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

[Loki]

Um... yeah, I know what FHS is, but thanks for explaining it anyway. ^^;;

Even if I thought it was a problem, (And apparently it isn't.) I wouldn't be able to fix it anyway, because the huge ugly, "AMATSUKI" logo is right under his shoulder, so I can't move it up without it looking as though I added a huge purple glow on his shoulder, which wouldn't help the situation in the first place, so, oh well. :/

Anyway, I took the advice and, 1. Made the canvas bigger, spread things apart, etc. 2. Blurred around the render a little. (A step I actually skipped in the tutorial, go figure. :B) 3. Added text. 4. His shoulders were covered by three pixels of clipping mask, but by god that's obviously too much, so I got rid of it. 5. Got rid of the dotty things on his shoulder, though I didn't get rid of them 100% because it looked really weird without the blend.

edit 2, more feedback, something about serious balance issues.

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Hazuki: Ack, your text placement. x_o;;; It's really weird that "On" is so far on the right... It's just really far away and out in the middle of nowhere. Move it more to the middle of the edge of the tag and your render. xD It's confusing me as to why it's so far away right now, and my brain can't handle it. Secondly, I know this is one of those more 'shiny-lol' banners, but... it looks... really really plain. xD; I'd say this would be okay if all your effects weren't slapped onto the stock, because as it is, the stock looks like 'COLORS-EVERYWHERE' while your background is 'just pink'. It makes it really hard to find where to look first on the stock. Like David said, your focal is gone. xD;; And I think you could add some pink soft brushing on the left, to break all that white, match the background on the right, and send a little more focus onto the stock.

Twinx: Your photomanipulation is good! (I like it. x3) Buuut, there's a little too much negative space. I think your canvas here is actually a little too wide, so I'd suggest cutting five pixels off either side or something. :/ Either way, the smudging is awesome, though I can't say I like the scanlines on her hair. They're a cool touch at the bottom, but they look weird on her hair, so I'd say erase them up there. The text placement is good, but the opacity needs to go down, so that it doesn't stand out so much. Errgh, at the border. xD;

Try to improve that style! It's really cute and is colorful in a subtle way. ;D Um, but your text needs to go. xD;; Or be put somewhere else. I see 'Hatsune Mi--" and it took me way too long to squint out the "ku". Though I think blurring around the render does help with depth, it just doesn't look good here. (Blurring on brushes doesn't usually tend to look good, but that's just my opinion.) It really needs to be sharpened or something. D: Especially that flowery brush on the right.

Again, too much empty space. This time it's not really concentrated on the sides like in your photomanip, but it's all over the place. I'd suggest fixing it by doing more brush work or something around your render- especially around her face, so that the area around your render pops out just as much as the sides, which isn't happening right now. xD;

 

[Raimu Bito]

.. Erhh.

 

[Hazuki]

Raimu Bito: Agh I hate rating this style because I phail at life. ._.
Anyways, it looks like you kind of smeared the brushes a bit in the background. I guess that's a good thing becaus I've never tried that before in my life and I'll never will. xD But um, the coloring is good, there's color there and color here. I would suggest to play with image, in other words, make Rhyme pop out(See I can't spell her name, this proves I am a loser >D). Also add some lighting effects which makes the charater stand out. And text. Definently add text. All in all it's a plain banner which I could have made something a little better. I bet you could do that too! =D

What else should I add? xD

 

[Twinx]

@Loki: Between those two edits, the first one looks better on the left side, and the the second looks better on the right side. xD But I guess you had to cut down on the left side to keep the sides balance. It's still awesome though.
I don't really like the text. As a matter of fact, I don't think this banner really needs text. But if you intend to keep it, I'd suggest changing the placement.
That's all I can think of.. keep it up ^^

@Hazuki: No dashed border? YaY! ;D
Great composition. The focal on the hand is very nice and very-well placed.
The background: Nice choice of textures. It flows very well with the render, but the texture used on the left doesn't. Everything in the background is going like this \\\ while on the left it like this ++.Anyway, I guess there could be more colors in the background, as the guy in black is standing out too much. I'm thinking more variation in colors would fix that...


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Made for IZY

edit 1: changed the border, added some more blue and removed the lower text based on Izy's request

edit 2: removed the blue and cranked up the contrast a bit.

I still feel like something's missing, help?

 

[Gummy]

Twinx: I don't see anything wrong with your final edit. You have more skill than me so I don't know what to tell you to add. Maybe a clearer light source? Try getting someone else's opinion.

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Made a banner using one of Shiranui's tuts (lol, spelled it as tits first XD). The first time I followed a tutorial to the tee.

 

[Loki]

Twinx: Definitely some kind of spiffy pizzaz is needed. In this case, I would suggest a shiny light texture, or a shiny c4d, or perhaps even some shiny brushing. Something shiny in general. And yes. A light source is desperately needed in as dark a tag as this one.

You should put a light source around either of the indicated circles. The semi-oval is just me fooling around, so ignore that. xD;;

Gummy: Aaaack. D: Well, I take it back. It's not "Aaaack" it's just "Hmmm..."

Okay well in english that means it's not amazing. :< Those weird lines in the back don't really fit very well, they really really deplete from the flow since your renders is so vertical. the font! it stings! Everything else is okay, since you follow a tutorial and the outcome is pretty similar, but I really don't like how the background looks so sharp and crisp and your render is so low-quality blurry. I think you used an anime screencap, but yeah, it's not the best for this kind of tag. xD; I also don't really like the erasing on the edges of Forte. I think you should've tried a different way to blend, but again this goes with the issue that you follow the tutorial to the pixel...

