Round 17 - Challenge 04 - Results
ROUND 17 - CHALLENGE 04 - RESULTS
1ST PLACE [5 points]:
novindalf with +6 votes.
2ND PLACE [4 points]:
adriftingsea with +5 votes (and more first+second place votes).
3RD PLACE [3 points]:
angelamaria with +5 votes.
BEST INTERPRETATION [2 points]:
shameless666 with +5 votes.
MOD'S CHOICE [1 point]:
starkwars
[This icon is extremely well balanced. The coloring is vibrant but not too vibrant. The cropping is interesting and eye catching without being extreme. The lighting emphasizes the shadows and the light but without under or over contrasting either. It's incredibly harmonious which makes it really lovely to look at. I also commend the maker for matching the theme very well while simultaneously having more light than shadow in the icon; the threat of shadows moving in from the side is more than enough. Well done!]
TABLE KEY:
+++ = 1st Place Vote
++ = 2nd Place Vote
+ = 3rd Place Vote | Beginning of a new comment.
Note: Votes are not weighted in this round. Meaning a 1st, 2nd or 3rd vote will only give you 1 point when tallying the votes. [Tiebreaker procedure:]Except in the case of a tie - then the icon with the most 1st place votes will be given first. This is upheld in all cases unless 1) the amount of votes is equal in all cases (i.e. 3 first place, 2 second place, and 1 third place) or 2) breaking the tie would result in an icon with enough first place votes to place being knocked out of a placing spot (i.e a third place tie between two icons). In these cases, ties will stand as is in order to maintain a sense of fairness for all participants.
ICON VOTES
nightbulbsPOSITIVE VOTES
++ Gorgeous looking colors and well executed painted tecnique!
++ The colors are bright and the highlighting of her hair gives the icon a creative feel. The crop also works well with the way her hair frames her.
++ Perfect hair painting, and the vibrant colors pop. I love the little detail of the tear beneath her eye.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I think the hair effect really works, it's distinctive and adds to the great coloring of the icon.
+ Wow, the colors are gorgeous! Fantastic job with the hair painting as well, and I love the shiny look this icon has.
+ The bright coloring and brushstroke effect are beautifully done! Balancing out the over-saturated tones by going with off-black contrasts was so smart, I love the added softness that it provides.
+ Lovely use of painting, I really like how it looks on Natasha's hair! I'm less sure about her face, it looks a bit too blurry/smudged and the red lips contrast a bit too much with the rest.
laxiryaPOSITIVE VOTES
++ I really love your colouring and use of shadows, beautiful close crop as well! Plus the cap was really grainy and you managed to make it look perfectly smooth, well done!
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Nice crop and great coloring!
+ The lighting and the blue color are really beautiful.
+ Love the colouring and the interplay of light&shadow in the icon! It gives the icon a slightly edgy feel.
+ Super beautiful cool-toned coloring with perfect contrast and lighting. I love that you made the background color match her shirt, and the highlights have a lovely 'pearly' quality to them, they're so shiny and pale and bright.
+ I'm so in love with the depth of the coloring and the blend of warm and cool tones. The only criticism I have is that there seems to be a dark outline around the character on the left. It looks a little bit out of place considering that her hair is already contrasted against the darker background on its own.
jsfunctionPOSITIVE VOTES
++ Great bright colors and use of stock
++ I love the vibrant colorfing here! Super beautiful and the contrast is very good.
++ Love the colors explosion here! Great composition, love how every added detail compliments Lydia's character, very clever!
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ No reason given.
+ The literal interpretation of the theme is so clever! The busy composition, play of shapes, and bright colors give this icon a lot of great energy and excitement.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ I really love the composition in this, however something about the coloring on the subject makes her (and especially her hair) look very sharp and muddy. I'm not sure what caused this, but some smudging or painting over the hair could help with this.
+ I love the bright colors + collage look you have going on - it's a really eye-catching icon! I would suggest, since all of the icon is so bright, that you make the subject a bit brighter or add some highlights to her so she stands out amongst all the things in the icon. You could duplicate the cutout layer of her and set it to screen, use light textures or gradients, or try a brightness/contrast layer with everything that's not her masked out to achieve that look.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I really like the composition and the colours, very creative!
+ I like the composition of the icon and the colours, however, I think the icon looks a little flat. I would recommend using a Levels layer to add a little depth to it or a b&w gradient set to softlight.
gribouillePOSITIVE VOTES
None.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ The composition of this icon is lovely, however his face feels a little washed out and his back draws the eye more. Maybe lightening up his face somehow or blending it better with a graident map or some different lighting would help balance out the image.
+ Really great crop but the text coloring and font choice draw away from the crop instead of adding to it. I would probably choose a lighter color maybe one or two shades above his skin tone and keep the consistency between both capital and lowercase, doing either/or.
+ I love the dark colouring of the icon. It sets a somber mood and I love the text placement. However, I think the icon's crop is a little awkward. On the right there's a lot of space and on the left, the icon ends right after his face. It feels a little un-balanced. I would recommend centering the crop a little and adding a negative space background so that there will be empty spaces on both sides of the icon, and which in turn will allow the subject to stand out better against the background.
+ I like the crop and natural coloring. The text on his back looks a bit weird to me, though, almost like tattoos. I'm not sure this was your intention. I suggest moving the text up and to the right so it's immediately apparent that it's not written on his body. Using a font color that can't be mistaken for belonging to the image would help, too. Not quite white, but not too close to his skin color, either. Maybe a light beige or the faintly lilac color from the background.
+ The idea of making the text look like a tattoo is really cool, but placing the text so that it runs across the bottom of the icon conflicts with the effect rather than accentuating it. I'd reccomend picking a crop that would place the shoulder more toward the center of the icon and perhaps play with putting the text at an angle so that it flows with the shape of his body.
+ There are some really good elements to the text use here: the placement is great and I love the idea of combining two words in different fonts and a large '&' sign. However I don't think the font choices fit the mood of the icon - the hand-writing fonts give a fun, almost childlike impact, while the cap and the words are serious. Maybe a brushstroke font, a blackletter font or a typewriter font would fit. Also, comparing the icon to the cap it seems his back has been darkened to greenish gray color that gives the icon a somewhat muddy look. Maybe that was intentional, as a nod to the old trend? However this gray effect doesn't blend well with the rest of the icon in terms of color, so I'd remove that layer and embrace the naturally high contrast of the cap instead, this way the text would stand out better too. If you do want the darkened effect for the theme, maybe changing the color of the gray layer to a warmer tone like a beige would make it fit the rest of the icon better.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
None.
adriftingseaPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ Interesting use of image and great coloring
+++ I really love blue colors and grunge texture! So beautiful and the contrast is perfect! I love how you are cut-out the character.
+++ Love the simplicity of the icon and stark contrast between the light cyan hair and the black background. The border texture on top really gives a final touch to this beautiful icon.
++ The painted hair and overall composition is very neatly done.
+ The use of black in your icon is so striking! The subtle use of texture and the attention to detail in the shading of the hair to match really give this a polished look.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ I love the composition and execution of this icon and I think the boldness of mixing a dark background with the vibrancy of her painty-looking trend illustrates the "trend" theme in a great way!
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I love how the subject's hair is bright pop of blue against the dark background icon!
+ Love the colored-in hair and how the side borders reflect this color as well! Lovely hair painting too, good job!
+ Cool colouring and I like the thin lines on the side, the "floating head" effect might work out better if said head was more centred though, as is it looks a bit odd to me.
+ Love the texture use and coloring on this icon. The grungy borders look great and I love that you made them blue to fit the subject's hair! I absolutely love the idea of a 'floating' subject composition but I'd like to see a bit more or her neck area because seeing only her head creates a severed head effect which is a bit awkward/creepy. The collar in the cap seems to be the perfect shape that you could easily leave visible without adding too much stuff into the icon; you'd probably need to paint it a brighter color though to make it stand out from the dark background.
angelamariaPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ I love how this bold technique paid off! The filter that turns everything into plains and angles nicely retains his features even with the erased face. The colors match, and the text placement is great.
