Request a Signature / Wallpaper / Banner! (READ FIRST POST + FAQ!)

[The Brain BBQ]

Hi peoples. I need a quick tip on something...I need tips on how to make my text more...exciting? Like..every time I do text, it just looks awkward. I'm not really sure what steps to take to make it look more normal ._. anyone have tips on that?

Well, a few things I normally like to do (though beware, text hates me and I hate text):
* I never add text as the last thing on a signature, but rather put it in before I start with my adjustment layers (gradient maps, color balance etc). This blends the text a lot better with the signature itself.
* Try mixing different fonts together. It's time consuming but well worth it in the end if you have a great variety of fonts available to you.
* Play around with the colors! If one color looks to flat, try double clicking the layer and put a gradient overlay on it, pick colors that already exist in the signature if you want it to blend in.
* Experiment with the blending options and opacity of the layer.
* Create a new layer under your text and put an interesting brush or something behind it to make the text pop out more. This works especially well if the signature is very bright or very dark.

.. that's just some general things I do when working with text. Most importantly, have fun with it!

[Geekissexy]

Well, a few things I normally like to do (though beware, text hates me and I hate text):
* I never add text as the last thing on a signature, but rather put it in before I start with my adjustment layers (gradient maps, color balance etc). This blends the text a lot better with the signature itself.
* Try mixing different fonts together. It's time consuming but well worth it in the end if you have a great variety of fonts available to you.
* Play around with the colors! If one color looks to flat, try double clicking the layer and put a gradient overlay on it, pick colors that already exist in the signature if you want it to blend in.
* Experiment with the blending options and opacity of the layer.
* Create a new layer under your text and put an interesting brush or something behind it to make the text pop out more. This works especially well if the signature is very bright or very dark.

.. that's just some general things I do when working with text. Most importantly, have fun with it!

Yes yes and more yes.

Mixing font styles is amazing - it can take something boring and make it look great.

[Zil]

On the text subject, maybe someone knows if there's a way to sort the fonts in PS? Cos I have a gazzilion of them, would be nice to have for example favorites in separate folder or section.

[Safhira]

On the text subject, maybe someone knows if there's a way to sort the fonts in PS? Cos I have a gazzilion of them, would be nice to have for example favorites in separate folder or section.

I don't put fonts in PS. If it has too many it can cause it to crash and go blahssldjfladskshhaksd. I keep mine in AMP Font Viewer. It's separate so of course I have to close PS and re-open it to get the font to register. But, I like it because it gives you a preview of the font and I can put the fonts in sub-folders to group 'em up.

[ElyPop]

PM Request:



P.S. *Hugs Geeki.*

[Yavania]

I would like to request a signature and a matching avatar.

Can I please have the signature to include

Name: Zharos, Retrivution Paladin
and then just a view of my paladin with some orangey / red / yeloow effects in the background.

Erm i am very unsure about avatar so anything you would find fitting.

zharos on ravencrest is the character. (recently had Race Change to human and Name change to zharos so please make sure thats what it looks like) it is basically the normal DS Warrior tier with lightbringer tabard and zoids greatsword.

[Zekie]

Finished. If you don't like the blue "water" fractal thingies then just poke me and I'll take it off. I wanted to show your Resto spec but I'm not sure how it looks. It looks ok to me but your opinion matters. And as always, if you don't like it you're under no obligation to use it. Have a great day!

Thanks, It actually looks really good. Became inspererad to create custom signatures by this.

[Safhira]

Thanks, It actually looks really good. Became inspererad to create custom signatures by this.

Yay! I'm glad you like it. That makes me happy.

[Lilliputia]

It's a pity that you all do not have a dedicated sub-forum. The organization/tracking of requests might could be a little better controlled in that way.

A sticky for the Request Guidelines and Requester FAQ (or two seperate stickies): I realize the guidelines have recently been updated to remove the Request Template. However, I think it would be welcome to include a few examples of how one would write up their request (rather than return to the more rigid/enforced template, just give a few scenarios of some of the basic info typically provided/used). Perhaps that would not be helpful for those that don't bother to look at the guidelines (as we've all seen to be the case before), but those that do read it might appreciate a nudge in the right direction. Not everyone thinks to include such items as resolution for wallpapers, without a prompt to do so.

A sticky for Tips/Tutorials: This would be a place where folks could post a question about how to achieve certain effects or request/find tutorials. The lead post of this sticky could be regularly updated to maintain a list of available tutorials, font sites, resource links, etc. and perhaps a Designer/Artist FAQ/tips for the most common effects/items asked about, like a quick tip on text work.

