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-   -   The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.) (http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/vbz/showthread.php?t=128402)

Nullifidian 01-13-2013 04:19 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 
shitty font effects should be a bannable offense ;_;

moches 01-13-2013 04:20 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 
be more detailed if you're going to criticize. what about the text can we improve?

EDIT: that reads a bit more curtly than I intended, but I genuinely want to know

Nullifidian 01-13-2013 04:25 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 
Yeah you're right haha sorry, I just felt like a dickpost but I'll go more in depth

Ossuary - Sleeptime Gorilla Museum
Inconsistent font usage (can work if the fonts match but they don't), and aside from that, The font of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum doesn't fit the background. The semi-transparent stroke and the glow effect on "Ossuary" don't fit the grungy look of the background either, and the font distortion as well as the banner's inverted text color are cheap effects (like putting bright red lipstick on a girl who can't pull it off).

id
Very high contrast with muddy colors. The effect of the scales (If that's what they are?) and the city landscape blended in feels like a random photo collage and the same deal as with ossuary on the semi-transparent stroke text effect.

Machine
I like the MA effect here but again with the inverted color effect. There's much classier ways of making text stand out and the inverted color makes the e at the end of Machine not that well readable. The purple glow around the Justin Aswell text is also slight off hue making it not fit.

Thrillseeker
Graphically very pleasing background but the text's drop shadow effect makes it muddy and blended in which doesn't match the sharp and crisp style of the background. A gradient doesn't have to be that apparent either because right now the top blends in with the background a bit. A less contrasted gradient might make for a more classy effect. Perhaps change the black of the font into a dark purple color that is present in the background to make it fit in.

Black Light Machine
The stroke with the inner glow on the banner font evens each other out (in a bad way). You'll want to either make it crisp and sharp or fuzzy but not half/half because it's really distracting. Not to mention that the effects seem totally unnecessary (because of the light background it is resting on) and inconsistent with how the text is done in the background. Pure black and pure white are also not really classy choices and the dark blue to black at the top for example reminds me of 90's graphics. Black is something you have to be careful with because it can very quickly turn ugly.

Lataia
I think the font is too thin which detracts from the readability and there's something about the glow. It's almost as if you masked out parts of the glow. Other than that I like it though.

Juicy
I like the background although some colors (mainly the reds) are a bit too saturated imo. Biggest problem is pixelation in the "kors k Lovers DJ Yoshitaka". Did you rasterize the text and upscale it? Because right now I see bitmap artifacts in it.

Dengeki Tube
Looks really great, nothing really to comment about except that I noticed the banner has different effects and colors than the background. Not sure if this is intentional but I really like the colors and effects in the background more than in the banner. The gradient effect in the banner is something you should fix though because it makes it less readable.

Hajnal
The background seems kind of random and unfitting, plus it's very high contrast as well. I always picture earth-ish tints when I hear the song hajnal instead of black and white. The word hajnal means "dawn" btw, so that's something you could take into consideration when you pick an image for the background (images relating to the song are always a plus because then you're basically complementing the story).

Satori De Pon
I like the background (although it seems squashed vertically) but the font's stroke color clashes big time. Also, inconsistent font in the banner and the stroke effect around GORESHIT should be the same size for the sake of consistency.

woops missed arntonach's gfx:

Guitar Hero
Very high contrast and the black around the guitar hero font doesn't fit the surrounding color. Instead you should use a color relative to the colors they're next to because even though the background is black, the graphic itself gradually changes from darker to black whereas the guitar hero font is just high value/high saturation to black to high value/high saturation again. Main issue is the high contrast though, it makes it seem too brightly lit. Props for using the Guitar Hero font though but I'm not sure if that fits the song lol.

Esti
I like the idea a lot of the switching the scheme around for the 2 files, but this one is also very high contrast and you probably already know opinion on inverted text color effects. That stroke also doesn't match the fancy font.

e: no comment means I have nothing to note about the gfx as in: it's all good :J

moches 01-13-2013 04:56 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 
WHOA. I get what I asked for haha. very comprehensive notes, I don't agree with everything but on the whole you make a lot of good points. thanks for the feedback :)

on the whole I'm not super smart regarding graphic design, so if anybody else has comments/critiques, you're only helping. unless you're being a dick. don't be a dick.