+++ The composition really stands out here, quite creative even while illustrating a trend! I love your use of colours (the greens!) as well.
+++ I believe the trend you are interpreting is faceless right? I hope I am. Anyhow, I think this is a really cool and creative way of interpreting the theme. I love that you chose not to go the conventional route. The end result is that your icon has a rotoscope-like feel to it which I think is incredibly cool. It looks like it is animated but the dept and definition in the icon are very real. Also, I love how the text is only limited to Maleficient's body. But even though it's edges are cut off, it is very easy to make out what the text says, so more kudos for that. Overall, I think this is a very neat concept that you absolutely nailed execution wise!
+ I would have preferred a textless version of this icon but who cares: the job done here is so graphic and so interestingly done, it's like a small piece of art.
+ I like the creativity and the coloring is really well done.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ I really love the colorings but I think that there is too much going on. I think this icon might work better without the text.
+ This is a really interesting look, it makes me think of origami. I also like the colors as well. There's a couple of things that I suggest fixing to pull the icon together. First I would try to find another font to use as the size and font face don't work well here. I would also put a shadow behind it so the words stand out more from the background. Secondly, I the texture on the upper right corner is a bit too bright, I suggest lowering the opacity some.
+ This icon has an amazing concept: the smudged/painted over face is such a current trend, so it was the perfect choice! This icon has tons and tons of potential, but I think it suffers from having too many elements in it, which distract from the initial concept. The text doesn't really fit (although I love clipped text, so yay for that!) and the right side of the icon is too bright and looks washed out. I would remove the text, lower the the opacity of the brightness layers or light textures, and make the other textures more subtle by lowering their opacity as well or playing around with other blending modes. Perhaps a darker green for the background would also help drawing the focus to Maleficent instead of the other elements. And I would adjust the colouring of her costume and horns so they lean towards black instead of a brown that is too light in places in my opinion, but that bit is most likely personal preference.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ What a cool, interesting icon! I like that you used textures to give some added visual interest to the erased face, and confining the text only to the subject like that is such a great creative idea, I especially like how it cuts off on the edge of her dress.
+ Highlighting the sharp angles of Maleficent's facial features with a geometric-esque effect is a great concept, and I love the colors in the icon. I'm not sure I like the disappearing text at the bottom, it clutters up the composition a little bit too much, and takes away from the other effects.
alisea_dreamPOSITIVE VOTES
++ I generally associate warm coloring with comfort, but this has such an eerie quality- you've thrown my preconception out the window. The colors are beautiful and deep, and you've picked the perfect crop to balance out the light and shadows.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ No reason given.
+ No reason given.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I like the coloring and how the face is completely in shadow, very fitting for the theme.
+ I just love the drama in this icon! I love how swathed she in in shadows, and yet completely in the focus of the icon.
+ Nice crop and composition, but I think the icon is too dark, because of that the eye tends to focus more on her shoulder than her face, it's a bit unbalanced. The original screencap was quite dark too, though, but maybe you could try playing with gradients/black and white textures on soft light and various opacities to balance it out.
+ Stunningly beautiful shadow work, tbh the lighting is already gorgeous in the cap but you've definitely enhanced it even further and given the icon such a lovely warm tone. I really like the border on the left too.
naginisPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ What a cool creepy icon! The muted monochrome coloring looks great and I lovelovelove the complex background, it reminds me of a painting and for a monochrome icon there are so many different shades and so much depth and the choice of muted red with browns is perfect to fit the creepy vibe of this icon. The face fading animation itself is well done and a super creative idea.
+++ The texture use, colours and lighting are beautiful! And it's so hard to make a gif look this HQ yet you've achieved it perfectly here!
+ I'm not usually a fan of erased faces, but this works so well for Arya pretending to be noone. The dirty green and angry red colors underscore the desolate feeling.
+ The background and the animation effect her face fit the perfect together. I love the mood here.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ I love the textured background and the animated part of this. I think the color on her face should be more of a yellowish tone and blended out a bit more around the jawline into the shadow and on the right side around her eye a bit as there's an odd dark spot there.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I love the dark, muted reds in your icon. The chaotic background is a nice fit, and you've donce a nice job of keeping it from swallowing up the subject.
+ I love that interpretation of the theme, and the use of texture is really, really great. The animation is a bit quick for me, maybe Arya's face could stay "on" a bit longer and fade away a bit slower.
+ I love the colouring and background of this icon! It's gritty and quite well done. I'm probably in the minority here but I thought however that I'd have preferred to keep her face and not have the animation, as Arya without the face looked rather lopsided? I think it's because of the angle she is in as well--her body seems disproportionately large for her head, which wouldn't have been obvious if her face remained--since her face would command all the attention as the part with the most detail.
shameless666POSITIVE VOTES
+++ The use of negative space and the depth of the shadows are perfectly balanced. I love how you showed restraint with the elements and let the effect speak for itself.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ No reason given.
+ Really embodies the darks and lights of shadows
+ I really love the strong contrast and shadow.
+ Love the lighting and shadow work done here, how she is almost all in shadows.
+ I love the high shadows in the icon and how the single point of light at the right creates some great contrast! I think it perfectly fits the shadow theme!
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Great use of shadows here, and brilliant crop too!
+ I love the darkness of this icon and how her beautiful hair seems to float in the negative space. I'm not sure the matte look is doing this icon justice though - the dramatic lighting in the cap would probably make an even bigger impact if that aspect was taken further with some gradient and texture work to achieve a chiaroscuro effect, but then again this is a really neat icon as it is.
cool_spectrumPOSITIVE VOTES
++ When I see the scan used I am so impressed by the work done here. The crop (not seing their faces) is well done and the use of the theme shadow is truely impressive. The blue coloring is also really nice and make the peaceful feeling given by the pic even more powerful.
+ Very beautiful colors on this, and I love the crop as well. I do think it could benefit from just a smidge more contrast to make the shadows really stand out.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ No reason given.
+ No reason given.
+ I really like the way the crop puts the shadow in focus more than the actual cap! Very interesting icon to look at.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ I really love the idea behind this icon! It's super creative and uncommon use of the theme as well, so that's pretty brilliant. The crop is also exceptional. I think what is missing in this icon is a little bit of depth and contrast, via the use of a bit more manipulation of shadows/lighting or color; maybe coloring in the scan a bit more in warmer tones to contrast against the cool shadows, or just deepening the environment shadows a bit more, or using a different overall color tone between the background+shadows and the subject.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Nice crop, and I really like this way of interpreting the theme.
+ I think the icon is cropped in a very interesting manner. The top of the icon maybe cut-off but I love how the scene is reflected in the shadows of the subjects! A very cool way of looking at the subjects in the icon.
+ Nice idea for the theme, you don't even have to see the characters' heads, the shadows are so clear. I love how the background gradient gives it the effect of them sitting on a sheet of ice, adding more depth.
thyla87POSITIVE VOTES
++ The blocking is really pretty and I like the contrast between the turquoise and pinks.
+ I don't really understand the two pink blocks on the upper part, but the colors are so gorgeous I couldn't help but putting this icon in my top three.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ Though I really love the coloring, there's a dark line dividing the two images which is really distracting. I don't think it was intentional, so just erasing this by dragging either the upper image down or the lower image up should fix this.
+ I love the coloring here. The only thing that bugs me here is the pink blocks. They tend to get the attention away from the caps. I would suggest to take them away and to let the place black, to fit more the TARDIS cap.
