Another sig I made... this one is very light, I think the background and focal is more blended together, and I wasn't so heavy on effects. I don't know if this is better than the sig I am using right now, so I'll need more critique. I won't make another sig until I've snapped some regular pics in Reach... that is, without effects. Then I'm looking at a couple of tuts on YouTube on GIMP, cuz I don't have photoshop and most of the tools people use here are not present in GIMP, so it's hard to replicate some of those things. Without further ado, here it is:
I think you need a more clear focal, I don't know wether to look at the elite or the big bright spot behind him, and the background is too blurry. The effects are really nice and you found a way to make it seem like he was being sucked into a void without it being cheesy.
Thanks, dude. The sad part about this one is that I can't fix it cuz I didn't save the image in a format that includes all the layers I put in it. I guess that's how it's staying then. You think it's better than the other one for a permanent sig?
I will wait for more critique on this one, specially from erico and orlando... I still don't know if this is better than the black and white one.
I'm not the best at giving critique (I think Orlando's your guy), but here it is anyway: The concept is very disorienting. The background looks like a cracked, arid ground, which makes the elite look like it's on a a 90 degree angle of some sort... That and the white lines don't seem to fit the theme of the background. The addition of the smudging effects seem rather amateur and confuse me further. Is he on a hover board? That's what I think when I see this, at least. If that's what you're going for then you should have added a board or something haha Okay, I like the sense of depth and the clarity of the focal is nice. However, the focal isn't well defined as I'm not sure whether to look at the elite or the white splotch to his left. Flow isn't terrible, and I find my eyes circling the image. There aren't any bare spots, as far as I can see, which is a plus. If you're going for a 'black hole' concept, I'd suggest a less cheesy effect, as Dinosaur said. Try following a tutorial or two.
Woah necrobump much? Honestly it is just way too bright, the background doesn't match and the figure is hard to see. The background is a stock I have used before, and I can see it is unedited aside from blurring. The focal is both hard to see (too bright/too little contrast) and not well defined (light is focal, not as much elite) Smudging isn't great, it is too obvious that you just used the smudge with default settings. The background doesn't blend in because it doesn't reflect the light correctly, and has no relation to the elite. Lighting is inconsistent. The light source is behind the elite but his front is where the light appears to be coming from on him. Directional flow is really hard to find in this sig. IDK, I am someone who is big on getting the lighting right, and this just does not pull that off, and so to me it looks too artificial. [br][/br]Edited by merge: Haha er1co I was writing mine at the same time you were... One thing I have to say to what you said is that there was no bare spots, which you thought was good, but in design sometimes dead (sometimes refered to as white, regardless of colour) space is very key to a design as it serves both to give a more professional feel, give the eye somewhere to look that isn't totally filled and to emphasize the focal, so it is often good to utilize that space (for example my signature; considered by many to be my best, it has basically all of the area dead space, with only small bits of effects and changes made.
I don't think I thought that through. Okay, I get what you're saying but I think COMPLETE empty space isn't the best unless you're purposely using it for a less complex layout. A gradient or at least some lines just to break it up is... additive. But yea, I get what you're saying