Doodle Republic was founded by artists.  In the tradition of cartooning, the graphic novel, and visual narratives the world over, its goal is to make the Internet experience more sincere and creative.  Today's Internet lacks esthetics and is subservient to its technical roots.  Doodle Republic is a messaging platform in which conversations are composed using words and imagery.  Communication takes on dimensions of form, tempo and playfulness that cannot be expressed in text alone, freeing the "imagination" and allowing for deeper social dynamics.


In Doodle Republic, people compose their conversations in cartoon-like frames, using our broad and deep library of hand drawn imagery comprising characters, voice bubbles, props, scenes and other elements.  Our distinct focus on the handmade is in contrast with the bland emoticons and generic avatars offered by other communications systems.
The Doodle Republic library provides a meeting ground for the artist and conversationalist.  The archive holds a full spectrum of handmade characters demonstrating different emotional postures, conceived in its entirety by drawers using their own vision and their own sensibility.  The archive also holds suites of props, scene accessories and environments to complement the characters.  A drawing's success will be determined ultimately by their frequency of appearance within Doodle Republic conversations.
Doodle Republic's visual commmunications platform also allows participants to self publish artwork and compositions for their personal, exclusive use.  The visual building blocks and organizational tools of cartoons and comics are the same elements used for composing in our system.  Combined with our "clipping" feature, which allows compositions to be sent via email, participants can use the system as a channel for sending ecards, comics, and graphic novels. In this case, where artwork is uploaded but not made available for others to use, the creator would have complete control over their images, apart from guidelines that might be imposed by platform distibutors, such as Facebook.
We are open for character submissions.  Content guidelines are few.  We want a wide diversity of expression in both style and subject: people, beasts, machines, etc.  The library as a whole is to provide for most demographic subsets and contextual settings, but individual submissions may be highly specific.  It is important for the artist to consider that while we impose few restrictions, we are subject to the content guidelines of Internet platforms, such as Facebook, that ultimately carry the Doodle Republic communications.
We invite artists to submit sample characters.  These samples can be from an existing repertoire or freshly created.  The artist should have in mind that, once a submission is accepted, we would want five or more drawings of the same character in different moods.  These images will be used by people as the actors of conversation, so the artist should provide the range of emotional postures necessary for the character to fully express itself.  Over time, the artist may evolve the character beyond the initial criteria.  This is an excellent way to keep it fresh and inspiring to people that have chosen it, or to those who might then choose it.

Specifications for initial submission
  • A "reference" drawing of a character, full body or form, depicting a strong personality trait
  • A few quick sketches of "facial" expressions, or other indication of mood variation, to show how the character's range might be filled out
  • Original medium is not important, though it should withstand reduction and enlargement
  • You can submit more than one character, each will be considered separately
Considerations for accepted submissions
  • At least six additional drawings of the character in different moods.  A greater number of drawings and range of expression increases the likelihood of someone using the character
  • One of the expressions should be a "natural" state for the character
  • In actual use, character drawings will be "actors" for conversationalists
  • The character should be distinct and have the versatility of a puppet - backgrounds and fields are separate elements
  • The imagery will be montaged by conversationalists into cartoon-like frames
  • Imagine your character in a cartoon or graphic novel setting - it is meant to be interacted with
The artist will own his or her image(s) but award exclusive use of these image(s) to Doodle Republic for use on online conversation platforms.  The artist retains complete control of their image(s) when used outside of online conversation platforms.

Below are Key Highlights of the Image Syndication Agreement:

You must carefully review and agree to the terms of the full contract, available at http://www.doodlerepublic.com/artists/image_syndication_agreement.html, prior to submitting any images.

  • All Images submitted by the artist remain the sole and exclusive property of the artist
  • As part of Doodle Republic's online conversation platform, End Users will be able to rotate artist's images, overlay them with other images, and combine such images with text and graphics of all kinds
  • Artist grants Doodle Republic the exclusive right to use the submitted images in connection with online conversation platforms
  • Doodle Republic may or may not include accepted images in its Art Library available to Doodle Republic's End Users
  • Doodle Republic will pay Artist's designated Paypal account a fixed amount for accepted image(s)
  • $50 will be paid for every accepted initial drawing of an original character and $250 for one slate of five additional drawings of the same character(s) in separate "moods"
  • In order to be eligible to receive any payments, Artist is responsible for maintaining a Paypal account at all times, and ensuring that such account is identified by the same e-mail address that Artist has provided to Doodle Republic
  • DR will communicate with artists regarding submitted and approved images through its contributor website
  • End Users of Doodle Republic's communication system may be able to access additional information about contributing artists
Doodle Republic expects to have a Beta version of its system operating by Winter of 2012, following the acquisition of a rich archive of artists' hand drawn images.  The system will be available by invitation to select artists before the general release.  Aside from browser access, Doodle Republic will be featured as a mobile device application and integrated as a Facebook app.


Artwork is being accepted now - please visit our sign-up page to begin