1 of 1- Osgiliath Guard
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Creating Signatures
I'm looking for advice on making sigs. I've tried my hand at them in the past, although I never released or used them, and I've never been pleased with them. So. Whoever among you who makes your own sigs, or does them for others, I appeal to you for your advice, techniques, or tricks.
CREATOR OF THE CANADIAN PREMIERE HOCKEY LEAGUE
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- superadminguy
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Re: Creating Signatures
Hey OG, sig making is its own art form in my opinion. That's actually how I got started in graphic design. I started making sigs for some message boards I was part of in high school.
It's the perfect small canvas to experiment with a wide variety of techniques. I started with GIMP back in the day and focused on as many tutorials as I could. What graphics program do you use?
The first thing to get right is the sizing. Most rookies make their sigs too big. You have to think of it like tiny food, it's a mini version of something larger. The challenge is how to present those images in a way that's cool and imaginative. You have to think smaller. Smaller fonts, thicknesses, lines, etc.
The biggest thing that will set you apart from rookie sigs is layer blending. If you don't have a graphics program that does layer blending then I would recommend finding one that does and learning it.
If you take the signature I made you, for instance. I started with an interesting grungy background image for texture.
Then I brought in the logo and applied some effects and layer blending to get that silky wavy texture and went from there with design elements like the fading lines, multi-layer text and glow effects before bringing in another clean version of the logo for the center. I added the Tree of Gondar into it as more texture. I applied some basic color correction and that was about it.
Basically, I'd recommend finding signature making tutorials for whatever program you're going to use and start practicing different techniques.
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- Osgiliath Guard
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Re: Creating Signatures
The program I use is ClipStudio Paint Pro. Essentially a cheaper Photoshop with 98% of the features. Highly recommended, btw.
Thanks for the advice, bro. I will try it out when I do my next sigs. Think smaller, take my time with effects, use the program, not the brushes.
CREATOR OF THE CANADIAN PREMIERE HOCKEY LEAGUE
OWNER of the OTTAWA GUARDIANS of the ALTHL
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Thread Starter- Osgiliath Guard
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Re: Creating Signatures
Here's my first attempt at a more professional looking sig. Tear it to shreds mate!
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Thread Starter- ThisIsFine
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Re: Creating Signatures
Osgiliath Guard wrote:
Here's my first attempt at a more professional looking sig. Tear it to shreds mate!
That’s actually half impressive. Good work!
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Re: Creating Signatures
I'll take half impressive for a first try! Thanks man!
CREATOR OF THE CANADIAN PREMIERE HOCKEY LEAGUE
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Thread Starter- Steelman
- superadminguy
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Re: Creating Signatures
Here's my first attempt at a more professional looking sig. Tear it to shreds mate!
Definitely a nice start! (my first sig was pretty bad. I used to keep it around just to remind me, but I can't find it anymore...)
You mentioned brushes earlier. Brushes are great when used well. It's a matter of preference really, I personally don't use a lot of brushes but mostly because with sports we stick to shapes and line work.
Cut-outs are definitely challenging. There are literally hundreds of tutorials on how to do it. Yours isn't bad but still relies on the white outer edge of the warrior guy. To get around that, I'd soften up that outer glow (or apply one) to get a better blended effect. Sometimes elements that make sense in a big picture don't make sense on a small canvas, such as what I assume is a spear or stick behind the pointing guy. You can remove elements like that to clean up your space.
I would say the grungy background is nice but it's too similar in color/tone to your warrior and soldiers. I'd consider either lightening/darkening it or applying some other effects/colors to get a little more contrast. The yellow thing doesn't work because it's just sitting there. The pop of color is great but I'd find a way to incorporate that more into the design as opposed to just a random element.
Overall a really nice first effort! Sig work is unique because it takes advantage of nearly all the skills and techniques of graphic design. (just wait til you're dealing with size 3.5 fonts and such...) Basically use these sigs as ways to experiment and perfect your different tools and techniques. With such a small canvas it's not as daunting and you can create cool stuff while you're at it. I'm here for any questions or feedback!