+ What a nice composition with those blocks of color and slight shine from the sides. One hint: to create a realistic shadow, it's not enough to rotate the shape. You also have to distort it. To do that, either use "Transform / Perspective" and move the upper corners together and afterwards Rotate and/or Skew the shadow. Or do "Free Transform" and hold CTRL to move each corner separately. The main thing to keep in mind is that the shadow should be narrower at the far end than at the point it touches the subject.
+ This icon has a great concept, I love the way you used the "shadow" theme, and cyan/pink is always a great colour combination. But the large pink borders frame the Tardis in a rather awkward way. My eye is drawn to all that black space around the Tardis, which is distracting. In this case I would suggest either using the Tardis cap for the whole top level/block, or, if you wanted to keep the pink background, you could cut out the Tardis and get rid of the dark sky.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Lovely composition, The texture on the top-left looks a bit distracting and unnecessary but it still works out pretty well IMO.
+ I love the look of the blocking in this! The contrasting colors are playful, and pulling all of the elements together with the colored lighting was a great way to soften things up without taking away fom the pop.
+ Wow, I love the color combination here a lot. The pink and cyan both look gorgeous next to the blacks of the TARDIS block. I really like most of the composition too, my only criticism is that the shadow used in the Doctor block seems a bit like an afterthought that was added just to fit the theme, while the Tardis + Doctor blocking thing feels like the actual idea of this icon. These two ideas are both cool but don't seem to have relevance to each other so they compete rather than play together, so I'd probably use them on separate icons. Or perhaps extending the pink bars (or just one of them?) to overlap the bottom block might create a look where the blocks are better tied together? But it's a lovely icon as it is!
+ I love the colors and composition of this icon! It's gorgeous. The one thing that throws me off are the white bits in the middle/behind 12. I'm guessing they're a part of a grunge texture you used, as the rest of the icon looks a bit grungy. In my opinion they don't quite fit, because the rest of the icon is a soft, understated, blend-y kind of grunge and this part is a bit more overstated! I would mask those white bits out, at least partially, or change the color so they matched the background. Or, option B, go hardcore on the white grungy bits and add more so they look purposeful! But I don't think the icon needs those to be great, which is why I suggested what I did.
starkwarsPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ This icon is stunning in its simplicity, great job with the coloring and lighting!
+++ It is sometimes harder to master a simple icon. You are not allowed to do any mistakes to make a simple icon beautiful. You succeed there. The wonderful crop and the pretty coloring is impressive.
++ The coloring and cropping in this icon are flawless and the sharpness is spot on too!
+ Beautiful coloring and cropping.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ The crop of the icon is beautiful! Also, the colouring is very pretty and I love the shadows on the right side of her face.
+ The crop is absolutely perfect, and the overall coloring is beautiful. The yellows in her hair on the left seem a little bit green-ish, especially at the top, but otherwise this is gorgeous.
+ I really like your crop, but the icon looks a bit grainy, especially on Olivia's cheek and forehead. Using the blur tool on low opacity could help with that.
applepips16POSITIVE VOTES
+++ Lights and shadows in this are gorgeous and the hazy atmosphere makes it really stand out!
++ I love the colouring and the dramatic shadowing you've done here! I love how it's in equal parts misty and soft (shadow quality) and also almost gritty (the colouring).
+ The dark shadow on her face makes this icon very dramatic. The green coloring works well and love the overall soft feel, while keeping the image still clear.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ No reason given.
+ Lydia almost looks like the legendary Weeping Woman - ghostly and underwater.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ The shadow is falling nicely on the right side of her face, however it looks a bit odd on her eyes and lips. I think it needs to be a bit darker. Changing the layer style might help, to give more contrast.
+ I love this cap choice and the crop that you have here is good. I love the faded blurriness that you have here as well. I like the idea that you were going for but the green cast on the right side of her face and neck diminishes the effect you were going for. I think it's simply color choice that may not work to enhance skin tones.
+ I really like green colors and the crop but Lydia's face gets too lost in the green light so it's hard to see her features. I'd fix this by masking out some of the green light.
+ You have some really lovely lighting going on with the subject of this icon, and I'd love to see it carry over to the background too. There's obviously a light "source" up at the top right of the icon, but given how dark the shadows on the subject are even near the top left, I think that entire side of the icon should be just a bit darker to match her.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I really like the lighting in this icon, there's a sense of depth and soft glow here that I really like. I'd mask some of the green lighting (textures?) on her face though because the way they brighten the shadows on her face, especially her eyes but also the darkest parts of her hair, obscures the details of her features a bit.
+ I just love this icon. The green coloring is so beautifully done, the shadows and lighting are soft and dreamy. The overall icon is kind of blurry and anonymous, which make it feel as if the character is underwater.
tiptoetwirlPOSITIVE VOTES
None.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ Love the crop and the lighting/shadows here. However the left part of the icon looks really grainy and oversharpened on my screen, I'd recommend smoothing these parts with the blur/smudge tool to bring the icon as a whole.
+ This icon is a great crop and coloring and fits the theme well. It seems a little oversharpened though, maybe masking out some of sharpness or using a lower opacity would help it look a bit smoother.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Nice close crop! Her skin looks a bit too bright on the right on my screen, and a bit too blue-ish as well, playing with levels and selective colouring could help.
+ The coloring is beautiful and I really like the crop. But I think her face is too sharp, I'd blur some of the sharper lines or lower the opacity of the sharpened layer.
+ I really like the cold yet vibrant color scheme in this icon! The icon looks a bit sharp to me overall, especially the edge of her face, so I'd use the smuge tool to make that area more smooth.
+ The coolness of the coloring is so pretty, but the greenish areas (especially on her right shoulder) seem a bit out of place to me. I think maybe it's coming off negatively to me because it's textured, whereas the rest of the icon has a smoother look.
marcasitePOSITIVE VOTES
None.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ The crop and the light are nice here, I would just suggest using more contrast to give more deph to the icon.
+ Love the lighting in this icon, but it's too strong on the left side and washes out Emma's face and hair. This could easily be fixed tough, you can either add brightness/contrast layer on top or just merge all the layers, duplicate the base and set it to soft light or overlay (with lower opacity). This will really make Emma stand out more.
+ I think this icon has a lot of potential: the coloring is nice, the lighting is pretty and the crop is quite interesting. However, I feel like the character doesn't stand out sufficiently. I'd suggest enhancing her shadows with a bit more contrast on her face
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I love the softness and lighting of this icon!
+ Nice use of negative space but I find the white blob a bit too distracting, you could maybe lower its opacity?
+ I really love the strong colors and brown colors. However, her face is a little too washed out on my screen. This could be fixed by upping the contrast for example with a stamp layer on soft light, or just by sharpening her more.
+ The muted coloring and soft lighting look very pleasant to the eye, this icon has such a soft, lovely overall look where everything from colors to contrast and lighting fit together perfectly!
+ I absolutely love the muted colors and lighting effects in your icon, and I also love how she fades into the light a bit, that's a nice touch. The only criticism I have is that the subject looks really blurry to me.
+ I like where you are going with the light textures in this icon, but I think it's not quite coming across yet - there aren't really drastic shadows created by the light texture, and mostly it affects the background of the icon rather than the cap itself. Since the texture you're using does work very well with the cap, I might just try enhancing its lighting effects by hand by painting over the right half (ish) of the icon with a dark color, maybe that dark brown, and then hitting a few parts of her hair and face on the left side of the icon with some light-colored/white highlights, then blurring that all and setting it to soft light. If you wanted to get really intense, you could grab the colors from the lighter parts of her face and paint over the shadows on her face with them, then play around with layer modes/opacities to see what lightens them up a bit without it looking unnatural.
tinnnyPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ I really like the purple and golds together and the text is really nice
++ I'm feeling so emotional over this icon. First of all, I must commend your choice of screencap. Absolutely fantastic! Secondly, I love the colouring. It plays up the already existing colours very nicely. Thirdly, that text. It is perfect! I love that you emphasized one word and then made the rest of the text tiny. It gives the icon the right amount of gravitas. If I had one suggestion, it would be that the tiny text is a little too sharp. Depending on your program, you can change your text style to Smooth, so that it does not have many jagged edges. Or elses, you can get rid of the edges but zooming in on the text and blurring away the pesky, pixelly bits. But overall, a really fantastic icon!