Well, I think it would've been a lot better if you'd strayed a little and added a bit of your own style. xD;

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Umm, request by Latios that I finally got done. :< This is the edited version though, since I didn't really like the original. [/will be PM'ing him the greater version now.]

 

[Raimu Bito]

Umm, request by Latios that I finally got done. :< This is the edited version though, since I didn't really like the original. [/will be PM'ing him the greater version now.]

It seems a wee bit too muted to green colours except in the bottom right corner where I /think/ I see a lot of C4ds piled up there.. Other than that, it' great. ^^

Raimu Bito: Agh I hate rating this style because I phail at life. ._.
Anyways, it looks like you kind of smeared the brushes a bit in the background. I guess that's a good thing becaus I've never tried that before in my life and I'll never will. xD But um, the coloring is good, there's color there and color here. I would suggest to play with image, in other words, make Rhyme pop out(See I can't spell her name, this proves I am a loser >D). Also add some lighting effects which makes the charater stand out. And text. Definently add text. All in all it's a plain banner which I could have made something a little better. I bet you could do that too! =D
What else should I add? xD

Hmm.. Needs more focus on the focal point(s? idk), and more C4Ds to make stuff blend.

Is this better btw?:

 

[Loki]

Raimu Bito, it'd be awesome if you could read the rules on the first post of the Graphic Rating thread before continuing to post here. ^^

 

[Raimu Bito]

Raimu Bito, it'd be awesome if you could read the rules on the first post of the Graphic Rating thread before continuing to post here. ^^

Sorry, I edited it. ~.~;
I used to know the rules for this topic.. or maybe I got confused with the pixelart topic.. :V

 

[Gummy]

Reply to Loki: your comments hurt me xD I really liked this banner but now that you've pointed out all of the mistakes, I see how bad it really looks. Hate it when that happens.

Raimu Bito: The colors of the render don't blend well with the colors of the background. And the fact that you used a TWOTY render makes that worse, since they have such thick outlines. I advise smudging and gradient maps if you're using Photoshop. As for the text, I of all people should know what I'm saying when I say it's just not working. Since the "Erasure" part is the main part of the text, I suggest making everything else a smaller font and that word more noticeable.

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[evilcheese]

Just thought i'd get some opinions on it. It's for a SOTW in another forum since i can't join this one <.> Theme is reflections

 

[YOOM-TAH]

Hmm, I'm never really a fan of the duplicate thing unless the rest (excluding the duplicate) is still a good enough sig on its own. As it is here, the duplicated part takes up space that should be taken up by more of the original sig. And so the right side is quite crowded and there's not much going on. I'm not sure about the black and white thing either, doesn't really serve a purpose. Text is okay, the "reflected" parts could be better, should be less visible and erased a bit more, and could use more perspective. Lighting is alright, maybe a bit too strong. Could use more depth overall.

 

[Gummy]

Reply to Loki: your comments hurt me xD I really liked this banner but now that you've pointed out all of the mistakes, I see how bad it really looks. Hate it when that happens.

Raimu Bito: The colors of the render don't blend well with the colors of the background. And the fact that you used a TWOTY render makes that worse, since they have such thick outlines. I advise smudging and gradient maps if you're using Photoshop. As for the text, I of all people should know what I'm saying when I say it's just not working. Since the "Erasure" part is the main part of the text, I suggest making everything else a smaller font and that word more noticeable.

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I'm sure it was a mistake evilcheese but you seem to have skipped my banner. May I please get a rate from the next poster?

 

[YOOM-TAH]

^^Interesting lighting effects, but the focal is too thrown off to the side that it's hard to focus on that and not the background, which itself is kinda flat and lacking in depth. The text could use major work. I'd start by ditching the layer styles and making it horizontal. Try to keep it closer to the render/focal so it doesn't distract from it.

 

[parallelzero]

I don't really have anything to add since YOOM-TAH really covered all I had to say about it.

Anyways, Nia~ I think I'm starting to get out of my rut... maybe.

 

[Twinx]

Gummi, I agree with what YOOM-TAH said as well. Try keeping in mind the rule of thirds when choosing a focal. This should help you:

Basically you need to place your focal at any of the intersections. This also applies to text [which should be left simple without fugly layer styles].

.fate,
Background and Colors: nice choice of Triad Colors. They match very well. It could use some blue effects so the render blends with the background nicely.
Text and Focal: Your intended focal point was probably on the top right, but to be honest with you, the first thing that caught my eye would be the text. It should be just a bit smaller and that black is making it stand out a bit too much. Try using a color for it.

Anyway, it's a nice, colorful banner overall.

 

[Gummy]

Reply to YOOM-TAH & Twinx: Thanks for the comments guys and I'll try to keep all of that in mind with my next banner.

 

[YOOM-TAH]

I don't really have anything to add since YOOM-TAH really covered all I had to say about it.

Anyways, Nia~ I think I'm starting to get out of my rut... maybe.

It's pretty good, the background is relatively simple but does have a couple areas of depth due to perspective which is good, and it fits the render. The duplicate on the right isn't bad per se, but I don't think it actually serves a purpose. The text is the main gripe from me, it shouldn't be black IMO and it needs to be closer to the render. Also the lighting is off, but in this sig it doesn't seem to be a big issue.

 

[parallelzero]

Same banner as before, but I changed the text colour/opacity and moved the light source to the left a little bit. What I'm not going to do is move the text closer to the render anymore than it is.

 

[YOOM-TAH]

I suppose that text color is better, but it's still too distracting from the focal where it is IMO.