Timeline of my Icons (2004-2009)
So I wanted to do this for a looong time now. And since this decade is about to end, I figured it's the right time.
Here I present you my timeline of icons, starting back in 2004 up until now. In these 5 years I made over 5000 icons, with the biggest amount in this year (>2000). Reflections are included.
Note: This is not a "best-of" post. There are quite some atrocious icons in this post - added for the lulz.
WARNING: Over 200 icons in this post!
2004
Starting in September 2004, my first icons were bad, not to say horrible.
Weird colors, stupid borders (THE BORDERS IT BURNS!), bad text and misuse of brushes. Oh and the cropping is all centered. Duh.
At least I tried out a lot of different techniques in the beginning?
2005
The bad textures and brushes, cropping and textwork continued, but I started using different colors - mainly from light textures or gradients set to lighten.
From February on, I used less textures and more lightening. The infamous text-cut-in-half occurred often. Also, helloooo there tiny text overuse!
Over the summer months of '05, the text got a bit different and I tried some new styles. A really bad case of the (selective) oversharpening-disease happened though.
In the months October-December, my cropping changed. No more center-only cropping. Also, I stopped using textures (the grungy ones at least) and the text blended a bit more with the icon. Sometimes.
In December, I opened idol_iconized. Until then, I used to post my icons at my journal.
2006
All the way through 2006, the icons got a bit more detailed.
The cropping definitely enhanced.
I tried even more new techniques.
I made my first animated icons.
I stopping using brushes almost all together.
But the colors remained the same - vivid and ...well intense. That's just how I like it I guess?
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2007 & 2008
2007 - 2008 was a drought for me, mainly because I moved to Basel and my laptop couldn't handle Photoshop anymore. Don't ask me what I did those 2 years for a hobby (going to football games every weekend).
2009
Then in May, my laptop died and I got a new one - which was the best thing ever I guess. I closed down idol_iconized and opened melody_icons. In these 7 months I made more than 2000 (!!!) icons, and definitely changed again, from the first to the 2000th (for better or worse IDK).
I can see how much I changed over the time. Ha omg. I remember how proud I was in the beginning and which ones I hated (but posted anyway).
Cropping definitely got better but could still be better I guess.
I have to work on textures and text, I started to exclude them both but that just leaves me with an empty feeling.
Colors are another thing. I don't like it when all the icons look the same so I always try new coloring techniques - which seems to be the theme of this post - which looks a lot to a candy shop to me right now. LOL.
A really big bad issue right now is my laptop screen which messes up the contrast for me a lot. On my laptop they look fine but on normal screens, they have too little contrast (or too much). Ugh.
The most positive thing that I can get from this, is that I never stopped trying new things - even if they ended in a disaster. Always reading tutorials, combining old with new methods.
And I try to stay true to myself (which is why I love my icons colored). I may pick up a few things here and there but I don't like how icons all start to look the same these days. Which is why I'm trying to bring back textures in my icons. Smack me if they start to look like my first ones though lol.
In a very unlikely case that anyone wants to use an icon - just don't forget to credit and please don't hotlink (it's Photobucket - we all know how much of a drag that host is when it reaches it's bandwidth limit). ♥
Here I present you my timeline of icons, starting back in 2004 up until now. In these 5 years I made over 5000 icons, with the biggest amount in this year (>2000). Reflections are included.
Note: This is not a "best-of" post. There are quite some atrocious icons in this post - added for the lulz.
WARNING: Over 200 icons in this post!
2004
Starting in September 2004, my first icons were bad, not to say horrible.
Weird colors, stupid borders (THE BORDERS IT BURNS!), bad text and misuse of brushes. Oh and the cropping is all centered. Duh.
At least I tried out a lot of different techniques in the beginning?
2005
The bad textures and brushes, cropping and textwork continued, but I started using different colors - mainly from light textures or gradients set to lighten.
From February on, I used less textures and more lightening. The infamous text-cut-in-half occurred often. Also, helloooo there tiny text overuse!
Over the summer months of '05, the text got a bit different and I tried some new styles. A really bad case of the (selective) oversharpening-disease happened though.
In the months October-December, my cropping changed. No more center-only cropping. Also, I stopped using textures (the grungy ones at least) and the text blended a bit more with the icon. Sometimes.
In December, I opened idol_iconized. Until then, I used to post my icons at my journal.
2006
All the way through 2006, the icons got a bit more detailed.
The cropping definitely enhanced.
I tried even more new techniques.
I made my first animated icons.
I stopping using brushes almost all together.
But the colors remained the same - vivid and ...well intense. That's just how I like it I guess?
2007 & 2008
2007 - 2008 was a drought for me, mainly because I moved to Basel and my laptop couldn't handle Photoshop anymore. Don't ask me what I did those 2 years for a hobby (going to football games every weekend).
2009
Then in May, my laptop died and I got a new one - which was the best thing ever I guess. I closed down idol_iconized and opened melody_icons. In these 7 months I made more than 2000 (!!!) icons, and definitely changed again, from the first to the 2000th (for better or worse IDK).
I can see how much I changed over the time. Ha omg. I remember how proud I was in the beginning and which ones I hated (but posted anyway).
Cropping definitely got better but could still be better I guess.
I have to work on textures and text, I started to exclude them both but that just leaves me with an empty feeling.
Colors are another thing. I don't like it when all the icons look the same so I always try new coloring techniques - which seems to be the theme of this post - which looks a lot to a candy shop to me right now. LOL.
A really big bad issue right now is my laptop screen which messes up the contrast for me a lot. On my laptop they look fine but on normal screens, they have too little contrast (or too much). Ugh.
The most positive thing that I can get from this, is that I never stopped trying new things - even if they ended in a disaster. Always reading tutorials, combining old with new methods.
And I try to stay true to myself (which is why I love my icons colored). I may pick up a few things here and there but I don't like how icons all start to look the same these days. Which is why I'm trying to bring back textures in my icons. Smack me if they start to look like my first ones though lol.
In a very unlikely case that anyone wants to use an icon - just don't forget to credit and please don't hotlink (it's Photobucket - we all know how much of a drag that host is when it reaches it's bandwidth limit). ♥