+ Nice use of text and soft coloring
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ Stunning colouring and use of light, which really illustrates the "moth to a flame" theme. And it also works on a story level with Nick and Judy being attracted to/going towards Zootopia!
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Your interpretation of the theme is spot on. I love the soft, sunrise coloring, and the way the typography reflects the lighting, but the tiny text below "be" is really hard to make out.
+ This icon is super pretty, I really like the pastelly color scheme and the way the orange bright light hits the buildings, the screencap is already gorgeous as it is but I like that you've increased this lighting effect. The simple text in the middle is really good too, I quite like the font choice and the combination of one big word and tiny letters for the rest of the text.
+ This is a super cute icon, but I almost can't read the text! I think if the tiny text could go up a point size or two (even if it meant changing the size of "BE" as well, it would help. You may also try working with a different font or changing the antialiasing settings in PS, as those can have a big effect too, but I think just the size option would be the best fix!
spirits_risePOSITIVE VOTES
None.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ The icon looks quite grainy and LQ on my screen, and the crop is cutting Sir Leon in half. I think you could try a more centred crop, even if you have to leave some of that fire out.
+ I like the colouring and the simplicity of the icon, but I think the icon could do with a crop that focuses more on both the subjects. Cutting off one subjects makes it a little awkward, specially since it seems that the two subjects are sharing something important. Cropping the icon in such a way that would focus on the both the subjects would give the icon a little more focus and also give the eyes a point to look at. You can do this by either using a far crop or a centre crop.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Very nice icon, I like the muted coloring and the subtle lighting a lot. Side crops can easily look unbalanced but this one works wonderfully, due to the fire on the right bringing some visual interest to that area as well.
+ The dusky fire effect at the bottom is really pretty, but the darkest point of the icon is the background behind the subject, which steals the focus away from the other elements of the icon. Darkening the entire background a little more would not only help reduce the contrast there, but would also help the subjects pop a little more.
+ You chose a really great cap for the theme! I do think the lighting could use a bit of tweaking, though, because the faces are kind of dark and I'd love to see a bit more of them. I know it seems kind of antithetical to the cap, but I think darkening the fire a bit would help, both because then you could add a bit of color there, and because you wouldn't have to be afraid of brightening the rest of the icon! Maybe try adding masks over the parts of layers that make the fire brighter, or grabbing one of the colors from the edge of the fire and painting over the fire on a new layer, then playing with layer modes and opacity to see what adds some nice color without losing the glow. I also would maybe mask out that bright thing that's causing a line about halfway up the left side of the icon - I'm not sure what it is, but my eye keeps being drawn to it because it's so bright and then I get confused all over again! is it his arm? It might be his arm - but either way, I'd make it about the same brightness as the rest of his armor, maybe a bit brighter to show the glow of the fire.
ghanimasunPOSITIVE VOTES
+ Love the colouring/sepias, and very nice cut-out and composition as well. Great work!
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ I love how the frame and her hair are the same deep contrast against the lighter colors in the rest of the icon, but I feel that the frame is a bit overpowering. Making it a little smaller so that there's more negative space around it might help balance out the effect.
+ I really like this icon, the composition and texture work look great. I particularly love the background texture which gives this icon a lovely hint of painty/grungy style and those golden tones look gorgeous. The decorative frame works nicely too. My only nitpick is that the overall look of the coloring and contrast feels a bit harsh, maybe it's the effect of the dark, sharp, heavy-ish frame texture against the light blackground, it stands out so well against it that it gets a lot of attention. I'd suggest lowering the contrast just a little bit, especially the darkness of the darkest parts, maybe with a dark brown color fill layer or even a subtle grunge texture set on Screen.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I like the composition with the clouds all around her and the frame floating in front of everything. Unusual but it works!
+ I really love the background in this cap - it makes it feel both a bit magical and old-fashioned, which goes with the cap very nicely. I do think, given the amount of contrast in the woman herself, the frame is a bit on the dark side because there's a very sharp contrast between it and the background. Perhaps lowering the opacity or playing with blend modes might take it down a bit, or, if you added contrast to the icon after putting that layer on, dragging it above the +contrast layers might also make a difference. I'm also curious whether the lighter parts near the very bottom of the frame are part of that texture, or where they're coming from? If they are in the frame texture, I would mask them out, at least where they're surrounding it; if they're another texture, I would lower the opacity on that too so they're not quite so bright. As a rule, I try to keep the brightest parts of an icon near where I want people's eyes to go, and this detracts a bit from the lightness behind her face.
julie_izumiPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ Love the bright colors and the coloring looks great. Text is well done and goes well with the overall feel of the icon
+++ Love the clarity and crispness of the lines and colours here! The colour scheme is also spot on. I also like how the words are breaking out of the "confined" space.
++ Going for vibrant colouring with the "confined" theme is a nice twist. I love the blue/yellow combo, contrast, text and composition!
+ The color combination is great and I love the text use.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Great composition and use of text, a fun icon!
+ Beautiful! Great text work, awesome coloring, good interpretation of the theme. I want more top votes, please.
+ Love the colouring of the icon and very neat cut-out. Also, I think you did a great job on the text. It nicely frames the subject and I love how the blue of the icon reflects the blue of the background.
+ I love the typography and the layered geometrical shapes, but I'd like to suggest switching the text at the top underneath the subjects head rather than over it. The play of the foreground/background might give you an even stronger composition.
+ I love the composition of this icon, the text and the combination of the circle and the text bar creates a fun, geometric, nicely confined effect which is perfect for the theme! I also love the bright cyan+yellow combination on the background elements but wish the colors of the subject matched the vibrancy: her colors seem a little muted in comparison. I know people have mixed reactions to extra yellow hair but I think that could totally work here and be that final touch to make this icon perfect, I'd probably experiment with masked color fill layers on different layer modes (multiple, darken, soft light etc) to get that effect.
novindalfPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ Gorgeous coloring and I love the negative space.
++ I love the colors of this, and the way you used the frame to work with the cap as well as tell the story.
+ I love the stark simplicity of the icon and the gorgeous colouring! So very pretty and soft!
+ The coloring in this icon is beautifully vibrant and caught my eye right away. The crop and composition are amazing too, the symmetry combined with negative space makes a great visual impact, and I also like the bit of smoky lighting going on at the top of the icon.
+ Lovely use of color and framing! I like how the crown ends up being in constrast to the rest of the icon because of the coloring, and how the Queen breaks out of the frame of the mirror as well--brilliant use of the frame here, really!
+ Love the brightness, colours and background work here! I also think it's interesting that you took the Queen out of the mirror, it's a nice twist and illustrates the "confined" theme in a more interpretive way.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ I absolutely love the simple composition and bold coloring of this icon, but I can't help but find the positioning of the queen a bit odd. This is maybe due to the fact that the frame was centered to her head which is not really centered to the body. In my opinion the frame should have been centered to the body for a more ballanced and symmetrical look.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Lovely coloring, and I love the choice of small border behind her. It makes her look even taller and more imposing.
+ This icon really stands out, it's so vibrant, I like it! I love the idea of using the mirror as a frame in the background. Great work!
+ I love the detail of the mirror's frame used in the center of your icon. The cloudy light textures you've used at the top give extra dimension to the icon, which balences out the heaviness of the darker colors at the bottom nicely.
+ I love how deceptively simple this looks when you know it probably took ages. Really pretty icon.
Updated points spreadsheet can be found here.
1ST PLACE [5 points]:
novindalf with +6 votes.
