The Graphics Rating Thread [READ THE FIRST POST. D:<]

[parallelzero]

@Loki: Like I told you on MSN, the "badou" text is really hard to pick out, because I think it's in a spot that's too busy for it to shine. No clue if you intended that, though. There's also something about the colour scheme, but I'm not sure what... XD

evilcheese, my connection is going slow, so if you have a banner in the post above, I'm sorry. Only like... half of the page loads, so I'm not really sure. XD; I don't think you do though.

Yay for getting bearings after going from CS3 to CS2. I only made it because I felt graphic deprived after a couple of days, but let's see what everyone thinks. Little blending, not very creative, but hey, EVERYONE LOVES L.

 

[Uryū Ishida]

Loki;; Wow, this is different to what i normally see from you ^^, it's colourful <3, the background how ever is a bit distracting from the render (which i'm assuming is the focal), the splatter overlay thing looks alright just erase some around his hand and shoulders. But i really love this banner 11/10 xDD

Animadversion;; Your right xDDD who doesn't love L, This is a nice banner, the clipping mask in the background, scanlines, text just everything is nice and simple. I really like it 10/10 everybody says that they make banners out of boredom, but i'm sure you tried your hardest to impress me xDDD
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Yet another massive graphics slump, entry for SOTW #6, C&C please ^^

edit;; oh sorry david, i missed yours D:

 

[Motsuko Live]

Reply to Loki: *looks at Loki's massive post*
See, Shiranui? What did I tell you? We've both been spaminized XD;

Anyway, time for some rating (only one);

@ Uryu Ishida: Very nice. I like how it's sharper in the middle, but more blurry towards the outer edges. The lighting is fantastic. Another thing; That bubble with (?)'s face in it as amazing! It's so simple, yet such a great addition! Very good job.
I'm going to rate it a 8.2/10. (good luck by the way).


Yay! Back at my house!

FOTOSHAWP, HEER AH COM!!!1!!!11 *shot'd* ( <-- love that word XD;)

Anyways, here's a banner I'm thinking about entering in SOTW. I know I need to add the "SOTW" text to it still. It's not finished yet. Also, I need some help deciding on the text.
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Rate!

please&thanks;
Motsuko

 

[evilcheese]

@motsuku - yeah you need to add "SOTW". i dont really like when renders are plaeced like >.< thats why i dont use renders with copped off sides (anymore). its a nice concept i love the brushes. maybe a heart brush?

latest version


i also took the liberty of putting them on top of eachother (all versions.)

so there.

 

[Motsuko Live]

@ evilcheese: Wow, this is like, the third time you've put up the same banner. It kinda gets boring rating the same thing from you over and over again.

Anyways, it's pretty good. I like the colored one better than your original black and white. But what's with this animated one? Are you just showing us all three versions of this sig, or is it actually suppose to be like that?

I have nothing to have rated...

Actually...
I did just make a new avatar/banner set. Why don't you rate those?

Avatar:


Banner:

In case you happen to be Loki, then yes, I did use that old sig you "gave me" as a guide. I think it turned out pretty well, but seeing as it's based off of a Loki sig, I'd like to make a special call out to Loki for a rating. Please and thank you, Loki!

Sincerely;
Motsuko

 

[Uryū Ishida]

Motsuko;; Yays for vector bannehs <3. Great banner ^^, good colours you chose for the brushes and the render is placed nicely in my opinion, the scan lines around the edge is something i've never seen before, but it's really good!! 9/10

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Edited my entry for SOTW whut do ya tink? (i must be high xDDD)

BTW, it's featuring Hitsugaya, Toushiro & Hinamori Momo from BLEACH

 

[Twinx]

@evilcheese I don't think that banner needs any more work. The color scheme seems to go so well with his skin color and the text blends in pretty good though it's hardly readable

@Motsuko, I usually don't like vector banners maybe because I can't do one for my life but this is really nice. I like how you made the scan lines on the border only..

@Uryū Ishida , so um... you added scan lines.. I think it looks better without them, or maybe you should make them less noticeable?
The round bubbles are cool, but that big one stands out too much, even though it's blurred. Have you tried blending the render a bit to see how it would look like? I think it would look cool if it's blended, but don't take my word for it... try it..

--------------------------------------------
Rate...

