okay, im going to do everyones. i dont mean anything i say to be harsh or hurtful, its meant to help you improve so please do not be offended. i like everyone's work and see potential, which is why im trying to help you!! im not trying to be a knowitall either, these are just my opinions and i have a lot to learn too... i just wanted to do this because i think part of competitions like this should be to help people improve their gfx :]
Signature #1 kax
Creativity rating: 2
Reason: i like the concept of the signature (using a light/dark split identity)... i think that is creative & a nice idea. however i dont think the actual signature is as creative as it could be. i'll elaborate more in next sections !!
Technical rating: 2
Reason: i see what you are going for here and i like the idea... but it is not very challenging imo. a way to improve would be to use more layering. you could use this effect, but on a new layer and try changing the blending mode to something like overlay, lighten, screen, w/e. play around with it.
Execution rating: 1
Reason: while i like all of your ideas, how you executed them is not as successful as it could be. i don't think the box with the text works to your advantage here. instead, i would have the two figures in the central focal point. you could also make the text larger and more dramatic, i would recommend putting it on one side. instead of having different color borders, i would just use black cuz it ties everything together nicely. also try using more brightness/contrast and maybe add more.
Theme Fitness rating: 5
Reason: i think the concept of the signature is great and fits the theme perfectly. this is a great example of light and dark, but is more interesting because it applies to human nature.
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Signature #2 babybloo
Creativity rating: 2
Reason: this is a different approach than what i would have thought of had i done this and i think its creative.
Technical rating: 3
Reason: while this is not that extensively edited, i think its successful at what its trying to do & i think thats whats most important. unless the concept demands a lot of work, doing more is not always good. i tend to prefer simple & clean work rather than cluttered and i think that this is heading in a nice and simple, but pleasing, direction.
Execution rating: 2
Reason: the biggest thing i have a problem with is the placement of the text. its very hard to read, a different font & color would be helpful i think. you could also maybe add a shadow beneath the text, or find some way that looks good while also making it legible. or, if you want, i dont think sigs are required to have text at all so maybe next time you just leave it out. also... you could use different layers, play with blending modes, etc. to get more of a light-like feel/glow (the lens flare thing on the right could def. benefit from this) also mayb have more contrast would really enhance it..
Theme Fitness rating: 3
Reason: i think muffin master provided an interesting explanation of how this relates to the theme (which is why im giving this a 3), but that NEVER would have occurred to me. i think next time you could make it more obvious.
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Signature #3 nines
Creativity rating: 3
Reason: i think this is pretty creative. i'm gathering this is like a good vs. evil thing and i like how you make one victorious over the other than them both just co-existing so points for that.
Technical rating: 4
Reason: as far as complexity goes, this is def. 1 of the most complex of these signatures. you have a lot of diff elements here and theyre close to working... ill elaborate more what i think you could do to make it work better in next section.
Execution rating: 3
Reason: i feel like maybe the background has too many elements or theyre not cohesive enough. maybe have a solid bg color, use smudging for variations [theres tons of tutorials on it that are helpful] then use c4d things for lighting. you also want to consider the flow of a signature. i think i kind of see the start of it here, but if you make it so it plays off of the character renders its going to really look nice. as for the renders, i think they could be made larger to make it more dramatic... they seem kind of small. i like the hot vs. cold colors youre using... i would push that even more, make it more dramatic. lastly, i think the font choice could be different but thats just me... if you want to keep that font, i'd change the color or add a drop shadow or maybe a glow to make it pop more.. as it is right now its not as dramatic as it could be. i really do like this sig though
Theme Fitness rating: 4
Reason: well i think this is pretty self explanatory and i basically covered it in the first part. it's playing on light vs. dark, good vs. evil & compliments it with colors which is nice.
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Signature #4 killee07
Creativity rating: 2
Reason: i dont think this is as creative as it could be, but i think this is one of the best looking ones. its very simple, straightforward...