2ND PLACE [4 points]:
adriftingsea with +5 votes (and more first+second place votes).
3RD PLACE [3 points]:
angelamaria with +5 votes.
BEST INTERPRETATION [2 points]:
shameless666 with +5 votes.
MOD'S CHOICE [1 point]:
starkwars
[This icon is extremely well balanced. The coloring is vibrant but not too vibrant. The cropping is interesting and eye catching without being extreme. The lighting emphasizes the shadows and the light but without under or over contrasting either. It's incredibly harmonious which makes it really lovely to look at. I also commend the maker for matching the theme very well while simultaneously having more light than shadow in the icon; the threat of shadows moving in from the side is more than enough. Well done!]
TABLE KEY:
+++ = 1st Place Vote
++ = 2nd Place Vote
+ = 3rd Place Vote | Beginning of a new comment.
Note: Votes are not weighted in this round. Meaning a 1st, 2nd or 3rd vote will only give you 1 point when tallying the votes. [Tiebreaker procedure:]Except in the case of a tie - then the icon with the most 1st place votes will be given first. This is upheld in all cases unless 1) the amount of votes is equal in all cases (i.e. 3 first place, 2 second place, and 1 third place) or 2) breaking the tie would result in an icon with enough first place votes to place being knocked out of a placing spot (i.e a third place tie between two icons). In these cases, ties will stand as is in order to maintain a sense of fairness for all participants.
ICON VOTES
nightbulbsPOSITIVE VOTES
++ Gorgeous looking colors and well executed painted tecnique!
++ The colors are bright and the highlighting of her hair gives the icon a creative feel. The crop also works well with the way her hair frames her.
++ Perfect hair painting, and the vibrant colors pop. I love the little detail of the tear beneath her eye.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I think the hair effect really works, it's distinctive and adds to the great coloring of the icon.
+ Wow, the colors are gorgeous! Fantastic job with the hair painting as well, and I love the shiny look this icon has.
+ The bright coloring and brushstroke effect are beautifully done! Balancing out the over-saturated tones by going with off-black contrasts was so smart, I love the added softness that it provides.
+ Lovely use of painting, I really like how it looks on Natasha's hair! I'm less sure about her face, it looks a bit too blurry/smudged and the red lips contrast a bit too much with the rest.
laxiryaPOSITIVE VOTES
++ I really love your colouring and use of shadows, beautiful close crop as well! Plus the cap was really grainy and you managed to make it look perfectly smooth, well done!
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Nice crop and great coloring!
+ The lighting and the blue color are really beautiful.
+ Love the colouring and the interplay of light&shadow in the icon! It gives the icon a slightly edgy feel.
+ Super beautiful cool-toned coloring with perfect contrast and lighting. I love that you made the background color match her shirt, and the highlights have a lovely 'pearly' quality to them, they're so shiny and pale and bright.
+ I'm so in love with the depth of the coloring and the blend of warm and cool tones. The only criticism I have is that there seems to be a dark outline around the character on the left. It looks a little bit out of place considering that her hair is already contrasted against the darker background on its own.
jsfunctionPOSITIVE VOTES
++ Great bright colors and use of stock
++ I love the vibrant colorfing here! Super beautiful and the contrast is very good.
++ Love the colors explosion here! Great composition, love how every added detail compliments Lydia's character, very clever!
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ No reason given.
+ The literal interpretation of the theme is so clever! The busy composition, play of shapes, and bright colors give this icon a lot of great energy and excitement.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ I really love the composition in this, however something about the coloring on the subject makes her (and especially her hair) look very sharp and muddy. I'm not sure what caused this, but some smudging or painting over the hair could help with this.
+ I love the bright colors + collage look you have going on - it's a really eye-catching icon! I would suggest, since all of the icon is so bright, that you make the subject a bit brighter or add some highlights to her so she stands out amongst all the things in the icon. You could duplicate the cutout layer of her and set it to screen, use light textures or gradients, or try a brightness/contrast layer with everything that's not her masked out to achieve that look.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I really like the composition and the colours, very creative!
+ I like the composition of the icon and the colours, however, I think the icon looks a little flat. I would recommend using a Levels layer to add a little depth to it or a b&w gradient set to softlight.
gribouillePOSITIVE VOTES
None.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ The composition of this icon is lovely, however his face feels a little washed out and his back draws the eye more. Maybe lightening up his face somehow or blending it better with a graident map or some different lighting would help balance out the image.
+ Really great crop but the text coloring and font choice draw away from the crop instead of adding to it. I would probably choose a lighter color maybe one or two shades above his skin tone and keep the consistency between both capital and lowercase, doing either/or.
+ I love the dark colouring of the icon. It sets a somber mood and I love the text placement. However, I think the icon's crop is a little awkward. On the right there's a lot of space and on the left, the icon ends right after his face. It feels a little un-balanced. I would recommend centering the crop a little and adding a negative space background so that there will be empty spaces on both sides of the icon, and which in turn will allow the subject to stand out better against the background.
+ I like the crop and natural coloring. The text on his back looks a bit weird to me, though, almost like tattoos. I'm not sure this was your intention. I suggest moving the text up and to the right so it's immediately apparent that it's not written on his body. Using a font color that can't be mistaken for belonging to the image would help, too. Not quite white, but not too close to his skin color, either. Maybe a light beige or the faintly lilac color from the background.
+ The idea of making the text look like a tattoo is really cool, but placing the text so that it runs across the bottom of the icon conflicts with the effect rather than accentuating it. I'd reccomend picking a crop that would place the shoulder more toward the center of the icon and perhaps play with putting the text at an angle so that it flows with the shape of his body.
+ There are some really good elements to the text use here: the placement is great and I love the idea of combining two words in different fonts and a large '&' sign. However I don't think the font choices fit the mood of the icon - the hand-writing fonts give a fun, almost childlike impact, while the cap and the words are serious. Maybe a brushstroke font, a blackletter font or a typewriter font would fit. Also, comparing the icon to the cap it seems his back has been darkened to greenish gray color that gives the icon a somewhat muddy look. Maybe that was intentional, as a nod to the old trend? However this gray effect doesn't blend well with the rest of the icon in terms of color, so I'd remove that layer and embrace the naturally high contrast of the cap instead, this way the text would stand out better too. If you do want the darkened effect for the theme, maybe changing the color of the gray layer to a warmer tone like a beige would make it fit the rest of the icon better.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
None.
adriftingseaPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ Interesting use of image and great coloring
+++ I really love blue colors and grunge texture! So beautiful and the contrast is perfect! I love how you are cut-out the character.
+++ Love the simplicity of the icon and stark contrast between the light cyan hair and the black background. The border texture on top really gives a final touch to this beautiful icon.
++ The painted hair and overall composition is very neatly done.
+ The use of black in your icon is so striking! The subtle use of texture and the attention to detail in the shading of the hair to match really give this a polished look.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ I love the composition and execution of this icon and I think the boldness of mixing a dark background with the vibrancy of her painty-looking trend illustrates the "trend" theme in a great way!
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I love how the subject's hair is bright pop of blue against the dark background icon!
+ Love the colored-in hair and how the side borders reflect this color as well! Lovely hair painting too, good job!
+ Cool colouring and I like the thin lines on the side, the "floating head" effect might work out better if said head was more centred though, as is it looks a bit odd to me.
+ Love the texture use and coloring on this icon. The grungy borders look great and I love that you made them blue to fit the subject's hair! I absolutely love the idea of a 'floating' subject composition but I'd like to see a bit more or her neck area because seeing only her head creates a severed head effect which is a bit awkward/creepy. The collar in the cap seems to be the perfect shape that you could easily leave visible without adding too much stuff into the icon; you'd probably need to paint it a brighter color though to make it stand out from the dark background.
angelamariaPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ I love how this bold technique paid off! The filter that turns everything into plains and angles nicely retains his features even with the erased face. The colors match, and the text placement is great.
