[Signature] My Signatures *I'm Beginner Please Tell Me What You Think*

[Zore]

Hello MMOwned!!:wave:
I am the one who previously posted the thread "My first signature"
I made this thread so that I could post the signatures as I made
them so that it would be less clutter between them all. And I
do not want to fill up this section

Anyway here i will post them in the order I make them... so each
one should be better than the other as i get better at making them...
So... here is the first one that I posted that was in the other thread:
Created Saturday, May 16th, 09


And here is the most recent one that I have created also, made today...
Created Saturday, May 16th, 09


Thanks, I am still a beginner at creating signatures as I have just
started today. I will keep working at the signatures and hopefully,
I will get even better at creating them.

Thanks, please post what you think. And mabey when I get good
enough. I will make a signature service and post it here on MMowned.com

Here is another signature that I have created thanks to the help of SalfauroS, he is really a great teacher
Created Wednesday, May 20th, 09
FireWolf


Created Thursday, May 21st, 09
Link


Created Thursday, May 21st, 09
Link V2


IMO, these are a lot better..... but please rate and comment anyway,
because i want to know what you think.

With the second version of "Link", I had some great advice from
Reflection - Thanks !!

- Thanks!!

- XxZoreZxX

[Zore]

Oh Yea, i almost forgot to mention that if you wanted any of those brushes,
or any of the other things that I used to make these signatures such as the
fonts or anything else. Just send me a PM and i will help you.
Or you can add me at "[email protected]"

- XxZoreZxX

[Dragonshadow]

It looks like you threw a bunch of renders together and used some splatter brushes.

[naxxgor]

Well, I'm a complete noob in making sigs myself so these are definitely better than anything I could make, but I guess I can say something that could be changed or added.

In the first one, the soldier guy on the left looks a bit out of place to my eye. He doesn't fit the color scheme of the picture atm and maybe you would just be better off without him. Also, do you feel it's necessary to have your name in a separated gray area instead of the picture itself? (more like in the second picture)

The second one is pretty decent, although I'm not a big fan of anime/manga and sigs related to it myself. You might want to try adding some effects into the text to make it look cooler.

Also, as a general note, I think 150px is a bit too high for a sig. The rules are different in different forums but I still prefer smaller ones.

[Zore]

Thanks naxxgor for the great reply and Dragonshadow if your here
to flame me STFU and GTFO.
I agree with you too naxxgor. Great advice.

[Dragonshadow]

Did I flame you? No.

So you STFU.

[Zore]

YOU STFU!
Idiot.....grow a pair if your even old enough to know what that means.....

[Reflection]

I suggest you not to use multiple renders.

Here's my criticism for the two of them:
First; Never use a font which sticks out too much like fancy fonts, 3d fonts and never type them with a bright contrast to the other colours such as the ugly red on the right. Also, the placement and background of the text is awful, sorry to say it. Try to place the text close to the focal and do not have it the most visible part of the signature.
You also need to work on depth a lot; the eye gets drawn to the lightest & sharpest point of an image. The first thing I would do with this signature to improve it is to remove the render to the left, the clouds behind the text and darken the bright green where the ships and whatnot is. Then I would blur the parts furthest away from the focal and sharpen to focal itself, i.e the green dude in this signature.

Contrast is gorgeous if used correctly, terrible if used wrong.
What I mean by this is not to have a major leap change of saturation & contrast between two parts of the signature. By having the soldier on the left in a gray tone and the rest of signature in green, you achieve horrible results. Even though you remove the soldier your signature can be too monotone, i.e the same colours.

Look at this colour wheel:


If you only pick one colour you get a monochromatic signature. If you use two colours across eachother they will complement each other and it will look good in most cases. I would advise you to look at Full Signature Tutorial by ~Senthrax on deviantART, it has some great information regarding signatures.

Now, for the second: This one has less renders which is great. However, as in your first signature you have a poor text. The text is a way too big contrast to the rest of the signature and sticks out too much. Once again I say it, get some more sans serif fonts to use. They generally work a lot better. Look at dafont.com for more fonts.
Try not to only use one set of brushes and then a render plus some text in a signature, it looks too empty. Work with C4D's, brushes, smudging, and filters too.

Blend, blend & blend
While working with a signature it is very important to 'blend' the render, text and effects with the background. With that I mean your render should never stick out too much. I always smudge the edges heavily to blend it.

Flow
You'll always want your signature to have flow and depth. They're kind-of related and should both be considered. What flow is, as the name suggests, is that your eye gets drawn to the focal with ease & flow and without disturbance. By having parts of your signature guide the eyes in a natural motion you get 'flow'. Basically, you trick the eye to see what you want it to see.

