Signifier & Six Shot NOW
write for us and/or showcase your visual art
Signifier & Six Shot NOW
write for us and/or showcase your visual art
Signifier has helped launch several writers to greater success on Medium, some of whom now run and edit their own publications. We’re always looking for new writers to keep things fresh and increasingly interesting. Are you one of them?
Are you both enthusiastic and knowledgeable about some aspect of art, design, and media? Can you write cogently and communicate complex, often quite subtle concepts in a clear and concise way? Can you write with intellectual rigor while communicating your joy and sense of fun? If so, please scroll on to peruse our submission guidelines!
We are actively seeking contributions from writers who can write with authority about the art that matters to them. Our definition of art is as broad as you like. We feel the following are underrepresented in Signifier and would like to work toward a better balance:
African arts. Indian arts. Chinese and South East Asian arts. Indigenous Folk Art from any region. Aspects of popular culture that are not usually perceived as art but can be discussed as such. Original takes on topics that lay outside the traditional modalities of mainstream art…
Scroll down for examples and more detailed guidelines (please read them crefully) and check out some of the sample articles below…
Signifier : six : shot : NOW
The Signifier six shot online gallery is changing. After more than 50 superb showcases and a 12-month hiatus, the time has come to reinvent Signifier’s premium online contemporary art gallery which will relaunch as…
**Signifier : six : shot : NOW**
Submissions are now open to all Medium members and the criteria have been both broadened and simplified. Now, contemporary visual artists are invited to simply provide six images of their work to be showcased. The accompanying text can either be a short paragraph introducing each of them, or you may choose to select six of our standard interview questions to answer.
Check out the previous six shot showcases for inspiring examples and scroll down for more detailed guidelines.
For Writers: Signifier Guidelines
The Signifier is a not too complicated, yet not too simplified, look at the evolution of art in short bites and bigger essays taking in art history, design icons, media theories, analysis of great works, think-pieces around art, the signifiers and the signified… We welcome proposals from Medium writers for suitable articles. Currently, our ‘in box’ is open to all but we recommend you have a good understanding of our publication before submitting. Best way to get a feel for what is suitable is to read a few of our articles and the best way to make contact is to leave a comment or private note on an article recently published in Signifier and written by our editor, **Remy Dean.**
A prior familiarity with the Signifier publication — demonstrated by following, claps, comments and reposts — is advisable. We want writers who want to write for Signifier.
Ideally, writers should have a professional or academic background related to art, design, media or a relevant field of expertise.
You’ll be writing for readers with a genuine interest in art, though perhaps with no formal training or background. They should come away with something they may tell a friend about, a sort of “Did you know…” or a new angle that will help them understand and enjoy art on a deeper level. So, feel free to use ‘professional’ and vocational art language but if an unusual art term is used, this should be explained in other words or clarified with an example.
Lengthwise, we’re happy with 5–10 minute read time, to use Medium-speak. If a piece comes in under 5-minute-read, then it may be a little too slight, but it could be highly focussed — depends if a good point has been made. More than 10-minute-read, then it might be a bit waffly or perhaps too much in one bite that could be broken down into smaller components. (It’s a short piece, not the premise for a comprehensive book on the subject!) But remember, these are guidelines, not rules.
We want pieces with a clear focus that distil a point of interest about what art does and how it does it, whether that’s formal, psychological, technical, or historical. We love valid personal perspectives, too.
Please consider title and subheading carefully. These two details, along with a suitable featured image, can be the deciding factor for a reader to pause in their scrolling and click-through to read. Effective, clear and concise wording that hints at your article’s unique strength or main point of discussion is also more likely to attract a Boost.
Demonstrate professionalism.
IMPORTANT: Please note that in addition to adhering to Medium’s general terms and conditions, we expect writers to demonstrate an ethical approach and be meticulous in their research and corroboration.
No AI should be used in the writing of the finished article.
Signifier loves articles that point-out how an artist or artwork progressed art in historical terms. So, a new approach to looking, a material or technical innovation, a novel process or approach or something conceptual embodied by the examples you’re talking about.
Avoid stock images (and AI-generated) as Medium is rife with them.