Spoiler:

nothing.. lucky you ;D

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[Renyui!]

Yayz for DC! now someones can rate meh banner

theme for me

theme for cloud_85

 

[Pikabloo]

Reply to Loki: *looks at Loki's massive post*
See, Shiranui? What did I tell you? We've both been spaminized XD;

eeexactly xD

Anyway, I'll go on a mini-rating spree, because I don't want to do my Math homework. Yet >.> Starting with...

Loki: Zoom in at the bottom of the banner. There's definitely a stray cream-coloured pixel there xD ANYWAY - COLOURS <3 I like the colours, to a certain extent, of course xD Though at some areas, the colours tend to look too bright, especially with that yellow overlay thing. It also makes the whole banner look a bit messier. Like, behind his left shoulder (our right), it looks really weird. And it makes the hand look eww and, er, yellow o.o Though I'm pretty much loving everything else about the colours.

I like the vector shapes as well. Where did you get them? It's sort of a simple effect, but it looks great with the render chosen. And they're colourful. Which is always a good thing xD The white outline-ish thing to the right of the render sort of adds emphasis to the focal, so that's cool.

Moving onto the text~ The 'Carnage' bit is nicely placed, and I like how it follows the curve of the vector thing. As for the 'Badou' text, I have to admit that I never noticed it there until I saw Animad's comment >.> I think I'm just going blind. Who knows :\ I think it just blends a little too well, and the fact that the text is at two different places just makes me go, 'whut?' Or I'm just used to the usual 'the text goes here and nowhere else' thing.

Animadversion: L is luff :D I love the perspective on the render, and it would have been cool to expand on that, but whatever. It's still a good banner It's an interesting choice of colour; I never would have put L together with green, but it looks good. The effects are pretty interesting overall, with the repeat image thing towards the left end of the banner. I also like the text position, with the black bar going under it, and the tiny text thing at the bottom of the text.

Hooowever (lawls o.o) I can't say it's blended very well xP You probably knew that already, but whatever. His hand looks weird and faded (erased?), and so does the tip of his finger. And although the colours work alright with the render, the yellow-ish tone of L's skin looks really quite awkward in the sea of green. Nothing that a colour blending layer couldn't fix, though~

Uryū Ishida: It's so... cotton candy pink! xD And the render looks so cute~ I personally think it looks better without the scan lines. The only reason I might prefer the scanlines is because it makes it look a little bit darker, but you could still make it darker without the scan lines.

I'm not sure if I like seeing the render centered, but it wouldn't look good in any other place anyway xD OMG, this is the perfect kind of banner for a bubble effect C4D! I think there are some there, but the fact that the edges are blurred makes it a bit harder to see them. And the circle clipping masks would look loads better if it wasn't blurred like that. If the background was blurred, but not the clipping masks, it might look better, but I don't know. Ah, and the heart above Hinamori looks cute, but it's sort of just floating there. Move it around and see if there's a better place for it o.o

Motsuko:
SotW banner: Aww, that's so cute~ lawls, I feel so weird now, since my not-quite-done entry is nothing like the ones that have already been entered xD I like the pink and white outlines around the render, it looks great. What I'm not too much of a fan off is the wide variety of vector brushes you used. Try limiting it down, so that the background doesn't look quite as cluttered. Also, the blue brushing towards the bottom looks quite weird. Maybe try some blue vector brushing instead of the wispy stuff, just to even out the invasion of pink in the banner xD

The colours are cute~ I definitely like the pink. I just think that there needs to be a greater balance between pink, blue and white. But it's still a great SotW entry :D

That second banner o.o: Ooh, and I like the choice of colours in this one as well xD This is the sort of vector brushing which looks better; not too crowded, but not empty either. I like the scanlines towards the edge of the banner, acting like a border. It sort of gives a slight sense of depth, which is good.

