Comments | oicontests: Peer Critique: #20

enriana in oicontests

Peer Critique: #20

Jul 11, 2007 18:42

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peer critique, 20

Comments 45

nachzes July 11 2007, 23:58:51 UTC

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daluci July 12 2007, 00:11:10 UTC

I can't crit the first one -- I like it far too much. (It just looks so... crisp.)

The second... I love the image versus the text. ♥ That text is quite difficult to read, though, which may just be me. Also, the white line between the black and the image looks pixelated.

nachzes July 12 2007, 00:15:07 UTC

Yeah...the text is a little difficult to read just because of the font I used...but I really liked that font. >.< Hee. I am a silly.

The white line is pixelated, 'cause I drew it with the pencil tool in Paint. But the icon looked waaaay too incomplete without it. (I don't even know why.)

daluci July 12 2007, 00:17:12 UTC

I do like the line, don't get me wrong. I think it makes the split between the two parts look more... complete. (: Do you use any other programs? If it were me, I would probably have brought that into Photoshop and tried blurring the line a little -- just so that it wouldn't be so... sheer.

Thread 10

persephone_kore July 12 2007, 00:04:04 UTC

I'll bite, thank you....

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daluci July 12 2007, 00:09:23 UTC

I love the text choice for the first. And the coloration on the second -- it's beautiful.

The text on both is so hard to read... In the first one, it's just that the black doesn't really pop out very well, and the second line is very small for that font... The second, the color, again, just doesn't pop. Wish I could come up with more specific crit. /swt I really do like both of them, though!

persephone_kore July 12 2007, 00:23:25 UTC

Thank you very much for replying! I actually meant for the text on the second one to be subtle, but I think I overdid it.

nachzes July 12 2007, 00:19:22 UTC

I like the choice of wording on the first -- interesting quote for the theme (fear, if I remember correctly). The font is lovely, and you did some nice cropping; but the image looks a little pixelated. =/ I also don't like the border much (Maybe if you had used a different colour, not forest green? The shape is cool.), and the second line of text is difficult to read.

I love how you made the hands red. =D But it also makes it hard to see the contrast between the hands and the rose. I don't know what you could do about that...maybe make the hands a more pale red (not lighter or brighter, but more washed-out?). The font is BEAUTIFUL, and once again I like the text; but because it's red it's 1] hard-ish to read, and 2] the red rather overwhelms the icon.

Thread 9

lady_akatari July 12 2007, 00:51:01 UTC

Ooh, a critique! ::drags both of her icons in, because constant work towards improvement is good:: (And thank you, everyone who thought they were good - ::dances::)

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itsdatkrzymix24 July 12 2007, 01:13:35 UTC

both of these icons are very well done.

first icon: love the text and the hazyiness of the image but i would have staggered "rose" and "in midwinter" so that they didn't start at the same place or even enlarged the word rose.

second icon: love the quote and the position of the words, and the way it fades. I would have chose a different, more softer color for the text just because red is such a strong color especially for so much text.

great job!

lady_akatari July 12 2007, 14:00:35 UTC

Thank you. ^^ I'll definitely keep the suggestions in mind for the future (especially the roses/in midwinter text, as that seems to be the common problem with that icon).

nachzes July 12 2007, 21:30:52 UTC

I actually liked the non-staggered text. =D (Just to make things difficult, you know.) I like it because it helps fill in that empty(ier) space on the top-left side of the icon, instead of crowding the pretty pretty image. But that's just me.

Thread 8

daluci July 12 2007, 00:53:52 UTC

Aw, why the heck not?

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itsdatkrzymix24 July 12 2007, 01:19:11 UTC

first icon: wow, how did you get it to that color? haha i really liked the coloring. i myself was going for that, but i couldn't seem to get it right so i stopped. the quote went so well and i got the emotion from the image, the only thing holding it back was the color and font of the text. a thicker font with a darker color and the same glow would make it awesome.

daluci July 12 2007, 01:24:51 UTC

Combination of a lot of things. /swt My computer crashed while I was working on that icon, so I can't tell you exactly, but I know there was... a few darkening layers, abuse of the sponge tool, and at least one layer of overlay with dark red.

Thanks for the crit! ♥

enriana July 12 2007, 02:36:57 UTC

#1:

I like the colouring, very original. The pixel font is a bit weird - it almost looks like cursive; it wouldn't be the font I'd choose. I really like the quote, but it doesn't seem to fit the picture.

#2:

The picture is lovely and I like the quote, the text is a bit funky. I like how you fiddled with sizes, but with pixel fonts, there's pretty much only one size they look good in. You might notice that the middle line of text looks most normal, while the first and third look a bit wonky.

I'd suggest a font like Times New Roman or something that works with every size. :)

Thread 13

itsdatkrzymix24 July 12 2007, 01:24:11 UTC

every little bit helps. :)

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enriana July 12 2007, 02:39:26 UTC

#1:

I really like the text, but it feels a tad off, the "castle" especially. That white bit right under "castle", is that part of the sandcastle itself? It looks a bit weird. The dots seem unnecessary, less effects may be more in this case.

Very lovely overall, but a few details make me itch.

#2:

Again, the dots seem unnecessary. I like the crop and the text, but the lime green is very startling and doesn't really match the mood - I'd suggest maybe a dark red, or greyscale.

lady_akatari July 12 2007, 14:10:13 UTC

I really like the concept behind the first one - I read (and write) a lot of fantasy, so it instantly conjures up all sorts of ideas and images - but I'm not so sure about the font for "castle" and the gray dots. They're both very modern-looking, and urban; the dots make me think of machinery and the castle-font of stenciling on walls or some such. Since the sandcastle is in a nature-based environment, and the text suggests history and/or magic, it sort of jars. I'd suggest some other, more organic-shaped brush or texture, if you had wanted to use one (I'm not even certain it's necessary), and a different font - a handwriting or calligraphic one, perhaps ( ... )

nachzes July 12 2007, 21:38:47 UTC

I loved these two icons -- both beautiful. For number one, I didn't really even notice the dots until enriana pointed them out, so yeah...a little unnecessary, since they don't really make the icon any more appealing. (But what do I know, right?)

I love the font. Love love LOVE how you made "castle" fade, and I actually like the white bit under it -- it looks like its half-hidden by a dune. (I think that's actually the foam on the ocean though, isn't it?)

For the second icon...hmm. I liked the lime green. Hee. It mystified me how you got it, and it was a GOOD colour change, unlike many alterations which just leave the icon looking unnatural in a bad way. I found that the lime green really made the scene appear evil (going from my Lion King roots, the scene with the hyenas and Scar singing). Again, the font is lovely; I actually liked the dots in this one. I felt that they really added to the icon and balanced that second line of text. One thing I might suggest with them is make them go lighter to darker (or vice-versa), instead ( ... )