+++ The composition really stands out here, quite creative even while illustrating a trend! I love your use of colours (the greens!) as well.
+++ I believe the trend you are interpreting is faceless right? I hope I am. Anyhow, I think this is a really cool and creative way of interpreting the theme. I love that you chose not to go the conventional route. The end result is that your icon has a rotoscope-like feel to it which I think is incredibly cool. It looks like it is animated but the dept and definition in the icon are very real. Also, I love how the text is only limited to Maleficient's body. But even though it's edges are cut off, it is very easy to make out what the text says, so more kudos for that. Overall, I think this is a very neat concept that you absolutely nailed execution wise!
+ I would have preferred a textless version of this icon but who cares: the job done here is so graphic and so interestingly done, it's like a small piece of art.
+ I like the creativity and the coloring is really well done.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ I really love the colorings but I think that there is too much going on. I think this icon might work better without the text.
+ This is a really interesting look, it makes me think of origami. I also like the colors as well. There's a couple of things that I suggest fixing to pull the icon together. First I would try to find another font to use as the size and font face don't work well here. I would also put a shadow behind it so the words stand out more from the background. Secondly, I the texture on the upper right corner is a bit too bright, I suggest lowering the opacity some.
+ This icon has an amazing concept: the smudged/painted over face is such a current trend, so it was the perfect choice! This icon has tons and tons of potential, but I think it suffers from having too many elements in it, which distract from the initial concept. The text doesn't really fit (although I love clipped text, so yay for that!) and the right side of the icon is too bright and looks washed out. I would remove the text, lower the the opacity of the brightness layers or light textures, and make the other textures more subtle by lowering their opacity as well or playing around with other blending modes. Perhaps a darker green for the background would also help drawing the focus to Maleficent instead of the other elements. And I would adjust the colouring of her costume and horns so they lean towards black instead of a brown that is too light in places in my opinion, but that bit is most likely personal preference.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ What a cool, interesting icon! I like that you used textures to give some added visual interest to the erased face, and confining the text only to the subject like that is such a great creative idea, I especially like how it cuts off on the edge of her dress.
+ Highlighting the sharp angles of Maleficent's facial features with a geometric-esque effect is a great concept, and I love the colors in the icon. I'm not sure I like the disappearing text at the bottom, it clutters up the composition a little bit too much, and takes away from the other effects.
alisea_dreamPOSITIVE VOTES
++ I generally associate warm coloring with comfort, but this has such an eerie quality- you've thrown my preconception out the window. The colors are beautiful and deep, and you've picked the perfect crop to balance out the light and shadows.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ No reason given.
+ No reason given.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I like the coloring and how the face is completely in shadow, very fitting for the theme.
+ I just love the drama in this icon! I love how swathed she in in shadows, and yet completely in the focus of the icon.
+ Nice crop and composition, but I think the icon is too dark, because of that the eye tends to focus more on her shoulder than her face, it's a bit unbalanced. The original screencap was quite dark too, though, but maybe you could try playing with gradients/black and white textures on soft light and various opacities to balance it out.
+ Stunningly beautiful shadow work, tbh the lighting is already gorgeous in the cap but you've definitely enhanced it even further and given the icon such a lovely warm tone. I really like the border on the left too.
naginisPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ What a cool creepy icon! The muted monochrome coloring looks great and I lovelovelove the complex background, it reminds me of a painting and for a monochrome icon there are so many different shades and so much depth and the choice of muted red with browns is perfect to fit the creepy vibe of this icon. The face fading animation itself is well done and a super creative idea.
+++ The texture use, colours and lighting are beautiful! And it's so hard to make a gif look this HQ yet you've achieved it perfectly here!
+ I'm not usually a fan of erased faces, but this works so well for Arya pretending to be noone. The dirty green and angry red colors underscore the desolate feeling.
+ The background and the animation effect her face fit the perfect together. I love the mood here.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ I love the textured background and the animated part of this. I think the color on her face should be more of a yellowish tone and blended out a bit more around the jawline into the shadow and on the right side around her eye a bit as there's an odd dark spot there.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I love the dark, muted reds in your icon. The chaotic background is a nice fit, and you've donce a nice job of keeping it from swallowing up the subject.
+ I love that interpretation of the theme, and the use of texture is really, really great. The animation is a bit quick for me, maybe Arya's face could stay "on" a bit longer and fade away a bit slower.
+ I love the colouring and background of this icon! It's gritty and quite well done. I'm probably in the minority here but I thought however that I'd have preferred to keep her face and not have the animation, as Arya without the face looked rather lopsided? I think it's because of the angle she is in as well--her body seems disproportionately large for her head, which wouldn't have been obvious if her face remained--since her face would command all the attention as the part with the most detail.
shameless666POSITIVE VOTES
+++ The use of negative space and the depth of the shadows are perfectly balanced. I love how you showed restraint with the elements and let the effect speak for itself.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ No reason given.
+ Really embodies the darks and lights of shadows
+ I really love the strong contrast and shadow.
+ Love the lighting and shadow work done here, how she is almost all in shadows.
+ I love the high shadows in the icon and how the single point of light at the right creates some great contrast! I think it perfectly fits the shadow theme!
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Great use of shadows here, and brilliant crop too!
+ I love the darkness of this icon and how her beautiful hair seems to float in the negative space. I'm not sure the matte look is doing this icon justice though - the dramatic lighting in the cap would probably make an even bigger impact if that aspect was taken further with some gradient and texture work to achieve a chiaroscuro effect, but then again this is a really neat icon as it is.
cool_spectrumPOSITIVE VOTES
++ When I see the scan used I am so impressed by the work done here. The crop (not seing their faces) is well done and the use of the theme shadow is truely impressive. The blue coloring is also really nice and make the peaceful feeling given by the pic even more powerful.
+ Very beautiful colors on this, and I love the crop as well. I do think it could benefit from just a smidge more contrast to make the shadows really stand out.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ No reason given.
+ No reason given.
+ I really like the way the crop puts the shadow in focus more than the actual cap! Very interesting icon to look at.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ I really love the idea behind this icon! It's super creative and uncommon use of the theme as well, so that's pretty brilliant. The crop is also exceptional. I think what is missing in this icon is a little bit of depth and contrast, via the use of a bit more manipulation of shadows/lighting or color; maybe coloring in the scan a bit more in warmer tones to contrast against the cool shadows, or just deepening the environment shadows a bit more, or using a different overall color tone between the background+shadows and the subject.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Nice crop, and I really like this way of interpreting the theme.
+ I think the icon is cropped in a very interesting manner. The top of the icon maybe cut-off but I love how the scene is reflected in the shadows of the subjects! A very cool way of looking at the subjects in the icon.
+ Nice idea for the theme, you don't even have to see the characters' heads, the shadows are so clear. I love how the background gradient gives it the effect of them sitting on a sheet of ice, adding more depth.
thyla87POSITIVE VOTES
++ The blocking is really pretty and I like the contrast between the turquoise and pinks.
+ I don't really understand the two pink blocks on the upper part, but the colors are so gorgeous I couldn't help but putting this icon in my top three.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ Though I really love the coloring, there's a dark line dividing the two images which is really distracting. I don't think it was intentional, so just erasing this by dragging either the upper image down or the lower image up should fix this.
+ I love the coloring here. The only thing that bugs me here is the pink blocks. They tend to get the attention away from the caps. I would suggest to take them away and to let the place black, to fit more the TARDIS cap.
+ What a nice composition with those blocks of color and slight shine from the sides. One hint: to create a realistic shadow, it's not enough to rotate the shape. You also have to distort it. To do that, either use "Transform / Perspective" and move the upper corners together and afterwards Rotate and/or Skew the shadow. Or do "Free Transform" and hold CTRL to move each corner separately. The main thing to keep in mind is that the shadow should be narrower at the far end than at the point it touches the subject.