What I don't really like about it is the flow. Some of the vector brushes lean like this \ where as some others lean like this /. I think it'd look better to stick to one flow. For this banner, the flow would probably be like this / since you placed the text on a vector brush which goes in that direction. Oh, and as for the text itself, it looks pretty good. The only thing I don't like is the colour. Since everything else in the banner tends to be either green or blue, it might blend better if it was green or blue o.o

In comparison to the Persona (?) vector banner Loki lent you, I'd say that the render used here is lacking in the colours like the vector that Loki used, so you're mainly limited in green or blue. It's a good attempt at replicating the style, though. Perhaps try using the pen-tool...?

evilcheese: Yay, colours~ But now it looks a bit monotone xD It does look better than the un-saturated version, so this is probably the best out of them all. It looks muuuuuch better behind the head now, without the distraction of the effect C4Ds. The front of his face looks a lot neater, as well, or I'm just imagining it o.o But yeah, for some reason, the C4Ds look a lot cleaner. Which is a good thing. Oh, but there's this weird C4D on his neck o.o The light source definitely looks better~

I'm not sure about the logo/text, though. I was going to suggest taking it off, but then it would leave the left side of the banner looking too empty :\ Try out putting your own text, playing around with fonts and stuff, maybe. Or maybe the logo would look best, meh xD Ah, well, there's nothing much I could add. Colouring is probably the main things you need to work on.

Poke'd:
Hollow Ichigo banner: Monotone~ Then again, the render was black and white, so I can't really complain about that xD It's an interesting outcome to my tutorial, but I think that you erased a bit too much from the clipping mask. It looks quite odd o.o I'm not a fan of the spatter brushes you used, but I can't really complain about that either -shot'd- I think more spatters towards the right side of the banner would look good, just to even out the spaces between spatters. And because there's not that many spatters in that side. Then again, it sort of looks like the spattered remains of who/whatever got in Hollow Ichigo's way, so I wont complain about that either xD

Oh, and am I just imagining it, or is there this weird dark gray/orange-ish patch on the render's hair? xD If it's supposed to be lighting, I think white would look better with a banner like this. And the lighting towards the katana looks really weird, since the lighting is supposed to draw the attention to the focal, which is supposed to be the face here, I think? Ah, and the text needs a bit of work. I don't really think that the font matches the render well xP

Zeratul... or something: I can't really tell if it's smudging or filters, but it's reeeaaally blurry o.o The good point to this, however, is that it looks like the person/thing is 'in motion' or something, or he's hiding in the darkness >.> The glowy sword arm thing looks pretty good blurry, for some reason. Or the blurriness spreads the glow. Ah, but that's some good effects.

What I don't like is that you can just barely make out the render, and the focal is unclear. I would be assuming that it's the sword, since it stands out the most, and is drawing my attention. I also don't like the text, since the font just seems a bit too, er, fancy? o.o And gray text in a gray background looks quite boring, to be honest. But, it seems easy enough to improve this banner. You'd just need to erase some of the blurry stuff, and sharpen everything. Maybe fix up the text. It's good, probably the better one of the two banners you posted. If it wasn't so blurry >.> -shot'd-

Anyway, I'll go on a mini-rating spree, because I don't want to do my Math homework.

... I believe I underestimated the number of banners posted after Loki's :\ -sigh- At least I got to procrastinate doing Math.

Banner rating > Calculus 8D

 

[/Circa]

Im not really in the mood for rating, im a bit sleepy.
I changed the banner around a bit, added some more effects, but I still need some ideas.

I think I should get rid of the bit of hair on the right, cause it looks transperant. But I wont make it obvious :).

 

[Twinx]

@ChessePeow, actually the hair on the right side seems to blend in well with the rest of the banner. I think you should keep it.
The problem with this banner is that the render's color that seems to stick-out but not in a good way, try toning down it's colors so it can go along with the rest of the banner.
But that's just my opinion...

--------------------------
So I just finished this. My SOTW entry.

 

[Motsuko Live]

@ DarkChild: Probably the best graphic on this page (so far) XD;
I absolutley love the placing of the render. It captures the passion perfectly. What I don't like about it is that blurry, white spot around her hands. It's kind of...random? Anyways, great banner, DC. 8.0/10.
Oh yes, and one last thing;

It's a great banner and all, but it doesn't seem to create that "love-ish" feeling. I don't know why, but it seems a little...hard, to be love. Not sure if that made much sense, but if it did, hopefully you can use it to improve your banner XD.

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Ok, now for my banner. I remade my SOTW banner. Tried a new style, so any suggestions/coments are greatly appreciated. Not sure which one I'll submit...
I'm also looking for different text to add to my second one (this one). Any suggestions? Any at all? Please!? XD *shot'd*

 

[Loki]

I present to you one of the shortest rating posts I've made for a long time. xD Because I'm lazy.

