Graphics School

[Abnegation]

Profile

Massimo

Hi, I'm Moments

Indecisive and grounded, self proclaimed "artsy fartsy," fond of all things arty. I frequently over think, about everything but enjoy picking apart the puzzles of life. I like inquiring and constantly questioning and am impervious to annoyance. Wishful chromophobe.

Profile

Gavin

Hi, I'm Abnegation

I'm Gav and I am changing the beauty standards one sequin at a time. Style expert, fashion blogger, teen icon and a magazine junkie who stays up way too late. I am always rooting for the under dog and I like to push the envelope. Conformity is boring. Stop Wishing; Start Being.

Graphics School

Welcome to the Graphics & Photography graphics school. Brought to you by moments. & Abnegation. This school was set up to help aspiring graphics artists and even those with good knowledge of the medium, to become better designers and artists.

In this school we invite members of all ability in the area of graphics to join. Whether you are a beginner or advanced, you will always have a place here. Every now and then, myself and moments will be assigning you guys some tasks and well, I guess you could say, homework, for you to do. It's always going to be optional. But to get the most out of the school, the more you do, the better! We will then see your outcomes and tell you how you could improve on your work. In addition to this, you can show us pieces which you like and ask us how you could possibly achieve the same sort of effects. We will help you with the best of our knowledge.
Basically, we're going to be very open about everything and help you as much as we can. So to join, simply read the rules, then fill out the application form to apply. So enjoy the school guys, and remember, all members of all abilities are allowed to join.

Application Form

1. What name you go by:
2. Link to your gallery on PC: Optional
3. Why you would like to join the graphics school:
4. Describe your experience with graphics:
5. What you feel is your best piece and why:
6. What you think you need to improve on:

Members List
Abnegation - 23rd of June 2011
moments. - 23rd of June 2011
Toujours - 23rd of June 2011
Xyrin - 23rd of June 2011
Roswell - 24th of June 2011
Alternative - 24th of June 2011
Charizard★ - 24th of June 2011
Speed - 24th of June 2011
zZJoennZz - 24th of June 2011
Karpman - 24th of June 2011
Scarf- 24th of June 2011
Jake♫ - 24th of June 2011
flamz321 - 25th of June 2011
mzmingle - 25th of June 2011
TheSmartOne - 25th of June 2011
Ink Heart - 26th of June 2011
TwilightBlade - 14th of July 2011
*Firestar* - 17th of July 2011

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Rules

• Make sure you fill out the application form in full
• Do not critique work posted here, only tutors may do so
• Don't forget you can always post in The Graphics Rating Thread if you want something rated
• Respect all members within the school
• All The Graphics & Photography Rules apply

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What you may do here

In the graphics school, you may sign up, and from there you can participate in assignments and tasks that the tutors give you. You may also post graphics you like and you may ask how they are made or you can ask how to do a particular effect for example. You may post graphics you made and tutors can help you improve them, but remember that you may do this in your gallery as well as the graphics rating thread and shouldn't be done too often. Every now and then we shall host competitions for emblems. Members may comment on each other's work, but main critique in this thread should only be left to the tutors. However, if you guys would like to critique their work, check to see if they uploaded their work to their gallery or the graphics rating thread.

Most of all, this is for fun, and to help you all improve your work, including ourselves of course, the tutors will also join in the tasks from time to time.

Got any ideas or suggestions? Feel free to let us know!

Past Assignments

Upon joining our school, feel free to do any of the following assignments that have been issued in the past.

First Assignment
Second Assignment

Give me some tickets and I'll take you somewhere fancy

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[Oryx]

1. What name you go by: Toujours
2. Link to your gallery on PC: N/A
3. Why you would like to join the graphics school: I've always been interested in graphics but have no idea where to start looking. It would be nice to have some direction, instead of just playing with every setting I have on GIMP until I find a result I like.
4. Describe your experience with graphics: Um...very very little.
5. What you feel is your best piece and why:
   
   
   That avatar came from this image. I really like how the colors came out on that, and the positioning of it. Not great I know, that's why I'm here :P
6. What you think you need to improve on: I honestly have heard of C4Ds and stuff but have no idea how to use them. I can just stumble blindly into cool-looking avatars too, but it's not that way with anything bigger so some guidance on tags and such would be nice. (:

 

[Abnegation]

Alrighty Toujours, welcome to the graphics school buddy. First off, I shall put you on the members list. And after reading your introduction, I guess there's a few things you need some help with as you say. I suppose you're more interested in making icons? If so, my first recommendation would be to obtain photoshop since it is far better when it comes to making icons.

C4D's are fun to use with tags, but there are plenty of tutorials you could use for those. But have you attempted to use them in a tag as of yet?

