Offering Constructive Critique $25k

reina__ · June 2009

Wheatie 1. I really like this and the texture of the picture. It's happy, yet saddenning. I think it would evoke more emotion if the girl on the left was drained of color (literally). It would also make her look like she wasn't in the tree, just thinking. Or maybe if the picture faded into b/w with her on top of the b/w white in color. Get that? Otherwise I think it's great. The font really pops too-- Good job. 2. I love this one! You did a great job of making her look like she's in the foreground sitting on the steps too. Play around with this -- try making her drained of color too or maybe colorize her 20% with brownish or something and then change contrast/clarify/darken. If the text was maybe smaller and further right it wouldn't cut the guy off and make him look like a black blob as much. Bluey 1. Hmm... not gunna lie there's nothing that really pops out at me that's negative. I really like the effects of it and the colors make it eye popping. 2. The only thing I can really see that could be improved upon is the text. It looks too sharp and would be a lot easier to see if it was smoother. I love the color palette; the pinks and oranges look great together. 3. This one is also quite excellent, Bluey! The "Vampire Knight" looks a little awkward with the font Violation though. Maybe if you made the line spacing less and/or the text centered it would look slightly more flowing. Perhaps try a different handwriting font that is easier to read. 4. Ooo. I love this one. The color of her necklace and the color of his jacket go together! I didn't even notice that until now! I love the softness like I said before and the clarity of it! All I can say is get rid of the thing by his forehead and the back of his neck and perhaps clone out the dark piece in the right bottom corner. The "is pain and betrayal" could be in less of a 1970's computer font. Hmmmm... Century Gothic, and Yummah Strawberriez look good in capitals like that. Try them! 5. Awe! This one is so pretty! Soft and feminine. The post under her arm distracts the eye though, and maybe the people on her...... mammary gland. They could be scratched out and then she could be placed back on. If you made the copyright/credit part less heavy and maybe in a lighter color it would be less noticeable but still readable hopefully. I love the fonts you chose for this. 6. Something I've found while making graphics is that if you take the time to completely cut out (erase all the background) the picture, keep it on the clipboard or paste it elsewhere, and then put it on the background, lighten it, and then blur and lighten it, and then take the original cut out picture and paste it on the blurred and lightened picture, it looks the artist did more work (and they did) rather than just feathering a cut picture. Example: My Genesis banner on the OP. That's how I did that. If the guy was still colored, or if the girl was b/w, it would look more balanced. Also, like I've said before, if you have specific cut out shapes that are sharp, make the background you paste them on soft. They will pop out more while still looking fairly blended. 7. Ooh! Cool! Perhaps if the girl wasn't blue it would look less manippy and more real. I love the bird there too and the fact the text is so prominent and that the girl isn't exactly in the center but off to the side. It makes the pic interesting! If the knees and the top of her head were kept, and if you extended the wood across the page with several small layers, that might improve it somewhat. The black at the top is cool too! CLOSED.

reina__ · July 2009

Reopening!

98rtsy · July 2009

reina__ · July 2009

1. I like the color palette of this and how you kept the browns/oranges like his hair in the background and the text glow. Firs thing that struck my eye, negatively though, is the subtext. To me, it either says "Year of the Cot" or "Year of the Cat." I'm guessing it's 'cat' but I can't really tell. Perhaps choose a clearer font where the "a" and the "o" are not 99.99% similar. On a more minute note, use a sharper brush to make the edges of the cartoon clean. It will look more professional and like you took more time on the manip (because you will!). The thing with photo manipulations is you have to make it look like it isn't a manip, or else it will be very obvious it is. Great work otherwise; I bet over half the world can't do the stuff you can do. 2. I like this! It's happy and cute! Since the background of the girls is pretty "crowded", I guess it would be hard to add text to it. Remember, if the background is already crowded, make sure you don't make the text crowded or jumbled-looking because then it can be hard to read. That "back to the future-pixelly" font is taking away from the picture, and is also difficult to read. Try making the font way smaller, like 7 or 8px and putting it near the girl with the braces's chin and under. That way you can use a lighter shade of font and still be able to read it well. Try the font Century Gothic or Arial, or something else that can be really small but still clear. In this case, the outer glow (the white part behind the text) is overused. Try toning it down a little bit. That way the focus won't be on the text itself as much as it should actually be on the girls laughing. 3. Awww... I love this one! Again, the white outer glow pops out at me. It looks good with the "Kennel of Dreams" but tone it down a bit with the slogan, or make it a different color.

I love the transparent-ness of the black puppy and the background. That looks really really good and I think you should keep doing that. The only thing I can see that should be changed it the placement of the yellow lab, and possibly keeping the original color of it, rather than making it greenish yellow. 4. This one is also mucho excellente. One thing, bring up contrast/lower brightness in the whole merged image. It looks unclear and dark (basically the result of too little contrast, right?). Other than that, I love the placement of the dog in the foreground. It could have been placed lower so the ears weren't cut off but it's fine. Although I know that you're using that curly font for the main text, it looks like you have MustangBoy615 twice, even though one is just the copyright name. Read below for tips on that. Again, the white outer glow. Change that up a bit to add some variety, and perhaps download some simple but fun fonts. 5. So cute! This one is great! You really captured the 1960-1970s feel with the color of the cat.. did you change it at all from the original picture? I like how the background, like the grass, is simple and then you have the two important subjects right there. Very nice. Depending on the mood you wanted to set for this banner, the main text font is a bit too fancy. I like the stripes you added also. Next time, try making the border less than 3 pixels. 6. Aww! This is so cute, and the wolf/dog is fuzzeh! lol. I am also quite liking this one.. and you didn't add outer glow! *wink* I like the mood you set here, night, cool, and dim yet clear. Watch the text and where you place it; in this case the "the" is covering the tip of the dog's nose, which it shouldn't be, and the "stars" is hard to read because of the star that it's placed on. In this case outer glow would work, and it would also be appropriate because of the moon and the mood of the image. Extra Tips - Make the "MustangBoy615" copyright name small. It should actually be around that size on the banner. Why? Because you don't need to let everyone know, "HI I MADE THE BANNER!!!!!!!!!!!!" If someone wants to know who made your banner, they can just look to the corner and see mustangboy615. See what I mean? Like look on my banner. The "reina" doesn't take up much more than 4x7 pixels of room. - Some great fonts for Main Text are: <a href="http://www.dafont.com/jellyka-saint-andrews-queen.font"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://www.dafont.com/jellyka-saint-andrews-queen.font</a> <a href="http://www.dafont.com/search.php?psize=m&q=yummah+strawberriez"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://www.dafont.com/search.php?psize= ... rawberriez</a> <a href="http://www.dafont.com/jane-austen.font"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://www.dafont.com/jane-austen.font</a> <a href="http://www.dafont.com/search.php?psize=m&q=ank"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://www.dafont.com/search.php?psize=m&q=ank</a> <a href="http://www.dafont.com/kingthings-wrote.font"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://www.dafont.com/kingthings-wrote.font</a> <a href="http://www.dafont.com/anke-calligraphic-f.font"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://www.dafont.com/anke-calligraphic-f.font</a>

98rtsy · July 2009

Thanks. I'll have ti give you some of my new-newer ones to check out. It's also my new style.

Howdy, Stranger!

Offering Constructive Critique $25k

Comments