Motsuko: Hmmm.... I think it's a little too pale and bright, and the text bar on the left doesn't work out very well. The flow just isn't there. xD; Especially with the font you chose to use. The rest is alright, but it feels like... I'm not going to like, I'm sitting here and thinking, "Hazuki." xDD;; The style is just too similar. And the SoTW is very.. abrupt. Like you forgot to put it in and you were like, "Oops!" but yeah, I hate the adding SoTW rule too, so that's not really something I would penalize you for.


Would you believe that this started out as my SoTW entry?

​

....Yeah, I don't believe it either. xDDD;; WIP, no text and border yet.


edit: After consulting my Graphics Guru, he has shared his wisdom with me and I present a.. kind of different version.

edit-ching: My Graphics Guru is a very picky person. D:< *SHOT'd*

 

[parallelzero]

@Loki: I think you're overcrowding your graphics, which is why this so called "guru" asked you to remove or turn down opacity as much as you did. Other than the bumps along the way, the end result looks cool, though I still think your style may be starting to get slightly repetitive...

Well, I was going to enter this in SotW, but then I realized it was ungodly crappy (and his hair doesn't match the background. =x), so I probably won't enter it. I call this one "blaaaagh". XD

And, my new sig banner. I don't know when the last time I put my username on a banner was. XD It's simple, but I like it.

 

[Perfectionist]

Animadversion: I will rate both of yours.
blaaaagh: Yeah you are right about the hair not matching the colours of the rest of the banner. I think that in the bottom right hand corner, that effect is a bit dark, just tone down the opacity a bit. Love the stars, the tower in the background (left side) and the flow. I think the text is in a good place but the font lets down the feel of the banner.
7.5/10

Simple but adorable one: To me, this is magnificent. Despite it having very few brushes, colours, effects whatever! It has a brilliant feel about it. Although I tend to favour simple banners, this one sticks out. I love the clipping mask on the right side. (Took me a while to realise it was part of her face)... The font is simple but looks great and the colours match wonderfully.
BUT, the only thing I would suggest changing would be the left side of the background. It is very white and bright to the left hand side of the render and attracts the eyes. Perhaps painting it a bit darker like a light grey or giving the edges of the wings a thicker outline.
9.5/10
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Ok I have been trying to figure out what style I am best at and what I like most in a banner. I found out that for me, simplicity is key. A good example of what I mean is Animadversion's second banner. I tried my very first actual attempt at a simple banner could not finish it. I have no idea what to put in the left side. I am going to post it here and hopefully someone can help me complete this banner.

Rate away and help me fill that awful blank on the left side...

 

[Twinx]

@Motsuko: 10x.. you're being too nice ^^ hehe
oh that blurry part around her hands is just another petal but it's closer, so I blurred it to create depth of field but I'm not quite sure if it worked or not.. Thanks for the advice man, I might try to brighten it up a bit more later, so it's less "hard" I guess.

Now onto your banner. It's really neat. I'll divide my ratings into sections:

Text: As Loki said the text bar doesn't work too well, it makes look like a postcard or something ;D
Script fonts don't seem to work well with banners in most cases, but considering the theme, I guess you can make it look good. But you should remember that you shouldn't rely on text in your banners.. the render and the background speak for themselves, the text comes afterwards, so you should try to keep the text as simple as possible because it's not really the center of attention.
I don't care about the SOTW part since it's obligatory and you'll probably remove it if you want to showcase this later on.

Background and render: The match perfectly but I guess it's pale, try adding more contrast to it.

Scanlines: We all love scan lines and I must admit that I abused them at some point, but looking back now, they ruin the banner. Try setting them on overlay and on a 10% opacity.. they'll be hardly noticeable and they'll give you the effect you want ^^

Overall, it's a great banner =)
I can't believe I just wrote all that :O Probably will never do that again xD


@Loki: Just like Animad said.. it's way overcrowded and I don't really think it flows much.. Some lines are heading right and others are heading left. There's not much more I can say since I have no experience in this style of banners... >.>

@Animad:
1st banner: The background looks incredible, the same goes for the text's alignment. But like you said the render doesn't really suit the background. I think you can try to add more colors to the background to make it work or maybe make a B&W banner.. I like the stars btw.