Nullifidian 01-13-2013 05:02 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by moches (Post 3836512)
WHOA. I get what I asked for haha. very comprehensive notes, I don't agree with everything but on the whole you make a lot of good points. thanks for the feedback :)

on the whole I'm not super smart regarding graphic design, so if anybody else has comments/critiques, you're only helping. unless you're being a dick. don't be a dick.

What don't you agree with? Cause I can provide convincing arguments and examples of most of this stuff if you want

moches 01-13-2013 05:18 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 
I think a few of the sets you mentioned (like id, which is beautiful imo) are fine. I'm less picky about gfx, though, so it's just a matter of opinion. also re: Hajnal2, it's a ver dark song and that bg fits ver well. captures the ominous vibe perfectly, I feel.

lastly, since Juicy's a chiptoon song the pixelation might have been intentional, but I'll have to corroborate that with Necros

otherwise those points are probably like 99% correct

Nullifidian 01-13-2013 05:32 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by moches (Post 3836536)
I think a few of the sets you mentioned (like id, which is beautiful imo) are fine. I'm less picky about gfx, though, so it's just a matter of opinion.

The things I point out are "small" issues but once fixed they could really improve a graphic. They may not seem that off right now, until they're fixed and you compare it with the old version.

Quote:

Originally Posted by moches (Post 3836536)
also re: Hajnal2, it's a ver dark song and that bg fits ver well. captures the ominous vibe perfectly, I feel.

I never said you can't have a dark vibe for the song because obviously a dark vibe fits yeah, but the random haystack just seems out of place, not matching the song. Ominous can still be done with low contrast btw, and right now this has too much dark/light contrast imo. (look at Black Light Machine for example, that one has a good balance in dark/light while still maintaining a classy feeling to it (although the glow effect etc on the text might need toning down a bit to make the text more readable))

Quote:

Originally Posted by moches (Post 3836536)
lastly, since Juicy's a chiptoon song the pixelation might have been intentional, but I'll have to corroborate that with Necros

The pixelation in the background is intentional but the small font is not intentional. And even if it was intentional for the small font, it looks like an error so it should be fixed either way.


edit: regarding too much contrast, take a look at this picture for example:


I upped the contrast of the above image big time. Now obviously, this image is still a good image because the artist did a really good job drawing this but take a look at the original now:


Do you see how much more of an atmosphere the original has? How much more mood is portrayed in the image? That's basically the issue I have with a lot of graphics I mentioned that have too high contrast

AlexDest 01-13-2013 05:33 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 
lol caring about stepmania graphics

moches 01-13-2013 05:39 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 10 (9 members and 1 guests)
moches, AlexDest, d-feather, FissionMailed1, gameboy42690, Gundam-Dude, i love you, xNiX, _.Spitfire._

evidently a lot of people care about Stepmania gfx

Gundam-Dude 01-13-2013 05:40 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 
everyone knows that I'm incredibly elitist when it comes to typography, but I'm just dropping by to say that everything spitfire said is valid. I actually could harshly critique every set and add on even more than what was said, but I'll pass because I fully understand the fact that you're handling a pack of pretty much 100 files (almost half of which doesn't even have sets). I've went through this countless times already and had to pretty much be graphics superhero everytime (albeit I'll admit a lot of sets I made look like SHIT in order to meet my deadlines), meanwhile I understand you can't pull that sort of thing off yourself, mochers.

in the end, these are fucking sets for stepmania so it doesn't even matter in the end whether the graphics are professional designer tier shits. valid designer critiques or not ultimately doesn't change that this is shit for a keyboard smashing game where nobody plays with backgrounds on these days, and the major demographic of the world doesn't have nearly as high of an aesthetic standard in the first place.

to those who made GFX: fix the sets according to spitfire's suggestions at your own discretion, but in the end it doesn't even matter unless you want to do it for personal gain/practice. also banners are more important than backgrounds in the case of stepmania, so make sure those look good above all