Alright.. Long criticism, hope it helped you somehow. I try to be as honest as I can and if you listen to criticism you will improve. Look at tutorials, watch other artists create signatures and learn from it.

Good luck.

[Zore]

Thank you very much Reflection. That was a very very very helpful post for me.
I am going to give you +Rep because that post helped me so much. And a extra
thanks for being honest.

- XxZoreZxX

[Forgiving]

I am telling you what i think, which is what you wanted.. they look horrible.. no flame.. just suck

[Zore]

I know man, thats why i am going to make new ones, and they are gonna be better.
I know this now because of awesome advice from Reflection.
So please don't flame.

[Dragonshadow]

YOU STFU!
Idiot.....grow a pair if your even old enough to know what that means.....

GJ on earning that infraction. Insulting staff is one of the dumbest things you can do.


And all I was doing was giving constrictive criticism

[wow4Supplier]

XxZoreZxX ,
I don't like to say this,but I don't like your style...
It's somehow...IDK...strange...
You should look at Reflection's work.
He's the best around here along with Narudan & Piersd. (And CarlosJ,but he's no longer on MMOwned )...
Nothing personal,but your signatures:
Have multiple renders (That's a big NO-NO)
Have too big text,with no blending effects,they dont blend in with the rest
Have no borders (It's not needed,but It makes the sig look better).
The signatures are too big...

Well I hope this helps you improve somehow xD


(And your biggest mistake was insulting Dragonshadow...He's staff with 950 rep ffs xD)

[worldslayer]

XxZoreZxX ,
I don't like to say this,but I don't like your style...
It's somehow...IDK...strange...
You should look at Reflection's work.
He's the best around here along with Narudan & Piersd. (And CarlosJ,but he's no longer on MMOwned )...
Nothing personal,but your signatures:
Have multiple renders (That's a big NO-NO)
Have too big text,with no blending effects,they dont blend in with the rest
Have no borders (It's not needed,but It makes the sig look better).
The signatures are too big...

Well I hope this helps you improve somehow xD


(And your biggest mistake was insulting Dragonshadow...He's staff with 950 rep ffs xD)

First off I am going to point some things out that were stated in this post.

1. Multiple Renders are fine, just know how to do it correctly.

2. Big text is also fine, just know how to do it correctly.

3. I personally think borders are pretty important in a signature. Not always but in most cases. A border serves as a closing point and is often used to distinguish where the image ends while still allowing it to blend in with whatever the image is placed on.

I see a lot of people who work on signatures and lack the understanding of basic artistic theory. I hate to sound like a prick but without knowing the basic components of visual art, you will continue to struggle when it comes to making a piece.

on top of what Reflection has stated there are some other things that should be pointed out.

Balance

This is one thing a lot of people have trouble with. You need to determine if your piece is symmetrical or asymmetrical. If it is symmetrical, then make sure it is. If it is asymmetrical (which most signatures are) you need to make sure you give the image a complete sense of balance. Your render on the left will make your image heavy on the left, to correct this, add something to the right of the image that has an equal weight in terms of appearance. Text is often something people use to balance the image, but unless it blends in, it generally will not balance your image out. Using contrasting colors often negates the balance )pokes your green test on the red background)

Random Placement

I say this A LOT, because it is one of the most common things I see. Your res and purple splotches have a random array to them. Art is NEVER random, whilst it may seem to be the case, it is never random. Everything has a place, and a role in an image, even that little speck that stands out. Without proper placement you will not achieve balance, so when you are going for a 'random' effect, keep in mind that balance matters, and because it matters there is no room for random. Instead, place your array accordingly, while still keeping it balanced and LOOKING 'random'

Your true focal point

People like to have their names stand out in a signature, but a common mistake is that the name needs to stand out above anything else... well... because it is your name and you want people to know who you are right?

Well if your name is your focal then people will see that first, and it can often take away from the splendor of your image. To correct this, simply blend the test in. make it stand out, but make it stand out in a way that is not so obvious. Then simply place it near your focal whilst retaining balance. From there people will see the focal and after observing it, they will be drawn the the next important thing, which is your name.

Lighting

Try to keep 1 light source in the image. Use the light source to define the lighting upon your focal and to bring it out. Try to keep your light source contained to a single part of the signature, and avoid letting it spill out all over your signature... like in the green one you made. It will help bring out the focal and give your image a bit more depth.

On an end note, just because Dragonshadow is staff does not mean you should limit your respect to staff alone. MMOwned is a community if you do not give everyone some level or respect then you probably should find a different forum to take part in. There is no room here for those who do not help keep this community close.

[Juicyz]

It looks like you threw a bunch of renders together and used some splatter brushes.

NOT "constrictive criticism"

And all I was doing was giving constrictive criticism

False