2nd banner: It's beautiful, I absolutely adore it ^^
Text: 8/10 A bit too large but suits the render so it looks great
Render and background: 9/10. Love the clipping mask on the right.
Though, I disagree with Perfectionist.. I would keep the left side as it is since the light source comes from the right.
Everything else just rocks.. Good job..

@Perfectionist: I'll come back in a couple of hours and rate this since I have to leave now. Sorry ^^

 

[RYOUKI]

Erm, rating time?

Perfectionist: I like that banner, it's very plain and simple, but...the image stands-out more, and the image doesn't really blend well, but don't take it from me. I'm a noob. o___O

For the blank space, i suggest a clipping mask or something. I dunno, I stink at banner making.

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Another crappy banner. I stink at text so I put little text. I just made this theme out of boredom, and I was tired of my old crappy theme.

 

[Perfectionist]

Rei Yuki:

Compliments:
I like this banner for its simplicity. The renders match well with the background which is always a good thing. I think that the colours are great mainly because beige is one of my favourite colour. =P

Constructive Criticism:
The background is a bit blurry. Try sharpening it up a bit to give it a bit of *twang*. The clipping masks work effectively but would look much better if you blended them in a bit more. Try erasing the edges so they are a bit softer on the eye. You could also try smudging/brushing over the edges of the clipping masks to make them blend in as well. I also think that you should change the layer property on the clipping masks. i.e: change it to screen/soft light etc. Alternatively you could add a filter to make it look a bit different from the renders, because right now the clipping masks aren't very eye catchy.
Another thing I picked up is the black border on the horizontal edges. The bottom border thing is thicker than the top one. =P Easily fixed though.
​

 

[Twinx]

@Perfectionist: It is a very neat banner. Nice and Simple. I'm not expert in vector banners but I think maybe you should fill that empty space on the left with more vector brushes and implement the text in there as well...

@Rei Yuki: It matches very well. I like how you blurred the background, bringing the focus to the render, but I'm afraid it's blurred a bit too much.
Those four rectangles must disappear ;D or at least fixed, but I have no idea how.. maybe try following Perfectionist's method..

 

[Aizuke]

I'm in this thread, rating ur graphics. I haven't posted in a while. ;; I'll make up for it!

If my comments suck, please shoot me. D;

Uryū Ishida's MomoxToshiro banner; I think it looks better without the scanlines, the scanlines make it rough looking and since it's suppose to be sweet and lovish, it doesn't really match the banner. And also the background is kinda blurry.

Poke'd's Ichigo hollow banner; I like the simplicity of it, but I think you need to work on text abit, it doesn't look right where they're situated.

Poke'd's 2nd banner; It's too smudged for my taste, and yeah, still need to work on that text placing, it's too close to the border.

CheesePeow's Edward banner; I really like it, but on the left of it, you don't really know what's happening there. @_@; Not much to say, 'cept the yellow bit is too yellow? XD;

DarkChild's SOTW entry; That's so prettyful. :D But I think the renders are too oversharpened and don't really match the background, because it makes the background blurry. ^^;

Motsuko Live's SOTW entry; I like the colours. <3 But the SOTW wording is kinda too pink for the banner. Also, like I said about Uryū's, the scanlines make it have a rough kind of texture, which doesn't match a love theme.. ^^;;

Loki's I have no idea who that is banner.. XD; Yeah I like the last product. :3 But the lighting doesn't really seem to fit IMO, one of them is making him look like he's crying.. XD;

Animadversion's SOTW entry; Aw, it's cute, but yeah, the render doesn't match the background.. XD Maybe you should make the render more pinkish?

Animadversion's 2nd banner; Yay for simplicity! Overall, it's a nice banner. ^^ I'm a sucker for simple banners. :P

Perfectionist's banner; The purple brush doesn't really seem to fit since not much of the render is purple. And the render needs more blending, it kind of sticks out, alot.. ^^;;

Rei Yuki's Banner; It's cute, but the background is kinda blurry. I never really liked the banners that have parts of the render cut apart.. ^^;;

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Ahhhh. Now it's my turn. :<

Old theme, featuring Saber from Fate/Stay Night.

New theme, featuring Lelouch vi Britannia from Code Geass.