A sticky for a current Designers/Artists lists: This would namely be helpful to those wishing to contact a specific designer/artist or who are looking for someone willing/able to do a specific type of piece, such as a wallpaper. A list of the active designers/artists would be made available for quick reference. Those wishing to make it known that their queue is open/closed for pm's could have that especially noted next to their name. Things like their preference for certain types of requests would also be listed i.e. Lilliputia - Sigs/Banners Only. While many designers/artists have links to examples of their work in their signatures, providing these links along with the other info on each designer/artist might prove to be helpful too.

A sticky for PM'D Requests: This is where a designer/artist could post those works made for individuals that specifically sought their particular styles. It should include the name of the requester, rather than just saying "pmr", to help everyone to better track who is asking who for what and how often.

A sticky for a Showcase: This is where the designers/artists and anyone else wanting to show their work can post their work that was made out of boredom, for family/friends, for practice, etc. This is where "atta boys" and the like can go for work that isn't directly related to the public requests.

A separate topic for each requester: The main meat of the sub-forum would be the requests, each with their own dedicated topic. This is where an interested designer/artist would post in the specific topic to "claim" the request. It is also where both the requester and the designer/artist would place questions/clarifications regarding said request. Where the requester could post their thanks/pick up the finished piece(s) and where others could comment over that particular request results.

My wishful thinking probably sounds more complicated than I intend, but it just gets a little frustrating to have anything and everything inside a single thread. Perhaps it is my lack of an adventurous spirit, but while learning to navigate this tangled mess, I often feel like I need a map, flashlight, compass and plenty of food/water rations. XD As it is, I keep a little notepad open and make notes of requests I'm considering, along with the page number they can be found on and even the post number. Then I spend time scrolling through everything else to see if I can spot if the requests have already been claimed.

Anyways, reading about the troubles earlier just sorta prompted me to spew this up. My husband is probably going to groan loudly when he sees it, as he usually does when I get all wordy. *giggle*

[Zekie]

It's a pity that you all do not have a dedicated sub-forum. The organization/tracking of requests might could be a little better controlled in that way.

A sticky for the Request Guidelines and Requester FAQ (or two seperate stickies): I realize the guidelines have recently been updated to remove the Request Template. However, I think it would be welcome to include a few examples of how one would write up their request (rather than return to the more rigid/enforced template, just give a few scenarios of some of the basic info typically provided/used). Perhaps that would not be helpful for those that don't bother to look at the guidelines (as we've all seen to be the case before), but those that do read it might appreciate a nudge in the right direction. Not everyone thinks to include such items as resolution for wallpapers, without a prompt to do so.

A sticky for Tips/Tutorials: This would be a place where folks could post a question about how to achieve certain effects or request/find tutorials. The lead post of this sticky could be regularly updated to maintain a list of available tutorials, font sites, resource links, etc. and perhaps a Designer/Artist FAQ/tips for the most common effects/items asked about, like a quick tip on text work.

A sticky for a current Designers/Artists lists: This would namely be helpful to those wishing to contact a specific designer/artist or who are looking for someone willing/able to do a specific type of piece, such as a wallpaper. A list of the active designers/artists would be made available for quick reference. Those wishing to make it known that their queue is open/closed for pm's could have that especially noted next to their name. Things like their preference for certain types of requests would also be listed i.e. Lilliputia - Sigs/Banners Only. While many designers/artists have links to examples of their work in their signatures, providing these links along with the other info on each designer/artist might prove to be helpful too.

A sticky for PM'D Requests: This is where a designer/artist could post those works made for individuals that specifically sought their particular styles. It should include the name of the requester, rather than just saying "pmr", to help everyone to better track who is asking who for what and how often.

A sticky for a Showcase: This is where the designers/artists and anyone else wanting to show their work can post their work that was made out of boredom, for family/friends, for practice, etc. This is where "atta boys" and the like can go for work that isn't directly related to the public requests.

A separate topic for each requester: The main meat of the sub-forum would be the requests, each with their own dedicated topic. This is where an interested designer/artist would post in the specific topic to "claim" the request. It is also where both the requester and the designer/artist would place questions/clarifications regarding said request. Where the requester could post their thanks/pick up the finished piece(s) and where others could comment over that particular request results.

