Blobular Zine: Issue 1 Options

[technicolour]

On behalf of myself, and hopefully everyone else, we like to welcome you to the maiden issue of what will hopefully become a regular thing. We started this as just an idea to give some new ideas out. Many people won't, normally, go out and attempt to expand their horizons so we are bringing it to you! So. Consider this a magazine you wait for to come in the mail.

The Critique Corner & Second Opinion
Want some advice? Submit your work now and we might display it here with some constructive criticism.

Myspace 2.0
Myspce unveiled their new redesign and we are here to explain for you. Learn how to edit and improve those dull default layouts.

Contest!
There's nothing like a contest to get something going. Consider it practice too!

How To Make a Good Fan Graphic
For the sake of Twilight and Harry Potter, stop this madness! With this we explain how to improve your fan graphics. Don't think so 'in-the-box'. Try going out of the box for a change. And no, this does not mean make your graphic a circle.

Resources
Resources are vital to any graphic. Check some of these resources out for some inspiration and new ideas. Props to JC, our resident resource man.



Ideas? Suggestions for the next issue? Please PM any Design Staff member and we will surely take them into consideration.

[Blaqheartedstar]

Constructive Criticism: Second Opinion

I agree, animated icons are often pretty awesome, and at times picked over a normal non-animated icon. But just because you made a animated icon it doesn't really mean that its gonna be much better than those not animated. Theres far more to take into account, like the speed of the animation, the quality, text used and size. when one determines the size (how many frames) it will effect how fast the icon loads and often the quality of the icon if you decide to optimize it (make it load faster with a smaller file size) so try not to over do it with the frames to insure high quality icons. Speed is also a factor with animation icons, the following above is too fast, a lot of people don't realize this but just because you can read the icon at its current speed doesn't mean that everyone viewing for the first time can. you can read it because, you made the icon there for you know what each frame consist of before it even comes up. Text used is always a factor with animated icons and non-animated icons. sure pixel fonts are the best but its getting to that stage where its becoming old and tacky to use pixel fonts for icons. Experiment with fonts to find a nice crisp font at a decent size where it can fit and still be legible.


Now what’s wrong with this image is the poor blending, low quality (blurry) and just a excess use of brushes, in all reality it’s a pretty boring piece and poorly done. If this was submitted (and it was) it would be rejected (and it has!). Not for being boring, but for the low quality, and pretty much everything else I listed above. It belongs to me and it was a pretty OLD graphic I posted and I was a total noob at blending. You can also notice where the two images meet. Blending is suppose to avoid that at great costs.

Now with blending soft brushes with masks and just a sense of knowing just how you want the image to look can result in a pretty damn good graphic when you put your mind to it. Blending is not something to do in five minutes or in a short amount of time, the more time spent on your images the more likely you are to notice the mess ups and what you missed. Experimenting also can be your best friend. There’s a huge chance you can actually learn a pretty neat trick and there’s the start of good blending for you. You never want to create a boring piece, NEVER. Why? Well duh its boring and boring pieces are normally as they are - boring, forgettable, and unusable.

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Backgrounds really only good if they can be repeated seamlessly. But this wallpaper is not really the problem since its not meant to be used on a layout, the problem really is the way it was edited. Sure overlapping text is awesome, but it really depends on how well its done and if it isn't the main focus of the piece. They normally look a little better if its faded into the background so that it becomes exactly that. A background. I agree that the girl on the bottom right corner would off been better off on the left since it seems to cut off abruptly at the bottom, and the watermark more discrete. but outside of that a little fixing up and more effort and it can turn out to be a decent wallpaper.

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The question is… objectively would you use this image for anything? No.

While its kind of in focus, it has been taken with flash. Kind of doesn’t always work out with stock photographs. Stock is suppose to be completely in focus, large, and can be easily edit and used for other people’s work, whether it be a layout, wallpaper, etc. Flash can actually hurt a picture more than help, sure flash makes it easier for you to take pictures and get them crisp, but what about the people who have to edit them? Flash leaves over exposed bits everywhere which can actually make it hard to use.
Try experimenting with lighting, use tri-pods or some sort of flat surface to avoid having to use the flash feature. Practice makes perfect and if you get better who knows maybe you can end up selling your stock photos in the future? It happens.