Nullifidian 01-13-2013 05:41 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 
Stepmania graphics despite being for stepmania can still be good practice for any other graphics work. The skills are transferrable so nothing wrong with it imo hehu

edit: yeah gd I didn't even go into spacing and other design principles yet but I figured it's not that big of a deal right now. Other issues were more apparent and as you said, most people play with bg off anyway lol

moches 01-13-2013 05:48 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Gundam-Dude (Post 3836563)
everyone knows that I'm incredibly elitist when it comes to typography, but I'm just dropping by to say that everything spitfire said is valid. I actually could harshly critique every set and add on even more than what was said, but I'll pass because I fully understand the fact that you're handling a pack of pretty much 100 files (almost half of which doesn't even have sets). I've went through this countless times already and had to pretty much be graphics superhero everytime (albeit I'll admit a lot of sets I made look like SHIT in order to meet my deadlines), meanwhile I understand you can't pull that sort of thing off yourself, mochers.

in the end, these are fucking sets for stepmania so it doesn't even matter in the end whether the graphics are professional designer tier shits. valid designer critiques or not ultimately doesn't change that this is shit for a keyboard smashing game where nobody plays with backgrounds on these days, and the major demographic of the world doesn't have nearly as high of an aesthetic standard in the first place.

to those who made GFX: fix the sets according to spitfire's suggestions at your own discretion, but in the end it doesn't even matter unless you want to do it for personal gain/practice. also banners are more important than backgrounds in the case of stepmania, so make sure those look good above all

+1ing this post

I really do appreciate all of the ways in which people are helping out, whether they're contributing work or critiquing it. believe it or not, you guys are making this pack better a little bit at a time. that said, it's not the end of the world if these aren't World Graphic Design Magazine worthy masterpieces, so everything should be taken at face value. don't forget that this is a game, something we all do because it's productive and fun.

Arntonach 01-13-2013 07:05 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 
All I did to Guitar Heor was upscale the gfx for my pad file and twink it a little to make it stand out. Esti-I mean Sin was just a quickie a was mostly inspired by Scylaxx's gfx. To be honest I don't like them too much but they are decent at least.

also no one touch ghosts

Spenner 01-13-2013 07:56 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by _.Spitfire._ (Post 3836565)
Stepmania graphics despite being for stepmania can still be good practice for any other graphics work. The skills are transferrable so nothing wrong with it imo hehu

I started out getting into graphic design by doing stepmania graphics for friends, and some forum signatures, and I must say that learning to critique your own work as harshly as anyone else with design experience would, is something that will push your work to always have that clean attention to detail.

If I didn't start out doing little design projects for people I would have lost years of valuable experience under my belt. When you think you've made a solid design, have yourself take a step back, and pretend it's not your work. Be blunt with what's wrong, don't try to rationalize it. Rationalizing a mediocre design piece is just keeping you from learning to fix whatever the problem may be.

Anyhow, listen to the advice Spitfire has given, and don't be overwhelmed by the subtleties he's pointed out-- a house is built brick by brick, if you use cracked bricks, the house will be weak.

ScylaX 01-13-2013 08:03 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 
holy crap
I JUST WANTED TO HELP STEPMANIA
Y'KNOW THE ACTIVITY GOING ON 'N' SHIT
WHAT HAVE I DONE

you guys aren't done astonishing me hah

Arntonach 01-13-2013 08:11 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 
Then revamped DDR gfx?




Oversaturated to emulate konami's early gfx. :)

Nullifidian 01-13-2013 09:45 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 
I felt like doing the xtremepolesta one because I found the most fitting picture ever. This is so wrong but it felt so right lol





e3: updated the font etc.

Aeir 01-13-2013 09:59 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 



Btw, thanks for the all the kind words to everyone who liked my graphics! And thank you for the feedback Spitfire. I'll probably release a V2 of Black Light Machine cause i'm not really happy with how it turned out, especially for such an epic song :(

xVaLoRx 01-13-2013 10:31 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by _.Spitfire._ (Post 3836929)
I felt like doing the xtremepolesta one because I found the most fitting picture ever. This is so wrong but it felt so right lol

gfx

rofl

Arntonach 01-13-2013 11:07 PM

Re: The FFR Compilation Pack needs your ~artistic~ power! (Yes, credits are involved.
 
I saw rotator; i came.




The song it titled by Mr. Kill, an alias of Rotator. Also hi skor



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