+ This icon has a great concept, I love the way you used the "shadow" theme, and cyan/pink is always a great colour combination. But the large pink borders frame the Tardis in a rather awkward way. My eye is drawn to all that black space around the Tardis, which is distracting. In this case I would suggest either using the Tardis cap for the whole top level/block, or, if you wanted to keep the pink background, you could cut out the Tardis and get rid of the dark sky.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Lovely composition, The texture on the top-left looks a bit distracting and unnecessary but it still works out pretty well IMO.
+ I love the look of the blocking in this! The contrasting colors are playful, and pulling all of the elements together with the colored lighting was a great way to soften things up without taking away fom the pop.
+ Wow, I love the color combination here a lot. The pink and cyan both look gorgeous next to the blacks of the TARDIS block. I really like most of the composition too, my only criticism is that the shadow used in the Doctor block seems a bit like an afterthought that was added just to fit the theme, while the Tardis + Doctor blocking thing feels like the actual idea of this icon. These two ideas are both cool but don't seem to have relevance to each other so they compete rather than play together, so I'd probably use them on separate icons. Or perhaps extending the pink bars (or just one of them?) to overlap the bottom block might create a look where the blocks are better tied together? But it's a lovely icon as it is!
+ I love the colors and composition of this icon! It's gorgeous. The one thing that throws me off are the white bits in the middle/behind 12. I'm guessing they're a part of a grunge texture you used, as the rest of the icon looks a bit grungy. In my opinion they don't quite fit, because the rest of the icon is a soft, understated, blend-y kind of grunge and this part is a bit more overstated! I would mask those white bits out, at least partially, or change the color so they matched the background. Or, option B, go hardcore on the white grungy bits and add more so they look purposeful! But I don't think the icon needs those to be great, which is why I suggested what I did.
starkwarsPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ This icon is stunning in its simplicity, great job with the coloring and lighting!
+++ It is sometimes harder to master a simple icon. You are not allowed to do any mistakes to make a simple icon beautiful. You succeed there. The wonderful crop and the pretty coloring is impressive.
++ The coloring and cropping in this icon are flawless and the sharpness is spot on too!
+ Beautiful coloring and cropping.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ The crop of the icon is beautiful! Also, the colouring is very pretty and I love the shadows on the right side of her face.
+ The crop is absolutely perfect, and the overall coloring is beautiful. The yellows in her hair on the left seem a little bit green-ish, especially at the top, but otherwise this is gorgeous.
+ I really like your crop, but the icon looks a bit grainy, especially on Olivia's cheek and forehead. Using the blur tool on low opacity could help with that.
applepips16POSITIVE VOTES
+++ Lights and shadows in this are gorgeous and the hazy atmosphere makes it really stand out!
++ I love the colouring and the dramatic shadowing you've done here! I love how it's in equal parts misty and soft (shadow quality) and also almost gritty (the colouring).
+ The dark shadow on her face makes this icon very dramatic. The green coloring works well and love the overall soft feel, while keeping the image still clear.
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ No reason given.
+ Lydia almost looks like the legendary Weeping Woman - ghostly and underwater.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ The shadow is falling nicely on the right side of her face, however it looks a bit odd on her eyes and lips. I think it needs to be a bit darker. Changing the layer style might help, to give more contrast.
+ I love this cap choice and the crop that you have here is good. I love the faded blurriness that you have here as well. I like the idea that you were going for but the green cast on the right side of her face and neck diminishes the effect you were going for. I think it's simply color choice that may not work to enhance skin tones.
+ I really like green colors and the crop but Lydia's face gets too lost in the green light so it's hard to see her features. I'd fix this by masking out some of the green light.
+ You have some really lovely lighting going on with the subject of this icon, and I'd love to see it carry over to the background too. There's obviously a light "source" up at the top right of the icon, but given how dark the shadows on the subject are even near the top left, I think that entire side of the icon should be just a bit darker to match her.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I really like the lighting in this icon, there's a sense of depth and soft glow here that I really like. I'd mask some of the green lighting (textures?) on her face though because the way they brighten the shadows on her face, especially her eyes but also the darkest parts of her hair, obscures the details of her features a bit.
+ I just love this icon. The green coloring is so beautifully done, the shadows and lighting are soft and dreamy. The overall icon is kind of blurry and anonymous, which make it feel as if the character is underwater.
tiptoetwirlPOSITIVE VOTES
None.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ Love the crop and the lighting/shadows here. However the left part of the icon looks really grainy and oversharpened on my screen, I'd recommend smoothing these parts with the blur/smudge tool to bring the icon as a whole.
+ This icon is a great crop and coloring and fits the theme well. It seems a little oversharpened though, maybe masking out some of sharpness or using a lower opacity would help it look a bit smoother.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Nice close crop! Her skin looks a bit too bright on the right on my screen, and a bit too blue-ish as well, playing with levels and selective colouring could help.
+ The coloring is beautiful and I really like the crop. But I think her face is too sharp, I'd blur some of the sharper lines or lower the opacity of the sharpened layer.
+ I really like the cold yet vibrant color scheme in this icon! The icon looks a bit sharp to me overall, especially the edge of her face, so I'd use the smuge tool to make that area more smooth.
+ The coolness of the coloring is so pretty, but the greenish areas (especially on her right shoulder) seem a bit out of place to me. I think maybe it's coming off negatively to me because it's textured, whereas the rest of the icon has a smoother look.
marcasitePOSITIVE VOTES
None.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ The crop and the light are nice here, I would just suggest using more contrast to give more deph to the icon.
+ Love the lighting in this icon, but it's too strong on the left side and washes out Emma's face and hair. This could easily be fixed tough, you can either add brightness/contrast layer on top or just merge all the layers, duplicate the base and set it to soft light or overlay (with lower opacity). This will really make Emma stand out more.
+ I think this icon has a lot of potential: the coloring is nice, the lighting is pretty and the crop is quite interesting. However, I feel like the character doesn't stand out sufficiently. I'd suggest enhancing her shadows with a bit more contrast on her face
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I love the softness and lighting of this icon!
+ Nice use of negative space but I find the white blob a bit too distracting, you could maybe lower its opacity?
+ I really love the strong colors and brown colors. However, her face is a little too washed out on my screen. This could be fixed by upping the contrast for example with a stamp layer on soft light, or just by sharpening her more.
+ The muted coloring and soft lighting look very pleasant to the eye, this icon has such a soft, lovely overall look where everything from colors to contrast and lighting fit together perfectly!
+ I absolutely love the muted colors and lighting effects in your icon, and I also love how she fades into the light a bit, that's a nice touch. The only criticism I have is that the subject looks really blurry to me.
+ I like where you are going with the light textures in this icon, but I think it's not quite coming across yet - there aren't really drastic shadows created by the light texture, and mostly it affects the background of the icon rather than the cap itself. Since the texture you're using does work very well with the cap, I might just try enhancing its lighting effects by hand by painting over the right half (ish) of the icon with a dark color, maybe that dark brown, and then hitting a few parts of her hair and face on the left side of the icon with some light-colored/white highlights, then blurring that all and setting it to soft light. If you wanted to get really intense, you could grab the colors from the lighter parts of her face and paint over the shadows on her face with them, then play around with layer modes/opacities to see what lightens them up a bit without it looking unnatural.
tinnnyPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ I really like the purple and golds together and the text is really nice
++ I'm feeling so emotional over this icon. First of all, I must commend your choice of screencap. Absolutely fantastic! Secondly, I love the colouring. It plays up the already existing colours very nicely. Thirdly, that text. It is perfect! I love that you emphasized one word and then made the rest of the text tiny. It gives the icon the right amount of gravitas. If I had one suggestion, it would be that the tiny text is a little too sharp. Depending on your program, you can change your text style to Smooth, so that it does not have many jagged edges. Or elses, you can get rid of the edges but zooming in on the text and blurring away the pesky, pixelly bits. But overall, a really fantastic icon!
