I noticed that in the current themed pet design contest that there are a lot of similarities in the designs created, which makes sense, since there's only so many combinations one can do with shades of brown, cream, and red and still have it look like the inspiration image. I was thinking that vaguer criteria, such as those used for the aeridini, may be more interesting as they would allow the utilization of a wider color palette.

I also think that it allows the designs to become a more interesting decision. I know that looking at the aeridini designs has been the most enjoyable browsing for me since there is so much variation.

I think it has to do with how the festivals are laid out recently.

For the last 2 or so festivals, there were features that utilized certain items that had to be collected to yield a certain pet. They were kind of specific, and art had to be commissioned ahead of time so it'd be ready before the festival.

I think one of the first ones where the theme was dependent on items was the Winter Festival. They had general items in mind, but not a certain species. After the thread closed, it was probably tough to figure out which design was suiting to each pet, and which pet to use per theme (ie gingerbread bulboris, vulnyx, nephs, and coming to a decision about which species will represent the theme).

Afterwards, they decided to narrow out which species represented each theme, so there would be less hassle to pick for each. I guess for flowers, it may have been easier, because there might have been different colorations for each flower.
(it didn't occur to me after typing ^this that it doesn't really have much to do with the suggestion's validity woops)


I didn't look through the pets myself, but I think the themes were picked in advance so that art can be commissioned at the same time (if it wasn't already commissioned). I do like the suggestion though, to go for more vague things...like more vague sea creatures (I can imagine there's more kinds of angelfish than kinds of crabs or scallops), but then it might be a bit difficult to try and commission things in advance if the festival item has a sort of big disparity from the pet it produces. o:

Ah, and there you would be pretty surprised- there are MANY different species of underwater crustaceans. This one happens to be my favorite:
(Sorry, I just love any opportunity to raise awareness about the kiwa hirsuta, or "yeti crab". It's just such an amusing looking creature!)


Hm, yeah, that makes sense about wanting to prearrange specific art designs. Been gone for awhile so wasn't familiar with the more recent advances, but looking forward to experiencing them :-)