Technical rating: 2
Reason: this is not very technically demanding. as ive said in a diff. one, i dont think that is what matters most though but to be fair i have to rate this low. you def. should challenge yourself to make more elaborate sigs with more layers/effects because you have potential & i think a nice aesthetic sense.
Execution rating: 4
Reason: i think this is the most aesthetically pleasing out of all of these sigs. it's simple, but does what it set out to do well. there is nothing overly complicated about it which works well in this case. the border is simple but doesnt take away from the other aspects of the sig. the texture/pattern thing is fine, i think maybe parts of it are too dark (esp on the characters) and could be erased. maybe changing the background color would have been good since it kindof blends in with the renders, maybe a bit too much imo. while i dont rly like pixel fonts, i think its fine here.. its unobtrusive, and the white against black is a nice contrast / it really stands out. overall, render & placement work nice but this could be better if you add more complexity to it (but still keep it under control & not going crazy with it). maybe also have more of a brightness contrast could help with the actual renders... smudging is always a nice thing to add when done right (id recommend looking at some tutorials, esp ones for sigs online.. theyre really helpful & good)
Theme Fitness rating: 4
Reason: this fits the theme similar to the other ones so there really isnt much to say about this.
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Signature #5 leaz
Creativity rating: 3
Reason: its fairly creative, i like the idea and adding the lights and stuff, i'll say more about this down in execution though
Technical rating: 3
Reason: this is one of the more technically advanced out of these signatures. you're using layers and blending modes which is good, but still needs to be worked on. it doesnt seem like much was done with the background and it looks like you just used 1 image instead of combining different ones which isnt bad necessarily, i really love the image you used actually.
Execution rating: 2
Reason: i love that youre using diff. blending modes for layers, but the color dodge just looks too strong here. especially on the right side... you want more subtle and soft than that. it looks really pixelated/distorted which could have something to do with the quality of the image or w/e, but either way, if you ever see something looking like that you should change it so its more gentle. (like for instance, the left side is going more in that direction & i think its more successful.) i think you could maybe control the colors a bit more and work on blending. also, the text seems kind of off... the font you chose seems too heavy so maybe you would benefit from choosing a diff. one. i really do like this signature and i think its close to working, really the too strong color dodge is the only real issue i have with it, but it's a very big issue (but also very easy to fix in the future).
Theme Fitness rating: 4
Reason: this fits the theme similar to the other ones so there really isnt much to say about this one either...
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Signature #6 poringly
Creativity rating: 3
Reason: this is a really cute idea lol and not one i would think of, its pretty diff than everyone elses but could be played up more i think. i also like how there isnt a border to this signature.
Technical rating: 2.5
Reason: you're doing more here than just taking an image and adding text which is good, and it looks like youre using brushes/patterns/other images which is good, you could definitely push it more though.
Execution rating: 2
Reason: i would make more of a background between the two pokemon (right now you can see white spaces).. maybe play with more colors, adding contrast, add some more complexity but in a controlled way. try using more layers & maybe blur a lot, set blending option to screen/overlay/etc... play around with everything. for the text, it looks really pixelly i would make sure it is set to something like strengthen, soft, crisp.. anything other than none. you need to use that for pixel fonts, but for regular fonts i dont think it looks too good. i think its nice so far, but you could probably push it more. :]
Theme Fitness rating: 4
Reason: this is a more literal use of light & dark which is fine, i think it works and its a pretty clever use of it!
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ok so after doing this, i think maybe the voting could be changed a bit. i love how you rate the diff. categories because it makes you think of different elements of signatures, but i think maybe it would be good if you rank those each, but then instead of writing for each one you just do a paragraph of like 3-5 sentence minimum talking about the sig overall. i had a hard time elaborating on some parts of it because i feel its really self-explanatory or w/e & it would probably be easier to talk about the signature as a whole i think. sorry if this isnt the place for this.