+ Nice use of text and soft coloring
BEST INTERPRETATION
+ Stunning colouring and use of light, which really illustrates the "moth to a flame" theme. And it also works on a story level with Nick and Judy being attracted to/going towards Zootopia!
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Your interpretation of the theme is spot on. I love the soft, sunrise coloring, and the way the typography reflects the lighting, but the tiny text below "be" is really hard to make out.
+ This icon is super pretty, I really like the pastelly color scheme and the way the orange bright light hits the buildings, the screencap is already gorgeous as it is but I like that you've increased this lighting effect. The simple text in the middle is really good too, I quite like the font choice and the combination of one big word and tiny letters for the rest of the text.
+ This is a super cute icon, but I almost can't read the text! I think if the tiny text could go up a point size or two (even if it meant changing the size of "BE" as well, it would help. You may also try working with a different font or changing the antialiasing settings in PS, as those can have a big effect too, but I think just the size option would be the best fix!
spirits_risePOSITIVE VOTES
None.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ The icon looks quite grainy and LQ on my screen, and the crop is cutting Sir Leon in half. I think you could try a more centred crop, even if you have to leave some of that fire out.
+ I like the colouring and the simplicity of the icon, but I think the icon could do with a crop that focuses more on both the subjects. Cutting off one subjects makes it a little awkward, specially since it seems that the two subjects are sharing something important. Cropping the icon in such a way that would focus on the both the subjects would give the icon a little more focus and also give the eyes a point to look at. You can do this by either using a far crop or a centre crop.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Very nice icon, I like the muted coloring and the subtle lighting a lot. Side crops can easily look unbalanced but this one works wonderfully, due to the fire on the right bringing some visual interest to that area as well.
+ The dusky fire effect at the bottom is really pretty, but the darkest point of the icon is the background behind the subject, which steals the focus away from the other elements of the icon. Darkening the entire background a little more would not only help reduce the contrast there, but would also help the subjects pop a little more.
+ You chose a really great cap for the theme! I do think the lighting could use a bit of tweaking, though, because the faces are kind of dark and I'd love to see a bit more of them. I know it seems kind of antithetical to the cap, but I think darkening the fire a bit would help, both because then you could add a bit of color there, and because you wouldn't have to be afraid of brightening the rest of the icon! Maybe try adding masks over the parts of layers that make the fire brighter, or grabbing one of the colors from the edge of the fire and painting over the fire on a new layer, then playing with layer modes and opacity to see what adds some nice color without losing the glow. I also would maybe mask out that bright thing that's causing a line about halfway up the left side of the icon - I'm not sure what it is, but my eye keeps being drawn to it because it's so bright and then I get confused all over again! is it his arm? It might be his arm - but either way, I'd make it about the same brightness as the rest of his armor, maybe a bit brighter to show the glow of the fire.
ghanimasunPOSITIVE VOTES
+ Love the colouring/sepias, and very nice cut-out and composition as well. Great work!
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ I love how the frame and her hair are the same deep contrast against the lighter colors in the rest of the icon, but I feel that the frame is a bit overpowering. Making it a little smaller so that there's more negative space around it might help balance out the effect.
+ I really like this icon, the composition and texture work look great. I particularly love the background texture which gives this icon a lovely hint of painty/grungy style and those golden tones look gorgeous. The decorative frame works nicely too. My only nitpick is that the overall look of the coloring and contrast feels a bit harsh, maybe it's the effect of the dark, sharp, heavy-ish frame texture against the light blackground, it stands out so well against it that it gets a lot of attention. I'd suggest lowering the contrast just a little bit, especially the darkness of the darkest parts, maybe with a dark brown color fill layer or even a subtle grunge texture set on Screen.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ I like the composition with the clouds all around her and the frame floating in front of everything. Unusual but it works!
+ I really love the background in this cap - it makes it feel both a bit magical and old-fashioned, which goes with the cap very nicely. I do think, given the amount of contrast in the woman herself, the frame is a bit on the dark side because there's a very sharp contrast between it and the background. Perhaps lowering the opacity or playing with blend modes might take it down a bit, or, if you added contrast to the icon after putting that layer on, dragging it above the +contrast layers might also make a difference. I'm also curious whether the lighter parts near the very bottom of the frame are part of that texture, or where they're coming from? If they are in the frame texture, I would mask them out, at least where they're surrounding it; if they're another texture, I would lower the opacity on that too so they're not quite so bright. As a rule, I try to keep the brightest parts of an icon near where I want people's eyes to go, and this detracts a bit from the lightness behind her face.
julie_izumiPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ Love the bright colors and the coloring looks great. Text is well done and goes well with the overall feel of the icon
+++ Love the clarity and crispness of the lines and colours here! The colour scheme is also spot on. I also like how the words are breaking out of the "confined" space.
++ Going for vibrant colouring with the "confined" theme is a nice twist. I love the blue/yellow combo, contrast, text and composition!
+ The color combination is great and I love the text use.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
None.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Great composition and use of text, a fun icon!
+ Beautiful! Great text work, awesome coloring, good interpretation of the theme. I want more top votes, please.
+ Love the colouring of the icon and very neat cut-out. Also, I think you did a great job on the text. It nicely frames the subject and I love how the blue of the icon reflects the blue of the background.
+ I love the typography and the layered geometrical shapes, but I'd like to suggest switching the text at the top underneath the subjects head rather than over it. The play of the foreground/background might give you an even stronger composition.
+ I love the composition of this icon, the text and the combination of the circle and the text bar creates a fun, geometric, nicely confined effect which is perfect for the theme! I also love the bright cyan+yellow combination on the background elements but wish the colors of the subject matched the vibrancy: her colors seem a little muted in comparison. I know people have mixed reactions to extra yellow hair but I think that could totally work here and be that final touch to make this icon perfect, I'd probably experiment with masked color fill layers on different layer modes (multiple, darken, soft light etc) to get that effect.
novindalfPOSITIVE VOTES
+++ Gorgeous coloring and I love the negative space.
++ I love the colors of this, and the way you used the frame to work with the cap as well as tell the story.
+ I love the stark simplicity of the icon and the gorgeous colouring! So very pretty and soft!
+ The coloring in this icon is beautifully vibrant and caught my eye right away. The crop and composition are amazing too, the symmetry combined with negative space makes a great visual impact, and I also like the bit of smoky lighting going on at the top of the icon.
+ Lovely use of color and framing! I like how the crown ends up being in constrast to the rest of the icon because of the coloring, and how the Queen breaks out of the frame of the mirror as well--brilliant use of the frame here, really!
+ Love the brightness, colours and background work here! I also think it's interesting that you took the Queen out of the mirror, it's a nice twist and illustrates the "confined" theme in a more interpretive way.
BEST INTERPRETATION
None.
CONSTRUCTIVE VOTES
+ I absolutely love the simple composition and bold coloring of this icon, but I can't help but find the positioning of the queen a bit odd. This is maybe due to the fact that the frame was centered to her head which is not really centered to the body. In my opinion the frame should have been centered to the body for a more ballanced and symmetrical look.
ADDITIONAL VOTES
+ Lovely coloring, and I love the choice of small border behind her. It makes her look even taller and more imposing.
+ This icon really stands out, it's so vibrant, I like it! I love the idea of using the mirror as a frame in the background. Great work!
+ I love the detail of the mirror's frame used in the center of your icon. The cloudy light textures you've used at the top give extra dimension to the icon, which balences out the heaviness of the darker colors at the bottom nicely.
+ I love how deceptively simple this looks when you know it probably took ages. Really pretty icon.
Updated points spreadsheet can be found here.