 

[Oryx]

Alrighty Toujours, welcome to the graphics school buddy. First off, I shall put you on the members list. And after reading your introduction, I guess there's a few things you need some help with as you say. I suppose you're more interested in making icons? If so, my first recommendation would be to obtain photoshop since it is far better when it comes to making icons.

C4D's are fun to use with tags, but there are plenty of tutorials you could use for those. But have you attempted to use them in a tag as of yet?

I'm interested in both icons and tags, I just feel like icons are...easier so I started playing around with those. xD I think I have Photoshop now, depending on the...um, totally legal keys. >_>;

I looked up how to use C4Ds but I got completely lost and I don't even have a starting point on making tags to begin with, so I had no idea what to do and gave up. :x

 

[Xyrin]

1. What name you go by: Xyrin or Tanner
2. Link to your gallery on PC: https://www.pokecommunity.com/threads/253029
3. Why you would like to join the graphics school: Because I want to get better and don't usually get any Critique.
4. Describe your experience with graphics: I've been making tags for about a month but I still can't make anything reasonable without a tutorial.
5. What you feel is your best piece and why: I keep getting told that this is my best tag but I like this one more. I like my lighting and everything but it still isn't good. xD For icons I like this one the most even though it was bad quality.
6. What you think you need to improve on: Flow for the tags and C4D's I guess.

 

[Eucliffe]

1. [*]What name you go by: Ros, Lucia
   [*]Link to your gallery on PC: Don't have one on PC, buttt... I am part of an icon community with some friends.
   [*]Why you would like to join the graphics school: Because I'm not good at adding textures or lighting or making tags look good in general.
   [*]Describe your experience with graphics: I've used Gimp for a year, PS for almost a year, and I've made a lot of icons and some tags. However, a lot of the time people don't really like my tags as much as they like my icons, and so I haven't been able to make any themes of my own using custom-made tags.
   [*]What you feel is your best piece and why:
   
   
   
   Goes to show how much confidence I have. Although this is one of my earlier-made tags with PS, I really like how it turned out (even though I used a stock, too).
   [*]What you think you need to improve on: As I said, I'm not good at making tags in general, and I need help with lighting and textures. Edit: Oh, and anything regarding text on graphics.

 

[Alternative]

What name you go by:
Alternative, Alt, Blake, or whatever you think fits.

Link to your gallery on PC:
Marshall D. Teach

Why you would like to join the graphics school:
I've got a high passion for graphic design, and even learning the smallest things such as good colouring, and nice effects in tags and stuff can help you tackle big projects later on in life

Describe your experience with graphics:
Weill I was introduced to Photoshop around March last year, which is when I started to use it for school and stuff. I guess I haven't been fully influenced by it in terms of icons, tags until maybe the beginning of the year.

What you feel is your best piece and why:
https://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg145/neo_bnichols/berramy-3.png
I think it's probably my best piece because I was actually trying to use lots of different effects in the piece, such as C4Ds, colourization, and so forth. I think with all the aid that I received while making it pulled off and came out as a very nice piece.

What you think you need to improve on:
C4D usage and just adding effects to my pieces in general, such as smudging, other cool things and so forth. I think I'm down with at least positioning and maybe colour.

 

[Charizard★]

1. What name you go by: Nature, Niraj
2. Link to your gallery on PC: Here
3. Why you would like to join the graphics school: So I can learn how to create better icons/avatars and to learn how to make banners/signatures.
4. Describe your experience with graphics: A bit, not too much. I've messed around with Gimp here and there to create some thing, but none of them seem to be good.
5. What you feel is your best piece and why:
   
   
   It just feels like it goes together well, and the lighting looks like it works a bit.
6. What you think you need to improve on: How it flows, fit together, lighting, texture usage.

 

[moments.]

Welcome to all those new students, I'm pretty impressed with the number of members who've posted here already, so I look forward to working with you guys down the track, hopefully I can be of help / teach you all at least one thing new!

So a lot of you have been asking specifically with learning how to use textures. Because I have been known to abuse textures in my pieces (:P) how many of you would be interested in me posting an updated texture pack with a tutorial on using different kinds of textures? In the mean time, I released this texture pack a while ago so you can have a look at and play around until I get a tutorial done.

 

[Speed]

What name you go by:Speed or Julian
Link to your gallery on PC: Here
Why you would like to join the graphics school:To improve in graphics, and get more into it.
Describe your experience with graphics: I've done gfx for a while, but I never thought I was really good at it, so I stopped, then got interested in it again.
What you feel is your best piece and why:

I think I got almost everything right with this tag, especially colors, which I think is my weakest point.
What you think you need to improve on:Colors, definitely

 

[zZJoennZz]

What name you go by: zZJoennZz
Link to your gallery on PC: Nothing yet.
Why you would like to join the graphics school: I want to learn more for GFX like brushes abstract and more from scratch.
Describe your experience with graphics: I'm 1 year in graphics photoshop, and I won some GFX battle.
What you feel is your best piece and why:

This is what I feel because vibrance and I really like this piece.
What you think you need to improve on: Colors, Depth, and C4D Usage.

