children, then hell yes people should aim to be paid the maximum for their work.
The myth of the "starving artist = sincere artist" is false. It's a myth.
Everyone should aim to be paid more in order to spend time doing great things in life : spending time with their children, helping other people, doing good.

No money = no time = no influence in this world.
I hate being in front of my computer several hours in a row, that time would be better spent doing something else.
But that's an investment.
So yes it's perfectly fine to find clients that would pay you a million if the value of your work can get them 2 millions. For that, you have to work hard every day and seek that kind of clients instead of expecting that they come to you.

And last
I don't care about somebody = whatever this person thinks is ok. No (good nor bad) personal feelings.
I am not asking for people to like me, and nobody can ask me back. But if I spend time addressing people by their name, that proves I don't disrespect them.

My relationships with people = great with the people that I care for, some other people really like me and others (probably a lot more) dislike me for having convictions. That's fine like this.

Hope it's clear said that way. Now dislike me for what I really am and it's cool that way.

Now off to try to help Jake to ship his game and improve his dragon the way he expects.

Suggestion for Jake

I think that you should open a thread where you show a bit more of your game so we can know better how your dragon fits, what would be the graphical level of expectation of your audience, what games and designers would be your competitors in the market so you can compare with more specific metrics.

Dude you just don't know when to zip it huh? (this probably applies to me as I always try to fight injustice [not that this one was] in the world).

MrMells; as we may not agree or what not with what has happened here, I wish you nothing but continuous success with your work. I really do. I don't wish anyone anything other than that. One thing I completely agree with you is this;

Peach, please lock this thread and allow Jake to repost so he could get some real expert or non expert advise as this thread has been completely hijacked by this mess caused between MrMells and me.

Ps. Now let me get back to the Super Bowl weekend, and enjoy the 2 kegs I picked up! Let NY kick some butt (although I don't think that's possible, and truthfully I don't follow football... I just love the commercials)

Sorry had to come back for one last thing
=> nemensiris > I do wish the best for you too. If you have some links to your website or app store, I might buy one of your games, don't hesitate. We spent some time discussing, let's say it was an investment : you get a customer, and I get a game to play.

And to give more value to my post before Peach closes it, I would like to (try to) help :

Often people start working on their projects by doing what they love (following their passion).
And that's perfectly fine, but if you want to hit the market you have to know what the market is expecting.

Strategy

You need to seize your resources : will you be able to push your game on the market, or should you give an answer to expectations that this market has already answered to?
How should you invest your limited money and time?

For a starter, I would suggest that you make a market research and study the top sellers.
You could then make a bridge between your own passions and "what has the market already responded to".

Release

Study the top sellers, add a twist, package, and release soon.
You will learn more by shipping than working on your game for months on your desktop.
Shipping, learning Apple rules, build, get in touch with game review websites etc is a whole thing to experiment.

Then make it easy for customers to buy your game first so you can get a maximum of feedbacks.
Your first goal (as a starter) is not sales but feedbacks : you don't have the experience to make a hit from the first time.

Update

Thanks to customer feedback, you can update your game, make it closer to what they expect, get some sales.
What did they like? What did they expect? How should you make it better from their own words?
Should you improve the artwork? level design? gameplay?

Study again the top sellers, what are your competitors doing?
How can follow the same path but take your own original idea, a twist, to make it remarkable?

Then you can hire a sound designer, graphic designer, buy some PR to put your game in front of more people.

Monetize

Now that you have an audience (free or cheap price) and that the package is made to your customer's tastes (feedbacks), create more content and package it following the strategy that you want :
IAP, premium app, etc...

Start another cycle as soon as possible

Work on another game and start another cycle.
You have more chances of being visible and profitable by creating 4 apps that meet average success than expecting a home-run from the start.

If you got a relative success, you can even invest in doing a more "personal" and original app, away from what top sellers are doing.
That's what you should aim for : profit first, so you can work on what you love with a financial security net.

Always ask yourself

What are you trying to achieve, what have you tried to get the expected results?
Why did it fail?
Also, what is the overall feeling that you want your customers to get, what is your competition and how did they differentiate themselves?

Keep a journal, note, analyze, and above all : test

Follow the top sellers but don't forget that you might have an idea totally original that surprise the market and make you successful : once you have more resources from your first sales to invest, see if you have an idea that should be pushed further.

Experiment with pricings, and upsell methods.
Now it's iap, free+ads, but we might see some new methods for monetizing coming soon.
Nothing is decided, the market is still trying to find its rules. Experiment, test, have fun and profit.
Create your own system if you want, this is your market and you can play it with your own rules (sometimes).

So please take those advices with a grain of salt, I don't mean that this is "how to do it" but more like "How I would tackle that challenge if I had to do it".

Can this be closed yet?