My wishful thinking probably sounds more complicated than I intend, but it just gets a little frustrating to have anything and everything inside a single thread. Perhaps it is my lack of an adventurous spirit, but while learning to navigate this tangled mess, I often feel like I need a map, flashlight, compass and plenty of food/water rations. XD As it is, I keep a little notepad open and make notes of requests I'm considering, along with the page number they can be found on and even the post number. Then I spend time scrolling through everything else to see if I can spot if the requests have already been claimed.

Anyways, reading about the troubles earlier just sorta prompted me to spew this up. My husband is probably going to groan loudly when he sees it, as he usually does when I get all wordy. *giggle*

Agree with this.

[Annelot]

Ok since I will be gone for a few days I decided to re-post this one mainly becaus I would love to have my stream looking proper when GW2 and MoP comes out ( I will stream alot by then)



What I would like: TWITCH.TV DESIGN

Backround: I really like the razer color (The green or blue one)

Text: I want it to show some where my two gamer names ( PeterN & Aimless Moose)
Make some cool frames around the text ya know ;b

And for the information page I want this text
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...p7S9HK3PY/edit


Design: Maybe some cool smokes, I really like this picture. Go crazy here, I dont mind anything except pandas, haha!
http://imgur.com/vpVVF


Thanks in advance!

[Sokogeka]

Right, on typefaces and typography (copy pasta from my PDF tutorial, brace yourself for a long post):

While there is not much text in a signature or on a wallpaper, it’s still a good idea to have a brief look at some typography, especially when it comes to simply readability and mixing two typefaces with each other. There are a few font categories/classifications, but the most dominant are the serif fonts and the sans serif fonts.



Sans Serif fonts are often used on screen since the small serifs can be very hard to distinguish on the screen. As a rule of thumb, you normally use Sans Serif for long paragraphs when it’s on screen since these are easy on the eye and don’t slow down the reading. However it’s not illegal to use Serif typefaces. The cunning use of these can actually enrich your design and the feel.

Always check the readability of what you make, especially when it comes to signatures. YOU will always be the worst to check this. You have the disadvantage of knowing what is written, and so does the requester. This mean you are highly influenced by recognition. Check it on friends since they would most likely be objective. Don’t check it on family, cause they are often biased and support you, even when it’s in a bad way. If people can’t read what’s on the signature, they will simply just skip the text and only use the image as recognition. This may be in your interest since the only thing you really made was the image, but it certainly won’t be in the requesters interest since they wanted to get a message abroad; their character name etc.



This shows you the x-hight of a typeface. This will become more important for my next gobspill.


When combining two typefaces the key is contrast! You need a certain diversity in the fonts you choose to generate a higher level of visual interest. Of course you can’t have too dissimilar typefaces, or it appears accidental. So all this takes a bit of fine tuning. I myself am not that great with typefaces, but a random Google search have given me some guidelines I can share here. First off let’s start with talking about font families and classifications. The font families, are fonts with similar name and look. This could be Gentium Basic and Gentium Book Basic:



This is the same font family, but the Book Basic is more thicker than the Basic. This means you will have the same basic structure of the font, but with small tweakings, such as letter spacing, thickness etc.
Classifications are the whole “Serif” “Sans Serif” charade we assign the different fonts, and here is why it might be a good idea to know what classification you are working with. A good way to secure contrast between the fonts you use, is to use two different classifications. Mix a Sans Serif with a Serif. Mix a Sans Serif script. This will ensure contrast.

Now if it just were that easy. As said you can’t have too big diversity. You have to consider the weight of the typeface and the structure of it as well. We do of course have the terms: Light, Regular, Medium and Bold to help us with weights, but some fonts are just thin and some thick. Take for instance this, which shows three different fonts:



A thin GoesansLight, a normal Helvetica and a thick ChunckFive. As said you also have to look at the structure. Study the letters side by side and look for similar shapes or other factors.
Here you can see some examples of typefaces that have a different structure and similar structure:



It is generally better to go with wildly different structures, instead of having structures that are almost similar.

It is also important to take note of the x-hight of the two typefaces and make sure that these are as close as possible to make it harmonious. Also note the “O”. Capital o’s are a boobytrap of generation. Some o’s are oval where other o’s are more circular. If you have two different typefaces, one with and oval and one with a circular O, they will battle one another and it will look wrong. All in all, pay close attention to what makes your eyes dart around. If your eyes are settled, something is wrong!