 

[champagnepapi]

What name you go by: Karpman or Karp
Link to your gallery on PC: N/A
Why you would like to join the graphics school: To learn how to make tags and improve with my icons.
Describe your experience with graphics: I've been making icons for a month, maybe 2 months.
What you feel is your best piece and why:

I really like how the colors on it came out, not sure exactly how to put it into words, but I like it. I know it's not 100x100, but most of my better icons are 150x150, since my main motivation to make them is to use them as avatars, so hopefully that can change, as well.
What you think you need to improve on: Everything? I'm pretty much a novice.

 

[Abnegation]

To those of you guys who already signed up before the posts I have quoted, welcome to the graphics school! I shall be adding you all to the list, and you can take moments' suggestion :]

What name you go by:Speed or Julian
Link to your gallery on PC: Here
Why you would like to join the graphics school:To improve in graphics, and get more into it.
Describe your experience with graphics: I've done gfx for a while, but I never thought I was really good at it, so I stopped, then got interested in it again.
What you feel is your best piece and why:

I think I got almost everything right with this tag, especially colors, which I think is my weakest point.
What you think you need to improve on:Colors, definitely

First of all, welcome to the school. But, if what you want to improve colours, my suggestion to people is always to do a little practice and try things you wouldn't normally do. From personal experience, I decided to go completely away from the original colours on some of my stocks and not take the obvious option. However, to understand how colour works, you need to work with contrast. For example, in your tag here, it is quite good, but like all pieces, it can be improved in some places. I will concentrate on colour though, you've chosen to go mostly with red as the strongest and deepest colour, while yellow is your brightest. And those are the strongest colours in your tag. Which is good, however, overall you've used the colours a little too much and this adds a little monotone to your tag. So you need to experiment with using a few extra colours and making them flow well. Colours are an extremely hard thing to master in graphics. But work with some gradient maps, as well as using the usual selective colour, and experimenting with curves can also be a good way to diverge from the obvious too. So for your next tag, work on these few things. Any questions on these suggestions dude?

What name you go by: zZJoennZz
Link to your gallery on PC: Nothing yet.
Why you would like to join the graphics school: I want to learn more for GFX like brushes abstract and more from scratch.
Describe your experience with graphics: I'm 1 year in graphics photoshop, and I won some GFX battle.
What you feel is your best piece and why:

This is what I feel because vibrance and I really like this piece.
What you think you need to improve on: Colors, Depth, and C4D Usage.

Well if you're thinking of doing more from scratch, I actually recommend doing some large pieces first, so your have more room to work with. Scratch tags are extremely difficult to pull off at times. But have you ever tried drawing what you wish to do? Often that can be a great way to start with doing these types of work.

What name you go by: Karpman or Karp
Link to your gallery on PC: N/A
Why you would like to join the graphics school: To learn how to make tags and improve with my icons.
Describe your experience with graphics: I've been making icons for a month, maybe 2 months.
What you feel is your best piece and why:

I really like how the colors on it came out, not sure exactly how to put it into words, but I like it. I know it's not 100x100, but most of my better icons are 150x150, since my main motivation to make them is to use them as avatars, so hopefully that can change, as well.
What you think you need to improve on: Everything? I'm pretty much a novice.

Well, why don't you start by making some icons in 100x100 or by making a tag and we can help you out? The main things to do as a beginner is not to quit. It can be tough to get to a stage where you're very happy with your work and other people are too. But honestly, it's worth it, just have perseverance. Have you tried any tutorials, or see any pieces you would like to be able to do so we could point you in the right direction?

At any rate, thanks for joining guys, happy to see so many enthusiasts. Remember, feel free to suggest things or ask any questions. If you have any ideas for competitions we could host in the graphics school, let either Massimo or I know and we'd be happy to take your suggestion and we'll let you guys decide on whether you'd like to do it or not!

 

[Esper]

1. What name you go by: Scarf

2. Link to your gallery on PC: Not the right kind of gallery.

3. Why you would like to join the graphics school: to make pretty signatures and generally learn new things.

4. Describe your experience with graphics: I've played around with photoshop, but usually just to work with colors since I'm pretty exclusively a pixel person.

5. What you feel is your best piece and why: I don't really have any graphics work. I have this old signature, but I think all I really did was resize it and add a border.

What a sweet border that is! Dayum!

6. What you think you need to improve on: Um, all of the above? I'm not really sure where to start.

 

[Oryx]

Maybe in the first post you can link to some good beginner tutorials to work on?