AHS Admin. Creator of the THL, PUCH, WHA: Redux and Retroliga.
- Osgiliath Guard
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- Registered: 4/30/2020
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Re: Creating Signatures
Here's my first attempt at a more professional looking sig. Tear it to shreds mate!Definitely a nice start! (my first sig was pretty bad. I used to keep it around just to remind me, but I can't find it anymore...)
You mentioned brushes earlier. Brushes are great when used well. It's a matter of preference really, I personally don't use a lot of brushes but mostly because with sports we stick to shapes and line work.
Cut-outs are definitely challenging. There are literally hundreds of tutorials on how to do it. Yours isn't bad but still relies on the white outer edge of the warrior guy. To get around that, I'd soften up that outer glow (or apply one) to get a better blended effect. Sometimes elements that make sense in a big picture don't make sense on a small canvas, such as what I assume is a spear or stick behind the pointing guy. You can remove elements like that to clean up your space.
I would say the grungy background is nice but it's too similar in color/tone to your warrior and soldiers. I'd consider either lightening/darkening it or applying some other effects/colors to get a little more contrast. The yellow thing doesn't work because it's just sitting there. The pop of color is great but I'd find a way to incorporate that more into the design as opposed to just a random element.
Overall a really nice first effort! Sig work is unique because it takes advantage of nearly all the skills and techniques of graphic design. (just wait til you're dealing with size 3.5 fonts and such...) Basically use these sigs as ways to experiment and perfect your different tools and techniques. With such a small canvas it's not as daunting and you can create cool stuff while you're at it. I'm here for any questions or feedback!
Thanks man! I actually added the white outline on Faramir to hide my bad cut, lol, and the yellow thing was supposed to be the Crown of Gondor. Next weekend I'll play around and work on other sigs. Can I PM you questions and designs if needed?
CREATOR OF THE CANADIAN PREMIERE HOCKEY LEAGUE
OWNER of the OTTAWA GUARDIANS of the ALTHL
- •
Thread Starter- Steelman
- superadminguy
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- From: The Wild West
- Registered: 5/19/2019
- Posts: 1,599
Re: Creating Signatures
Here's my first attempt at a more professional looking sig. Tear it to shreds mate!Definitely a nice start! (my first sig was pretty bad. I used to keep it around just to remind me, but I can't find it anymore...)
You mentioned brushes earlier. Brushes are great when used well. It's a matter of preference really, I personally don't use a lot of brushes but mostly because with sports we stick to shapes and line work.
Cut-outs are definitely challenging. There are literally hundreds of tutorials on how to do it. Yours isn't bad but still relies on the white outer edge of the warrior guy. To get around that, I'd soften up that outer glow (or apply one) to get a better blended effect. Sometimes elements that make sense in a big picture don't make sense on a small canvas, such as what I assume is a spear or stick behind the pointing guy. You can remove elements like that to clean up your space.
I would say the grungy background is nice but it's too similar in color/tone to your warrior and soldiers. I'd consider either lightening/darkening it or applying some other effects/colors to get a little more contrast. The yellow thing doesn't work because it's just sitting there. The pop of color is great but I'd find a way to incorporate that more into the design as opposed to just a random element.
Overall a really nice first effort! Sig work is unique because it takes advantage of nearly all the skills and techniques of graphic design. (just wait til you're dealing with size 3.5 fonts and such...) Basically use these sigs as ways to experiment and perfect your different tools and techniques. With such a small canvas it's not as daunting and you can create cool stuff while you're at it. I'm here for any questions or feedback!Thanks man! I actually added the white outline on Faramir to hide my bad cut, lol, and the yellow thing was supposed to be the Crown of Gondor. Next weekend I'll play around and work on other sigs. Can I PM you questions and designs if needed?
For sure man!
AHS Admin. Creator of the THL, PUCH, WHA: Redux and Retroliga.