All Purpose Sig Contest Discussion Thread 2011

[~Coffee~]

anyways I think its time to go through some artists threads

 

[Zeltrax]

The reason I ask this is because Im trying to decide which of my 3 favorites from this theme I should submit? Any suggestions?

Spoiler

I like the second the most . It seems to be more creative and I like how the girl is "falling" or something. I'm not sure why, but I like the second one out of the three more. Anyway, wow, a lot of effort must have been made to make those three

Zeltrax!!!

First of all; I'm so happy you've returned to this section.
Second of all: omg zomg omg that's one fricking awesome siggy~
Thirdly: zomg omg zomg omg we have another awesome contestant that can threathen Coffee's dominance in these contests! There is still hope.
<hr noshade size="1">
threaten* ><

Hello Bugzee!
I will probably be staying here for a long time because all of the signatures posted here are so nice, and I enjoy the posts here from you guys too .
I can't dominate coffee or anyone yet
As a matter of fact, I need to learn how to manage my focal point and the tricky thing about text too
Anyway, I'll be participating more in the future competitions and I'll try to post my signatures here
Please look out for me and like the japanese say,
Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!

I like the idea of the sig. Like you said it is not typical, but it's good to be creative too. I've made some pretty unique sigs and tried a variety of strange things. Sometimes it's good to focus on the meaning you want to convey more than asthectics. I actually think your sig is quite good though.

ITA, and thank you! I think that you're right, the meaning is also important

The two things I'd change is the location of the text and the position of the render. I learned from Coffee and Shinsatsu that it's best to follow the rule of thirds. Try to position the focal point of the render (somewhere between Ichigo's and Rukia's head) and bit lower on the sig - 1/3rd the height of the sig from the top. You could also play with making the render a bit bigger and more close-up on their faces.

That is..something I've never heard of but then it seems to be interesting and helpful so I'll try that ! The render can't be bigger because of all the "memories" of them and it's hard to do a close up when it's not what I'm aiming for. However, I'll take that in mind, I really need more practice to improve my focal point

As for the text position. It should probably be on one side or the other of the render and should be lower as well. Try follow the rule of thirds again, but this may be difficult with how you have designed the sig. If you can envision this diagram as a sig, you want to position the focal points and text near the four central points where the vertical and horizontal lines cross, or at least along one of the lines. Someone else can probably explain it better, so please correct me if I made this really confusing.

l l l l
l l l l
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l l l l
l l l l
---------------------------------------------------
l l l l
l l l l

It's not confusing, I'll keep this diagram in mind and try that possibility . For this rukia and ichigo signature, I really don't have much choice to put the sig because of the spaces the "memories" are occupying. I think it might just be an excuse but I'll see to it that the next one will be somewhere around the lower left/right.

My advice is that the orbs should probably go. If you aren't that good with this type of effect it's best not to add it, but if you did want them still, try to make them more varied in size and brightness, because they look too uniform. Also try to make some bigger ones in the foreground that are sharper and some that are smaller and a little blured in the background. This will give the feeling of depth. I'm not so good with these types of effects so I usually never get it to look right and end up just taking them out. I use brushes sometimes, but they are the lazy way to get ok effects.

True, I don't think I'm that good with that type of effect. Half the time I have no idea what I'm doing with that..But I wanted to add it to give something more to the signature.
I want to try the feeling of depth, so I'll probably keep that tip in mind
And yes..I'm using brushes for the orbs, I know it's lazy and I'm kindda sorry it's so half-ass done.

I think everyone fools around with sigs, turning layers on and off, until they get what they like. The thing that will change over time, is that you will have better judgement as to what others also will like, and that only matters if you want it to. But I still find that some sigs I just know what fits and looks good, whereas with others I really struggle to decide if something fits or not. I think this is just one of the challenges of sig making. PS - Picking and blending text is usually the hardest part.

There's quite a lot of challenges huh..
But I still like sig making
I guess I need experience for me to have better judgement for my signatures and I should try being more decisive
Yep, like many had said, picking and blending text is the hardest part.

Whoops my diagram did not work, when I posted it. Sorry.

It's okay, thank you for everything you posted !

Tank you ! One more ? here you go :

Whoa, nice one as usual, Shin! I can clearly see the focal point and once again the text blend in so well! I really like this.
By the way, who is that in your signature At first, I thought it's from Hajime no Ippo(because he's a boxer) but now I'm not sure..

 

[Tsukisama]

Ok so first a question for Tsukisama - Is there usually a set time for when you close the submissions?(it doesn't seem like it, but just to be sure)

The reason I ask this is because Im trying to decide which of my 3 favorites from this theme I should submit? Any suggestions?

Spoiler

I usually follow what it says in the first post about either closing the thread at about 11pm GMT or two weeks after I post the submissions thread. Since I always post the submissions thread after 11pm GMT, I usually close the submissions thread around the time I opened the submissions thread.

So, just check the time on the first post in the submissions thread to see when the closing time will be.

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As for suggestions, I think all three look nice. If I were to choose one, though, as my favorite, I guess it would be the second one.

 

[Shinsatsu]

@ Zeltrax:
Thanks bro (whoa! huge post lol).
About your question: that's the main character of the seinen manga "Tough".

 

[Tsukisama]

Since I was late opening the same render contest (for those who remember, I was stuck on the highway ), it will close in about an hour; so, good luck for those who want to slip in an entry at the last minute!