 

[Jake♫]

What name you go by: Jake

Link to your gallery on PC: Yeah...no =3

Why you would like to join the graphics school: It's been a LONG while since I've been into graphics and I really want to get back into them. I've always had issues trying out new styles and once I saw something I did I liked I just repeated it OVER and OVER again. I guess I need to come back into it and find ways to be more creative.

Describe your experience with graphics: I started sometime in 2006 or 2007, back when grunge tags were kiind of the "it" thing to do. I kept going through probably 2008, where I just dead stopped. I picked it back up here at PC a few times but the things I pumped out just weren't to my liking.

What you feel is your best piece and why:

This is when I really feel like I was at the top of my game back in the day. I feel like I had the composition down really well, the lighting was good, and the usage of effects didn't overflow the focal or draw away from it too much. Probably my best tag imo.

What you think you need to improve on: Variety is the biggest thing for me. Properly using the smudge tool has always been iffy for me as well. Textures is something I've never really incorporated that much into my work that I'd really like to (And I'm not really counting scan lines from way back when XD).

 

[Abnegation]

1. What name you go by: Scarf

2. Link to your gallery on PC: Not the right kind of gallery.

3. Why you would like to join the graphics school: to make pretty signatures and generally learn new things.

4. Describe your experience with graphics: I've played around with photoshop, but usually just to work with colors since I'm pretty exclusively a pixel person.

5. What you feel is your best piece and why: I don't really have any graphics work. I have this old signature, but I think all I really did was resize it and add a border.

What a sweet border that is! Dayum!

6. What you think you need to improve on: Um, all of the above? I'm not really sure where to start.

Well it's a good thing you have photoshop, which is already going to be of benefit to your progress. I do recommend reading the first post here, for some terminology and such which will help you a great deal, hopefully. Albeit, I did write it quite a while ago so it may be in need of a refresh. But have a look and it might lead you to where you want to begin. And welcome to the school of course.

Maybe in the first post you can link to some good beginner tutorials to work on?

Not a bad idea, but this thread has some useful things in it.

What name you go by: Jake

Link to your gallery on PC: Yeah...no =3

Why you would like to join the graphics school: It's been a LONG while since I've been into graphics and I really want to get back into them. I've always had issues trying out new styles and once I saw something I did I liked I just repeated it OVER and OVER again. I guess I need to come back into it and find ways to be more creative.

Describe your experience with graphics: I started sometime in 2006 or 2007, back when grunge tags were kiind of the "it" thing to do. I kept going through probably 2008, where I just dead stopped. I picked it back up here at PC a few times but the things I pumped out just weren't to my liking.

What you feel is your best piece and why:

This is when I really feel like I was at the top of my game back in the day. I feel like I had the composition down really well, the lighting was good, and the usage of effects didn't overflow the focal or draw away from it too much. Probably my best tag imo.

What you think you need to improve on: Variety is the biggest thing for me. Properly using the smudge tool has always been iffy for me as well. Textures is something I've never really incorporated that much into my work that I'd really like to (And I'm not really counting scan lines from way back when XD).

Hey well, you've got the right mentality with what you wish to do. Smudge tags are pretty fun to do, and there's some good tutorials out there if you look in the right places. Have a look in the thread I linked above in this post. But once you get back into graphics, things will start coming back to you, it's just a matter of doing new work and getting into the swing of it. Every time I go into a slump, it takes me ages to come back, but I find myself having a lot of fun when I do. And welcome to the school of course.

 

[Alternative]

If there's one thing I would really love to learn is typography, mostly in tags and graphics of the like. I know you're good at that Gavin, and I know Massimo is awesome at just choosing the right font, so that's a big skill I would love to develop when it comes to graphics. Maybe one of you could write something up on that?

Also should I be posting graphics here? I've been making a few things and wouldn't mind presenting them for reviewing, and just seeing what aspects I should learn to improve on. :)

 

[Abnegation]

Well, for typography, it's a huuuuge huge aspect of graphics. You need to learn a whole lot of stuff to get good at it. In my college course there's a whole module for just typography. But I could do a tutorial, which I might do today or some time soon. But the first thing you've got to know with typography and tags is, do not make the text a complete new focal. Meaning that it shouldn't be stuck in a corner or an edge somewhere. If you notice my tags or massimo's, the text is usually near the focal as text is very easily misplaced and you don't want to make it into a while new focal.

Yes you may post your graphics here, but remember you have the graphics rating thread and your gallery, if you're getting no luck there, feel free to post it here dude.

 

[Alternative]

Well in all I meant just using text in graphics, which is probably one of my biggest struggles when it comes to making a tag. I think I've got positioning and font down, but just something about using certain colours, what to use to try and bring it out some more. As you can see with this piece here the text is weird with it's colouring. I tried using white and black, but that just didn't look all good either.