Surroundings
Effects which appear before or around the griffin. Examples: sparkles, mist, butterflies, glowing embers, petals, small creatures or objects at the griffin's feet.

Face, Collar, Legs, Tail
Four parts of the body where they can wear pieces of armour, jewellery and other accessories. Some items are shaped differently according to each breed's body shape; for example, a decorative bridle would be different around a beak or an equine muzzle.

Pattern
A sheet of colour or texture that can cover some or all of the body. Patterns can be solid (the whole image filled with a design) or have transparent areas. The same flat pattern image will be 'cut out' into the body shape of every griffin, so a patchy pattern with transparent areas may cover the head of one griffin, the legs of another, or the whole body of another, depending on how they are posing.

Background
Scenery behind the griffin. It could be a proper scene with depth, or a texture, such as a page of ancient writing or a glowing starry pattern.

Creation
Any artistic member can draw or paint new Appearances. You can use any medium. Traditional art (pencil, ink, collage, paint on paper) will need to be photographed or scanned in decent quality, and the empty white space around the griffin must be digitally erased, as the Background will need to be visible behind them. Digital art can be created using any graphics software (many are free). Please see the guidelines at the bottom of this page, for image formatting rules.
Appearances are categorised by breed. Your drawn creature should resemble one of the official breeds here. You can minimise or exaggerate some features, or use your artistic licence to heavily stylise things. Overall, there is a clear difference between a Marlik and a Minoan griffin for example, and viewers should be able to tell which type is drawn.
In some breeds, the sexes look very different. You might choose to obviously depict one of them; either a wingless female Heramin showing off her ribbony plumes, or a male flying with his fan-like wings and curled horns. This is not a rule though. Your drawing can be ambiguous, having features of both sexes. It might look a bit crazy, but it should still be recogniseable as that breed.
You are free to draw creatures wearing armour or clothes, casting magic, having colours and markings impossible for that breed, or any other fantasy design. There can be companion animals, objects or effects around them. If they are standing or sitting on the ground, please include a shadow under them. It's fine for them to be floating or flying though.

Submission
You must have at least (high reputation) and pay a deposit of 10 gems in order to submit each image. A moderator will review it. If it's accepted, you will receive the gems back, and can start using it on your griffins right away. If it's rejected due to a mistake you made (such as incorrect image format, or you chose the wrong species when categorising it) you will be invited to edit your entry until it's acceptable. If it's rejected due to seriously breaking the rules, you will not receive the gems back, and may face other penalties such as being banned from further submission, or other parts of the game.

Artist's choice
You'll be able to enter a name and description to go with your image, and select the breed. You can choose to make the design usable by the public, or specially available to a certain member (perhaps a friend, or yourself). Private designs are not listed in the Gallery - unless you are the target - and strangers will be blocked from viewing details if they do find its page. You can change the target at any time, or decide to make it public.
You can also limit the design to a certain number of uses, if you want to make it rare or exclusive. If it's custom-drawn for a favourite griffin of yours, the limit would just be 1. After the limit has been reached, the design will no longer be usable by anyone. You can raise the limit again later, or if the Appearance was initially unlimited, you can add a limit to stop it being used further.
Please note, it is not possible to delete an Appearance if any creatures are already wearing it. If you change your mind and want to withdraw it completely, please do so as soon as possible. If it's too late, you can at least set it to private and stop it ever being available again.

Usage
To apply a new Appearance to a creature, you'll need one Amazing Plume in your inventory. Browse the Gallery and find a design that matches your creature's breed. On its page, if it still has uses available, you'll see a button to choose it.
There is no rule about which sex can use which Appearance. If you have a male Rampant and like his spiky shape, you'll likely want an design that still resembles a male Rampant, with glorious spikes. But if you're not so fond of the spikes, you could give him a female-styled Appearance, or an ambiguous one. The only rule is that it must be of the same breed; this is to avoid confusion.
Your creature must be adult in order to wear an Appearance. You can overwrite it with another Appearance at anytime, if you have another Plume. To remove an Appearance and return to the natural coat, use a Plain Plume on the creature.
Having an Appearance is purely visual, it doesn't give any skills or bonuses. Your griffin can still be customised with Adornments, and get bonuses from them, though they cannot be seen (except the Background behind them).