Well here is some tips for your assignment. BTW, which program do you use?
- If a render is blurry, sharpen it up with the Sharpen tool. It's got a little triangle for the icon.
- Depth is a nice addition to some sigs. Although it is quite hard to master (Loki hasnt even got it yet!). To add depth, sharpen the part which you want to stand out the most. Blur the bits like the background.
- Dont use really fancy text. Text is just a small addition to the banner, and you dont really want it to stand out much, unless you are doing a text based banner.
- Always try different renders, eg. Real People, C4D's, Even no render is good!
(For Photoshop Only)
- Before you end a banner, press shift+ctrl+alt+E and dodge the main part of your is, and burn the corners.