You can also consider hierarchy. There are many ways of creating hierarchy in your text. Sizes does matter (at least here). For instance headings are often written in a large size compared to paragraph text. You can furthermore emphasize a piece of text by either setting it to italic or bold out a statement to create more focus. You can also use colour to emphasize words or parts of them. As an example is the classic mothers day:



Lastly you can also consider the feel of the typeface. Is it a techy type or a more elegant calligraphy type? This will impact the image and can really make a difference.

Now this is only scratching the surface and I wish I could get more in depth with it, but I might get out of my comfort zone. I'm still at war with text in pictures in general, and the amount of men I've lost to it, still haunts me to this very day. I wish it was easier to work with that meat grinding, sodding, kerfuffle inducing sad wrench, alas sadly not.

Furthermore a little tip. If you are having a hard time reading the text, try adding a drop shadow as Zil said. Have it on the smallest setting 0-1 px. This is used for instance on magazine covers where there is a lot of text on top of a huge image. They add the smallest of drop shadow, often not visual, however your eye and brain detects it and makes the text pop out more.

I don't put fonts in PS. If it has too many it can cause it to crash and go blahssldjfladskshhaksd. I keep mine in AMP Font Viewer. It's separate so of course I have to close PS and re-open it to get the font to register. But, I like it because it gives you a preview of the font and I can put the fonts in sub-folders to group 'em up.

If the program installs the font directly to your system (which I believe it does), you shouldn't have to restart Photoshop, as it will recognise it instantly. I've never had to restart after installing a new font. Basically when you search through fonts, Photoshop just goes to your system files in most cases and explore here.


- Soko

[Lilliputia]

I would like to request a signature and a matching avatar.

Can I please have the signature to include

Name: Zharos, Retrivution Paladin
and then just a view of my paladin with some orangey / red / yeloow effects in the background.

Erm i am very unsure about avatar so anything you would find fitting.

zharos on ravencrest is the character. (recently had Race Change to human and Name change to zharos so please make sure thats what it looks like) it is basically the normal DS Warrior tier with lightbringer tabard and zoids greatsword.

CLAIMED

Assumed you meant Retribution. If what you had was an intended spelling though, please do let me know and I can change the 'b' back into a 'v'. Went to visit your armory page and it indeed looked to be human (though the name was different on the page, even though I found it using "zharos" as the search term). Anyways, hope this is what you had in mind.

[Geekissexy]

Good lord, Soko. Wall of text crits me for 1,000!

I'm not sure it was exactly the font style, but the ways you can use blending options to make it fit the signature style and colors better. I mean, to me I start with how the font looks first because that's my favorite part but I think it's the "editing" it that people are curious about.

And - what happened to the first page of the thread? -_-

[Sokogeka]

Very true Geeki, but people started to talk about mixing fonts. Thought I would chip in as I had all the materials for it.

[Geekissexy]

Very true Geeki, but people started to talk about mixing fonts. Thought I would chip in as I had all the materials for it.

D'ooooh. Forgive me. It's 3:30 AM and I'm a bit delusional at the moment. I forgot half of what I read earlier.

[Piffnifty]

And - what happened to the first page of the thread? -_-

Yeah I personally preferred people posting in the template format. It made things so much easier for the designer I thought, rather than sifting through a whole paragraph of text... Ironically it's similar to what I assume Lilliputia is stating about having to sift through all the posts for claims. Although the suggestion of a new sub forum would probably be a little bit of a bigger job :P

I've never thought it was that bad to sift through pages since I enjoy seeing other people's work and reading what people have written - I mean it's a forum afterall and it kind of gives the thread a warm friendly feeling in my opininon rather than something corporate and cold. But that said, I don't contribute as much as some so that might be the reason why it doesn't bother me as much.

[ElyPop]

The templates were removed since it was unfair to those who didn't use the template/it restricted creativity/something like that. You're all free to claim anything that's posted here. Again, if you have any concerns regarding the first post, PM me and we'll see what I can do to amend it.

Oh, and you can post your recommendation for a sub forum in the Suggestions and Feedback forum (but it has been asked for before, and has been declined).

[desnia]

att: soko
typefaces and typography

Coming from a Danish person, i am amazed, you truly know your way around, you education shines through!
/Ken

[Zil]

Yeah I personally preferred people posting in the template format. *snip*

I've never thought it was that bad to sift through pages since I enjoy seeing other people's work and reading what people have written - I mean it's a forum afterall and it kind of gives the thread a warm friendly feeling in my opinion rather than something corporate and cold.

This ^^

And second bit of PMR from lovely Unth (thanks Ely for helping me sort out WMV. AGAIN):