R3: THEMES!
THEMES:
01: Flowers
02: Signs of Affections
03: Mythology
04: Heart Symbol
05: Foreign Language
06: Negative Space
07: Happiness
08: Frame Textures
09: Upside Down
10: Valentines Card
CATEGORY 11-15: Colour Gradient
ARTISTS' CHOICE 16-20: Anything goes~!
01 FLOWERS: This can either be i) conceptual (incorporation of a phrase/lyrics that's connected to flowers e.g. "A rose by any other name" (lol wut)) Or it can be ii) technical blending of a stock flower, usage of flower textures and brushes, etc, into your icon. You can also simply use an image that has flower(s) in it.
02 SIGNS OF AFFECTIONS: The icon has to feature a physical gesture of affection, examples: a kiss; a hug; a pat of the head; hand holding.
03 MYTHOLOGY: For this theme you must incorporate a myth into your icon. Myths of any origin is accepted, for your reference here's a couple of websites: 1 // 2 (yes, in this case, research on wikipedia is a-okay XD). Otherwise you can use the word 'myth' or its synonyms in your icon and treat it like a conceptual theme.
04: HEART SYMBOLS: Another technical theme. For this theme you MUST utilise a heart shaped brush, heart patterns or heart textures in your icon. You can use both the stylised heart or the anatomically correct heart that's so bizarrely trendy these days. If you need help locating heart shaped resources, you can nag one of us.
EDIT: Check out this comment for some links to heart shaped resources.
05 FOREIGN LANGUAGE: This icon must feature non-English text. You can use any language you want, be it Spanish, Japanese, French, Elvish or Klingon. The text doesn't have to be romantic either, but your OTP should be featured on the icon nonetheless. Also, please kindly provide a translation ♥
06: NEGATIVE SPACE: For this theme the majority (50% or more) of your icon must be empty space! The space can be white, or a solid fill colour. Only minimal design and visual features should occupy the negative space.
Examples: 1 (by ryfee) // 2 (by strawberries_85).
07 HAPPINESS: For this conceptual theme, you can either use the word 'happiness' or its synonym in your icon. You can also use phrases/lyrics that convey this feeling. Of course, you can also make a textless icon that features people looking happy.
08 FRAME TEXTURES: You must use a frame texture or stock photo in this icon. Both traditional/vintage frames and more modern, sleek frames will be accepted. If you're having trouble locating frames, try googling 'vintage frames' / 'gold frames' etc.
09 UPSIDE DOWN: The image in the icon must be rotated so that the subjects are upside down. Yeah, we're going all out with technical themes this round 8)
10 VALENTINES CARD: The design of this icon must mimick that of a valentines card. Red/pink colour scheme, a ludicrous amount of hearts, Hallmark worthy caption, etc, anything goes! If you're feeling stuck, perhaps take a trip to the shopping mall and browse through the plethora of V-day cards on display 8D? We can't wait to see what you guys do for this one~!
11-15 CATEGORY - COLOUR GRADIENT: The five icons in this set must transition from one colour/hue to another. This can be either i) a gradient from light to dark (dark blue → light blue) or vice versa OR ii) a gradient from one colour to another (red → orange). We would prefer it if you kept the colours in your gradient of the same hues (e.g. green → yellow INSTEAD of rainbow gradient or green → red etc).
Examples: fiendie's R2 Set. Specifically, the Category set (dark green → lime green) or her AC set (red → yellow).
Also check out this post here for more clarifications on this theme (by ryfee)
16-20 ARTISTS' CHOICE: Whatever you want here~
♡ ♡ ♡ LIFE MADE EASIER ♡ ♡ ♡
If you cbb coding up your own table, here's a premade one you can c&p. TYSM strawberries_85 for the codes ♥♥♥ What would my HTML-challenged self do without you ;A;
| 10 THEMES | ||||
| 01: Flowers | 02: Signs of Affection | 03: Mythology | 04: Heart Symbol | 05: Foreign Language |
| 06: Negative Space | 07: Happiness | 08: Frame Texture | 09: Upside Down | 10: Valentines Card |
| CATEGORY SET: COLOUR GRADIENT | ||||
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| ARTIST'S CHOICE SET | ||||
| 16: AC1 | 17: AC2 | 18: AC3 | 19: AC4 | 20: AC5 |
It's so red tho, but you can replace the colour codes if you want, Ctrl+H is your friend in this :D
SUBMISSION CLOSES ON FRIDAY, 25TH FEBRUARY!
EDIT: Since we've been asked before, yes those who couldn't officially enter this round can still use these themes and make their own set unofficially. However, please don't cross post the unofficial set to the community - and obv. they won't be entered into the contest at the end of the round. Let me know if you do finish your set, though, I'd love to see what you've done ;A;
If you have any questions please check out our RULES & FAQs first!
Main themes post found HERE! We'd love to hear more themes suggestions :D
If you still have anymore questions/concerns/fears please direct them here~ Have fun iconning! We really look forward to seeing all your sets! Good luck everyone :3!