Feedback and voting discussion
Let's talk about voting.
This post contains examples of votes, advice on voting and technical aspects to consider when voting. Please read and leave any thoughts you have regarding this topic.
Comments will are screened (unless requested unscreened) and anon commenting will be turned on as well.
I am interested to hear how icon makers that participated this round found the quality of voting reasons given for their icons. The votes are meant to be constructive (and hopefully thoughtful) feedback for the icon maker. Of course personal preferences are going to play a part, but when voting, please try to consider the technical aspects/qualities of the icon as well. An icon doesn't necessarily have to be complicated to be considered better.
There are no right and wrongs here. I am just trying to provide my take on things, which hopefully will be helpful to some people. Please, please share any thoughts you have about what I've written here, voting in general or anything about the comm.
Examples
The first two icons are slightly more busy (I really don't make very complicated/diverse icons so these are the best examples I could come up with!) than the second two, which are simple crops with normal-ish coloring. I think that all of these icons are on a similar level quality wise (given I made them all within a span of a few months). This is a place where preference would come into play, and that makes complete sense. Not everyone likes the same style of icon and not everyone has to!
xxxx
Perhaps you are someone who really dislikes negative space. In choosing between these two icons, a case of course could be made for either. Speaking as the person who made them, I put a lot more time and effort and thought into the negative space icon. Taste is going to factor into this, and if you hate negative space icons, then that's the way it is. But please try to give constructive criticism if you were voting against that one (beyond your feeling of disliking the crop style), when it seems very clear which icon was done better.
Perhaps you really like one character more than the other to a large degree. Please don't let this be your only decision maker when casting a vote. If you preferred the female character over the male character in the two icons below, I think it would be a pretty hard argument to make that the icon with the female character in it is actually better than the one with the male character.
I'm not saying you can't like the female character icon better - but please be able to take into account the fact that the other icon clearly has better coloring and cropping and had much more effort put into creating it.
Here are some examples of votes that were made during this first round here. While longer votes are often better, you don't need to write a long comment for the vote to be worthwhile
types votes I think are acceptable/useful
-image is too dark, and the background overwhelms it a bit too much.
-Good coloring, and the crop is great - nice use of negative space.
-the colouring's a bit harsh here, I think, and the cropping a bit too symmetrical. it might have benefited from some text, or a light texture overlaying her face?
-Text and texture are beautifully integrated into the image and it maintains a crispness despite the blur.
-It's a good icon - nice coloring, good crop - but it doesn't really stand out much. A texture or additional negative space might have helped.
-impressively clean and crisp. simplified without being cartoony, bold pick of contrasting color that is well-executed, and great crop and placement.
types votes I think are not helpful or descriptive enough
-Like the light
-pretty colors
-there is too much going on - too busy for my taste
-neat old timey look
-The crop is great but the coloring seems unappealing to me.
Some technical aspects to look at when placing a vote
-sharpness/blurriness
-brightness/contrast
-coloring
-crop/composition
-text or texture usage
Also please remember to not share your icons or let other people know which ones you made before the voting is over!
Feel free to share anything you like here, be it votes that really helped you, votes that really annoyed you, tips for voting, preferences over how the comm is run, types of challenges you prefer, or any thing else that you want to share.
This post contains examples of votes, advice on voting and technical aspects to consider when voting. Please read and leave any thoughts you have regarding this topic.
Comments will are screened (unless requested unscreened) and anon commenting will be turned on as well.
I am interested to hear how icon makers that participated this round found the quality of voting reasons given for their icons. The votes are meant to be constructive (and hopefully thoughtful) feedback for the icon maker. Of course personal preferences are going to play a part, but when voting, please try to consider the technical aspects/qualities of the icon as well. An icon doesn't necessarily have to be complicated to be considered better.
There are no right and wrongs here. I am just trying to provide my take on things, which hopefully will be helpful to some people. Please, please share any thoughts you have about what I've written here, voting in general or anything about the comm.
Examples
The first two icons are slightly more busy (I really don't make very complicated/diverse icons so these are the best examples I could come up with!) than the second two, which are simple crops with normal-ish coloring. I think that all of these icons are on a similar level quality wise (given I made them all within a span of a few months). This is a place where preference would come into play, and that makes complete sense. Not everyone likes the same style of icon and not everyone has to!
xxxx
Perhaps you are someone who really dislikes negative space. In choosing between these two icons, a case of course could be made for either. Speaking as the person who made them, I put a lot more time and effort and thought into the negative space icon. Taste is going to factor into this, and if you hate negative space icons, then that's the way it is. But please try to give constructive criticism if you were voting against that one (beyond your feeling of disliking the crop style), when it seems very clear which icon was done better.
Perhaps you really like one character more than the other to a large degree. Please don't let this be your only decision maker when casting a vote. If you preferred the female character over the male character in the two icons below, I think it would be a pretty hard argument to make that the icon with the female character in it is actually better than the one with the male character.
I'm not saying you can't like the female character icon better - but please be able to take into account the fact that the other icon clearly has better coloring and cropping and had much more effort put into creating it.
Here are some examples of votes that were made during this first round here. While longer votes are often better, you don't need to write a long comment for the vote to be worthwhile
types votes I think are acceptable/useful
-image is too dark, and the background overwhelms it a bit too much.
-Good coloring, and the crop is great - nice use of negative space.
-the colouring's a bit harsh here, I think, and the cropping a bit too symmetrical. it might have benefited from some text, or a light texture overlaying her face?
-Text and texture are beautifully integrated into the image and it maintains a crispness despite the blur.
-It's a good icon - nice coloring, good crop - but it doesn't really stand out much. A texture or additional negative space might have helped.
-impressively clean and crisp. simplified without being cartoony, bold pick of contrasting color that is well-executed, and great crop and placement.
types votes I think are not helpful or descriptive enough
-Like the light
-pretty colors
-there is too much going on - too busy for my taste
-neat old timey look
-The crop is great but the coloring seems unappealing to me.
Some technical aspects to look at when placing a vote
-sharpness/blurriness
-brightness/contrast
-coloring
-crop/composition
-text or texture usage
Also please remember to not share your icons or let other people know which ones you made before the voting is over!
Feel free to share anything you like here, be it votes that really helped you, votes that really annoyed you, tips for voting, preferences over how the comm is run, types of challenges you prefer, or any thing else that you want to share.