The new contest is up, and the theme is revolution! I have been thinking about this ever since the wave of revolution has been sweeping the Middle East. Your submission can be about anything associated with revolution from political uprising to turning around to anything with the word "revolution" in it. Turn, turn, turn!

 

[DeBaron8]

@ Zeltrax - I just read my post from earlier, and I totally forgot to say all that I liked about the sig. Sorry about that, because I actually like it a lot. I think the chess board pattern of the pictures looks very nice and the render in the centre also works really well for this concept. I also like that the main render is colored and that the memories are in black in white, this was a great touch. I redid the rule of thirds thing as a proper image.

Spoiler

There's quite a lot of challenges huh..

yeah, I totally agree with you, sig making is challenging, even having a good idea of what looks good and is typical for a good sig doesn't mean you can pull it off. This is my big problem, I can already see that like Bugzee and the others have said, you've just started and already have nice sigs so you have great potential.

But I still like sig making

It's definitely fun, for all skill levels, especially this competition when we get new themes every other week and have great discussions in this thread. I'm pretty boring, but the guys are all pretty darn funny and interesting.

It's okay, thank you for everything you posted !

No problem^^ I like to offer feedback, I'm not sure if it's ever that useful, but I really appreciate all the advice I get, so I like to try to do the same for others as best I can.

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Hmm, interesting new theme, thanks Tsukisama.

 

[Shinsatsu]

Thanks Tsuki Great theme but a hard one too.

 

[kakashi919]

Pretty interesting and difficult theme. A lot of ways to go about this theme.

Made a random sig

 

[Farfalla]

That's pretty cool, KK!

 

[Shinsatsu]

Made a random sig

Awesome. If you still have the psd, change the text. Amazing sig dude. I really like the background.

 

[Zeltrax]

Nice tifa sig! I love the feathers and the background
& Tifa ~! Great job kakashi!

 

[~Coffee~]

Ok~ So even though it all depends on the persons tastes and how their brain/eyes work, the most commonly accepted way to go about a sig is to try to get your point of focus to be close to one of those 'points' on the rule of thirds. (The thing that DeBaron posted)

Spoiler

and also to have you text close to one of those points as well
the common rule is that the less someone has to move their eyes the better so, the focus point and the text on the same area is 'best'.

Spoiler

The text and the render are on the points in the rule of thirds~

and this one has the text and render close together on the same point, so your eyes move less~

Anyways here are some randoms to fend off boredom~

and I fixed up my Red Bunny sig~

 

[kakashi919]

Awesome. If you still have the psd, change the text. Amazing sig dude. I really like the background.

Ty all
Sadly,I didn't save a psd for it I also wanted to change the text after I closed off everything lol

 

[Shinsatsu]

I'm sorry I couldn't help myself :P that sig looked really tasty!

 

[Bugzee]

Nice one, Shin!

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I honestly like your version better. 8D

Seems as though you've mastered the art of using writing/text/fonts in your sigantures as well, Shin. I like the fact that you don't stick to the same font size/style. You switch it up everytime.

 

[Shinsatsu]

Nice one, Shin!

Boredom kills. I don't have anything to do -_- I'm really tired of waiting for Dragon Age II to be released... No good anime to watch... No entertaining manga to read... No exams either! what the hell !?

Enough complaints for now lmao.

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Seems as though you've mastered the art of using writing/text/fonts in your sigantures as well, Shin. I like the fact that you don't stick to the same font size/style. You switch it up everytime.

hmm thank you. I still have a long way to go!!! + Messing up Coffee's signatures helps you improve alot :P maybe you should try that too ^^

 

[Bugzee]

You just reminded me something I wanted to ask Tsuki!

Hey Tsuki! Can we please have another sig contest where we work in pairs!? I'm confident that it'll work much better this time around. Right, Shin?

I still have a long way to go!!! + Messing up Coffee's signatures helps you improve alot :P maybe you should try that too ^^

Classic! I will, Shin! Don't you worry!

 

[Shinsatsu]

Right, Shin?

Shin dude! If there's ever another one of those "collaboration with another member" sig contest...would you be my partner?

Sounds great! It would be awesome if we could work together you have amazing ideas and you're so good with combinations!
The team is set xD.

I didn't forget

 

[DeBaron8]

Boredom kills. I don't have anything to do -_- I'm really tired of waiting for Dragon Age II to be released... No good anime to watch... No entertaining manga to read... No exams either! what the hell !?

Ok, best way to wait for Dragon Age II, replay the first one again. I've been doing that all week on my new 47" TV. I'm trying to get all the achievements since I already played through it 2 1/2 times. Now I'm playing as a girl for the first time, for some reason I always play as guys for the eye candy. What is the exact day it comes out? I know it's this month, I'mplanning on ordering it tomorrow.

Btw, I love your alteration of Coffee's sig, the text not only looks amazing, but it made me lol so hard. Great work!!!

@ Coffee - Really like all the new sigs, are any for the new theme? Btw, thanks for explaining the rule of thirds thing again, it was a much clearer explanation than mine.

@ Kakashi - Great new sig!! Really, one of your best to date IMO. Awesome colors and movement.

 

[Shinsatsu]

@DeBaron8:
I just finished The tower of Magi I've been playing the first one this week ... Sadly, I already played the game several times... I tried all classes and had all achievements and also tried almost every possible senario :S which is bad because now I don't have anything new to do... I'm just creating a savegame to use it when I get II.

P.S: Too bad coffee is not here at the moment :P

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btw: March 8th in the USA / 11th for EUROPE