Use good, directly relevant, images to illustrate your points — if we’re talking about visual media, then we really need to see the examples. Ensure that images are licensed, Wikimedia Commons is a good source, and always try to link to a source where the permitted usage and/or Public Domain status is clear. Please note the captioning style and format used by Signifier and try to match it as closely as possible. If selected for inclusion in Signifier, the editor may substitute different images to those submitted. One of the images used within the article should be good enough resolution to at least fill a Medium column-width. (I think that was minimum 700 ppi last time I checked.)
Keep an eye on what has recently published in Signifier, we tend to avoid having articles about similar periods, styles, artforms publishing consecutively, making sure that the top four or five are varied. Not a problem if it is similar, but this may affect the publishing schedule for any accepted submissions.
Please note that Signifier is a ‘slow’ publication, publishing between four and eight articles per month. Bear this in mind when submitting: it’s best to submit your draft a few weeks in advance of when you would like to see it published. Writers should understand that publishing in Signifier is a collaborative process and expect to receive editorial input and guidance to ensure their article is at its best ahead of publishing.
Submitted articles should be paywalled. (There are possible exceptions.)
Finally, please do not be disappointed should your submission be declined — it does not reflect on the quality of your writing, as it could simply be a scheduling decision.
Thank you for your interest in writing for **The Signifier.**
For Visual Artists: Six Shot Guidelines
The **Signifier Six Shot NOW** Gallery is an online exhibition opportunity, now inviting submissions from contemporary visual artists (illustrators, photographers, painters, printmakers, etc.) to be featured in solo showcases. (Please note, all the sample galleries featured here were created to a slightly different brief.)
GUIDELINES
Each exhibition will showcase six images by each artist, or creative entity. The six images will be accompanied by some text. The text can either be a short paragraph introducing each image, or you may choose to select six of our standard interview questions to answer. The submission should be titled using this format:
Name of Artist: Showcase Title
Art must be the sole creation of the artist, or creative entity, and intended to be viewed as a 2D image. Clearly, we are unable to display sculptural works, but photography of sculpture, 3D objects and environments can be considered. Acceptable media include, fine art photography, drawings, painting, collage, prints, digital, illustration, mixed media, etc. The curator favours concept-driven work that is visually adventurous.
IMAGE REQUIREMENTS
Images must be good quality scans and with the pixel width of the shortest side above 700 and no more than 2500, submitted as .jpg or .png files. Note that images posted in the digital domain can be downloaded by third parties and therefore artists may choose to include a digital watermark within the image code.
VIRTUAL HANGING
The Medium platform provides what is the online equivalent of a ‘white cube gallery’ and prioritises accessibility across various devices and platforms. Submit your art and words in a format that pleases you. Final layout and presentation is at the sole discretion of the curator. The curator is **Remy Dean**.
Submitted showcases should be paywalled. (There are possible exceptions.)
IMPORTANT: By submitting you indicate that you have read and understood the terms and conditions outlined above and grant permission for The Six Shot NOW Gallery to show the works for, at least, one full calendar month if accepted.
Thank your for your interest in the **Signifier : six : shot : NOW** online gallery.
We look forward to receiving some exciting art from you!
Signifier : six : shot : NOW — the Qs for your As
Here are some questions and prompts for visual artists to write their answers to accompany their visual art showcase. These are optional and, if preferred, each artist can choose to write a paragraph about each of their images, instead. Please choose just six (6) of these to answer and write a paragraph in response to each of your selected prompts. Your answers will space out your images in the showcase.
- What motivates you to make art?
- When did you wake up to being an artist?
- Tell us about three artworks by others that have significantly inspired or informed your own approach.
- Formal training or self-taught?
- Which media do you enjoy the most?
- What is currently your biggest creative challenge?
- How would you say your art has evolved since you began on the creative path?
- Where do you seek inspiration?
- What lies just outside the door to your ‘studio’ or creative space?
- What one thing have you learned that changed the trajectory of your life the most significantly?
- Who is your oshi?
- What heraldic beast would be on your coat of arms and what would be your motto?
- What has been a highlight of your creative journey, so far?
- Who are you and what do you want? (Share a little bit about yourself.)
- How do you take your tea?
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- 2026-07-17 18:43:00
